Efforts and plans to restore and protect coastal Louisiana have existed in some fashion since 1927. True to the difficult nature of protecting and restoring an entire dynamic coastal ecosystem, planning efforts to address these needs have evolved from state centric initiatives to federal and state partnerships.
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Act 6
Louisiana's coastal restoration work began in earnest in 1989 with the passage of Act 6. The statute charged the state with conserving, restoring, creating and enhancing vegetated wetlands in coastal Louisiana and created the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities and the State Wetlands Authority to provide direction and coordination in this endeavor. Act 6 also extended the state's commitment to coastal restoration by creating the Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Fund to serve as the primary funding stream for all coastal restoration activities, including the accumulation of matching funds for federal programs.
Coastal Wetlands Planning Preservation and Restoration Act (CWPPRA)
Soon after the adoption of Act 6, Congress enacted the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Preservation and Restoration Act proposed by Sen. John Breaux. Authorized in 1990, the CWPPRA or "Breaux Act" provides Louisiana with 40 million dollars annually to assist in the long-term conservation of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Under the guidance of a task force, consisting of five federal agencies and the State of Louisiana, the Breaux Act funds preservation and restoration programs selected from a project priority list from nine categories of projects: freshwater introduction and diversions, sediment diversions, marsh management, hydrologic restoration, beneficial use of dredged material, shoreline protection, barrier island restoration, vegetative planting, and sediment and nutrient trapping.
Coast 2050
Recognizing that the most optimistic estimates of the CWPPRA program would only reduce coastal land loss by less than 20%, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources initiated a joint planning initiative between Parish Governments, the Louisiana Wetland Conservation and Restoration Authority, the CWPPRA Task Force, and the Department of Natural Resources called "Coast 2050."
The goal of the Coast 2050 initiative was to develop a technically sound strategic plan to sustain coastal resources and provide an integrated multiple use approach to ecosystem management in partnership with the citizens of Louisiana and to fully integrate coastal wetland restoration with other significant coastal resources and uses. In 1998 the State of Louisiana and its federal partners approved the Coast 2050 Plan: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana. That document presented strategies jointly developed by federal, state, and local interests to address Louisiana's massive coastal land loss problem.
Louisiana Comprehensive Area Restoration Study (LCA)
Widely considered a blueprint or strategy for restoring the coast, the Coast 2050 report evolved into the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) reconnaissance report, and formed the basis for the LCA Ecosystem Restoration plan. The LCA Ecosystem Restoration Draft Main Report was completed in October 2003 and presented a comprehensive $14 billion program to be submitted to the Administration and Congress for approval, authorization, and funding in 2004. The Office of Management and Budget whittled this $14 billion program down to just short of $2 billion and the resulting EIS and Chief’s report led to the Near-Term Priority LCA plan authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007.
Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP)
The Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) was authorized by Section 384 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to assist coastal producing states and their political subdivisions (parishes, counties, and boroughs) in mitigating the impacts from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas production. Louisiana is one of the seven coastal states selected to receive funds under this appropriation to implement this program. CIAP projects are intended to be consistent with the objectives of the state master plan.
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority State Master (CPRA)
The Master Plan was developed to fulfill the mandates of Act 8, which was passed by the Louisiana Legislature in November 2005 and signed into law by Governor Blanco. Act 8 created the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and charged it with coordinating the efforts of local, state, and federal agencies to achieve long-term and comprehensive coastal protection and restoration. In so doing, the CPRA must integrate what had previously been discrete areas of activity: flood control and wetland restoration. Act 8 also requires that the CPRA establish a clear set of priorities for making comprehensive coastal protection a reality in Louisiana.
Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LaCPR)
In 2006 Congress appropriated $20 million directing the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers to conduct a comprehensive hurricane protection study at full federal expense to develop and present a full range of flood, coastal and hurricane protection measures to be integrated with the state CPRA master plan.
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