Bryant working with GoCoast2020 to finalize proposed BP funding
Mississippi officials said they still don’t know how much funding they will receive from the RESTORE Act or when they will know as no settlements have been made yet.
“We have to realize the timing,” said Trudy Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. “After the settlements are made, there is still a legal process to go through. It may take nine months to a year after that before we can use those funds.”
The GoCoast2020 board met Wednesday at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi for its final commission meeting updating the process of using RESTORE Act funds for recovery projects on the Coast.
The RESTORE Act was enacted by the federal government to direct 80 percent of fines charged to BP for the Gulf oil spill to the five states affected. GoCoast2020 is the advisory board created by Gov. Phil Bryant to determine how the funds will be distributed.
Fisher said the focus now is to summarize the proposed recovery projects, a report to be submitted in January.
Sun Herald
11/9/12
Magnolia Tribune
