Congress’ newly passed water-projects bill could potentially speed up work to restore Louisiana’s eroding coast and create a new revenue source to fund coastal projects, The Courier reports.
The measure, which U.S. Rep. Garret Graves added to the Water Resources Development Act, will allow businesses, levee boards, nonprofits and government agencies that work in Louisiana’s wetlands to pay money into an account as way of offsetting any environmental damage they cause.
Money from the so-called “environmental bank” could then be used for specific restoration work anywhere along the state’s coast, Graves says. The money could be targeted at projects that offer the most benefit at protecting communities, wildlife or the environment.
In contrast, the current system, overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, limits such required mitigation, or repairs, to wetlands nearby or to areas almost identical to the ones damaged. Another provision in the bill removes such limitations.
Graves says establishing environmental banks has the potential to create a major new revenue source for paying for coastal projects.
Depending on how the rules are devised, companies could be allowed to pay fines associated with the Clean Water Act or other state and federal laws into the environmental banks. In addition, the process may provide an avenue for oil companies to pay for environmental damage to Louisiana’s coast instead of the state and parishes resorting to lawsuits that could take years to resolve.
