The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has released the Draft Annual Plan Fiscal Year 2020, a 3-year outlook of projected revenues and expenditures, project activities, and implementation schedules.
The plan outlines $783 million in projected expenditures for FY2020, including progress on 76 active projects. Included in the plan are 6 projects in the planning phase, 32 in engineering and design, 38 in construction, and 154 in operation, maintenance and monitoring. The great majority of expenditures are for construction ($505 million).
“The Annual Plan is the vehicle by which we communicate to the people of Louisiana and the Legislature, which projects and programs outlined in the Master Plan will be able to move forward in the coming fiscal year,” said Chip Kline, Interim Chairman of the CPRA Board. “In FY20 you are going to see where the state intends to spend its first significant Phase II GOMESA revenues, how we are continuing to mobilize Deepwater Horizon oil spill funding for large and small projects alike, and what we think the following FY21 and FY22 fiscal years might bring in terms of revenues and expenditures. If the Master Plan is the vision, the Annual Plan is where that vision becomes reality.”
Public meetings will be held this week for the Draft Annual Plan. Each hearing will begin at 5:30 p.m. with an open house featuring a CPRA Exhibit and a display of Annual Plan materials. The presentation on the draft Annual Plan and public comment session will be from 6-7 p.m. Hearing locations and dates are listed below:
Jan. 29, 2019 – Lake Charles Civic Center (Jean Lafitte Room)
900 Lakeshore Drive, Lake Charles, LA 70601
Jan. 30, 2019 – New Orleans Lakefront Airport (Atrium)
6001 Stars & Stripes Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70126
Jan. 31, 2019 – Houma Civic Center (Meeting Room 3)
346 Civic Center Blvd., Houma, LA 70360
The Atchafalaya Basin Annual Plan is now also incorporated in the Annual Plan. As a result, CPRA will hold two additional public hearings to present the Atchafalaya Basin Annual Plan:
Feb. 5, 2019 – Bayou Sorrel Branch Library
22415 Hwy. 75, Plaquemine, LA 70764
Feb. 6, 2019 – Henderson Recreational Center
1015 Park Drive, Henderson, LA 70517 (next to Henderson City Hall, 1007 Amy St.)
Public comments are due March 9, 2019 and can be made at one of the above mentioned meetings or submitted by mail or email. Visit the CPRA website here to view the annual plan and submit comments.