BOEMRE Awards $1.8M in Grants to Alabama
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has awarded more than $1.8 million in Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) grants to the state of Alabama and to Mobile County, Ala. The grants will fund ongoing wetlands preservation, facility upgrades, and outreach initiatives for the state’s coastal areas.
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.
“CIAP grants enable us to work in partnership with Alabama and its coastal communities to fund important wetlands preservation and infrastructure initiatives such as these, which will help preserve our fragile coastal environment for future generations,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.
The five grants will provide:
•$937,692 for the acquisition and protection of Parcel A, a 4.4-acre tract of developed property on the western end of the town of Dauphin Island, in coastal Mobile County. The project will protect sensitive waterfront plant and sea life habitats on Dauphin Island.
•$525,000 to augment improvements made to Alabama’s Marine Resources Division facilities, also on Dauphin Island. The award will fund additional engineering and construction fees for the boat dock cover and primary boat basin. The upgrade will heighten research infrastructure and provide additional resources to further enhance Alabama’s coastal environmental research initiatives.
•$174,000 to fund management of the state’s CIAP initiatives in an efficient, cost-effective and organized manner to meet the established requirements. The program is managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in Spanish Fort, Ala.
•$100,000 to support the development of a comprehensive wetlands restoration strategy to be employed in several communities along the Alabama Gulf Coast in Mobile and Baldwin Counties. These include: Grand Bay, Mobile-Tensas Delta, Lillian Swamp and Perdido River. It is the second grant approved for the Alabama Wetland Restoration Project in coastal Alabama.
•$89,399 to Mobile County to provide additional funds to the original November 2010 CIAP grant for improvements to the Mobile County River Delta Tourism and Welcome Center.These will include the protection of water quality, replacement of aging structures, creation of marine wastewater facilities, and the implementation of an environmental outreach and education program for boaters and visitors to the facility. The Welcome Center is located in Creola, approximately 15 miles north of Mobile, Ala.
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: Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
