BOEMRE Awards $1.5 Million in Grants to Alabama’s Mobile, Baldwin Counties

Funding Provided through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program

WASHINGTON, DC — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced today that it has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program
(CIAP).

Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, CIAP provides funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states to conserve and protect the coastal environment. CIAP is an ongoing program with grant funding that is allocated based on the offshore energy revenues collected by the United States.

“BOEMRE will continue to work with the state of Alabama and coastal political subdivisions to support projects that protect these valuable coastal areas for future generations,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “Protecting Dauphin Island and improving the air quality of Baldwin County are important projects that will greatly benefit local fish and wildlife habitats.”

Mobile County, which selected the preservation project to be funded, received $843,660 in grant funding to purchase and protect 4.26 acres of waterfront property on Dauphin Island. By purchasing the land, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Sound, the county will be able to protect the sensitive habitat by limiting visitors to low-impact recreational activities, such as bird watching and kayaking.

Baldwin County, which selected the air quality project to be funded, was awarded a $727,026 grant to reimburse the cost of installing a gas collection system that will improve the air and water quality surrounding the Magnolia Sanitary Landfill. This system will decrease harmful gases, thus protecting the fish and wildlife habitat that surrounds the landfill.

CIAP will receive $250 million annually, from 2007-2010, to be disbursed to six eligible Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states – Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Contact: BOEMRE Public Affairs