For fiscal year 2009, the total shares by states comprise of about $121 million for Louisiana; $37.5 million for Alaska; $35.6 million for Texas; $23.8 million for Mississippi; $19.7 million for Alabama; and $5 million for California. The same amounts also will be offered in fiscal year 2010. Alaska’s allocation in 2007 and the previous, which was the minimum 1%, rose more than 1,500% because of bonus payments of about $2.6 billion in Chukchi sea sale 193, held in February 2008, and variability of production in the Gulf of Mexico owing to recent hurricanes.
The coastal impact assistance program, mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and managed by Interior’s Minerals Management Service, approves funds to be distributed to states adjacent to outer continental shelf oil and gas pumping regions to lessen the impacts of that energy development on marine and coastal areas. Under the program, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to allocate to producing states and coastal political subdivisions $250 million for each of the fiscal years 2007 through 2010.
This money is shared between eligible states and coastal political subdivision and assigned depending on formulas prescribed by the Energy Policy Act. Each eligible state is allocated its share based on that state’s qualified outer continental shelf revenue made off of its coast in proportion to the total qualified outer continental shelf revenue generated off the coasts of all eligible states. Congress also supported a 3% appropriation of the funds for the Minerals Management Service to administer the program.
The Energy Policy Act needs that all program funding be used for projects and activities for the conservation, protection, or restoration of coastal areas, including wetlands; mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife, or natural resources; execution of a federally-approved marine, coastal, or comprehensive conservation management plan; or mitigation of the impact of outer continental shelf activities through backing of onshore infrastructure projects and public service needs.
Eligible recipients can also utilize the funds for planning these improvement and restoration measures and to wrap the administrative costs of complying with program legislation. Only states that present a coastal impact assistance plan meeting Minerals Management Service approval are suitable to receive program funds. Plans must be developed in discussions with eligible coastal political subdivisions.
