BOEMRE Awards $1.3 Million for Louisiana Preservation Project

Grant Will Fund Property Preservation, Site Restoration

NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced today that it has awarded a $1,345,000 Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) grant to St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. The grant will provide funding for the Green Property Preservation Project, an initiative to purchase a private parcel of land in the parish for preservation and restoration. 

Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, CIAP provides funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 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. 

“The preservation of our critical wetlands is vitally important to Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “These grants allow us to fund essential projects such as this wetlands project in St. Tammany Parish. BOEMRE will continue to fund important initiatives proposed by the states for environmental protection and conservation.”   

The funding will be used to acquire and manage a 26.31-acre parcel of privately-owned land. The property is located near Lacombe, La. in lower St. Tammany Parish, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The grant will fund the preservation of valuable wetlands on the property, which is considered a vital piece of the Bayou Lacombe watershed basin area. 

CIAP received $250 million in appropriated funds for each of the Fiscal Years 2007-2010, to be disbursed to six eligible OCS oil and gas producing states: Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, California, Mississippi and Texas.

Contact: BOEMRE Public Affairs-Gulf