Proposed projects address many of the recreational fishing community’s priorities for recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Alexandria, VA
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he American Sportfishing Association (ASA), along with the country’s leading conservation and sportsmen’s and women’s organizations, applauds the Senate for passing the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act (S. 1400) as an amendment to the Senate transportation bill. Introduced by Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), RESTORE represents extraordinary bipartisan consensus among lawmakers in the Gulf of Mexico region and beyond and is a crucial measure that ensures that 80 percent of the funds from the Clean Water Act and other penalties assessed in the wake of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill are used to pay for economic and environmental restoration projects in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Due to Senator Nelson’s leadership, of particular importance to the sportfishing industry, is funding provided in RESTORE to establish a research, science and technology program aimed at improving Gulf fisheries management and monitoring.
Aftermath of BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico. Photo Nature.org
This amendment also includes a major, much needed increase in funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund provides money to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water to benefit conservation and recreation. The provision would double current funding levels for the fund to $700 million for each of the next two years and reauthorize it until 2022, for a total of $1.4 billion. To read complete story click here […]
