Nearly 10 months into the Trump administration, Louisiana officials say they are making headway on getting federal officials to fast-track five key coastal restoration projects.
Congressman Garret Graves said last week the Army Corps of Engineers is close to officially shaving at least one year off a five-year permitting wait for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the first of five projects designed to reduce flood risk and rebuild disappearing wetlands.
Johnny Bradberry, chair of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said today he is confident that project could get underway as early as 2019.
“To fight bureaucracy and get permits is a big challenge for us,” he said at the Baton Rouge Press Club. “We don’t have anymore time to do these projects. We’re out of time.”
The state is currently in the process of asking federal agencies to fast-track the other four projects, Bradberry says. Collectively, the five projects will cost around $3.2 billion and represent a small but significant fraction of a 50-year, $50 billion coastal master plan.
Breaking ground on those projects remains a top priority for state officials, who say they are battling the bureaucracy of several different agencies. Paradoxically, some rules designed to protect the environment are actually slowing down the state’s efforts to restore the coast.
While the five projects getting underway soon would be a good first step, there are more serious problems down the road. For one, money from the BP settlement will go away in 2032. Plus, the state will have to begin paying back $3 billion in costs associated with flood protection following Hurricane Katrina. And the state is at least $32 billion short of the money it needs to fund the entire coastal master plan.
A small piece of good news? Louisiana used to lose, on average, a football field of land every hour (or less) to coastal erosion. Chuck Perrodin, CPRA spokesman, says now that figure is down to one football field of land every hour and forty minutes.
Read a recent Business Report cover story on the regulatory and financial issues that have contributed to the slowing down of Louisiana coastal restoration projects.
—Sam Karlin
