State Surplus

During 2007, the Louisiana State Legislature passed Act 203, which proposed to dedicate $200 million in budget surplus monies from fiscal year 2006-07 to coastal restoration and protection. Of this total, $147.3 million to the LDNR for coastal restoration projects that are consistent with the Urgent Early Actions of the CPRA Master Plan, and $52.7 million will be allocated to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for the purposes of coastal protection.

During the 2008 Second Extraordinary Session, the Louisiana State Legislature passed Act 7, which appropriated $300 million in surplus funds from fiscal year 2007-08 to be used for federally authorized projects for hurricane protection and associated measures and for coastal restoration and associated measures to restore coastal lands and wetlands, including barrier islands, freshwater diversions, and marsh creation.

Louisiana’s Vanishing Wetlands