DNR and Corp seeking public review of Coastal Plan

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced today the availability of the draft Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA), Louisiana-Ecosystem Restoration Study report and Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) for public review and comment. DNR and the U.S. Corps of Engineers have worked jointly in developing and preparing for the report over a two-year period.

The draft report includes $1.9 billion in coastal restoration work that address ecological needs such as restoring river sediment in degrading areas and rebuilding barrier islands. Because of both natural and man-made causes, coastal Louisiana has lost more than 1.22 million acres of coastal wetlands within the last 70 years.

Comments from the public will be for a 45-day period, ending on August 23, 2004. State coastal officials said there will be a series of public information meetings scheduled during this period, however the schedule will be announced in the upcoming week. All mailed comments should be post marked no later than August 23, 2004.

According to DNR Office of Coastal Restoration and Management/LCA Project Manager Jon Porthouse, to view the report and impact statement on the web, citizens can go to www.lca.gov.

For inquires or to request a CD or hard copy of the reports, the public should contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

For the LCA Study Report:

Tim Axtman
CEMVN-PM-C
P.O. Box 60267
New Orleans, LA 70160-0267
504-862-1921

For the DPEIS:

Dr. William P. Klein, Jr.
CEMVN-PM-RS
P.O. Box 60267
New Orleans, LA 70160-0267
504-862-2540

The draft LCA report includes a proposal for

• Programmatic authority for five near-term critical restoration features that would provide significant restoration benefits for the most critical areas of the coast, are presently in the initial design study phase and would cost about $786 million.
• Authorization of a science and technology program that would provide scientific data and technological tools to facilitate effective program implementation and would cost about $100 million over the next 10 years.
• Authorization of science and technology demonstration projects to resolve critical scientific and engineering uncertainties and would cost about $175 million over the next 10 years.
• Programmatic authority for the beneficial use of dredged material to take advantage of on-going maintenance dredging to restore barrier islands and, in some cases, supplement river water reintroductions and would cost about $100 million over the next 10 years.
• Programmatic authority for modifications to existing structures to achieve cost-effective, expedited restoration benefits and would cost about $10 million over the next 10 years.
• Approval of an implementation plan of ten additional near-term critical restoration features using the standard authorization process at an estimated cost of about $730 million.
• Approval of a proposed plan for assessing potentially promising large-scale restoration concepts at an estimated cost of about $60 million. The LCA Study report and a final programmatic EIS are scheduled for completion in December 2004. Inclusion of the report's components in the Water Resources Development Act currently under consideration by Congress will give the Corps and State the go-ahead to begin implementation of this critical restoration effort.