February 2018 Update

Natural Resources Management

MyEscambia Home / Natural Resources Management / RESTORE Act / February 2018 Update

Direct Component

Recent Activity

Escambia County's RESTORE Multi-Year Implementation Plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury in November 2017. Since then, the County has submitted four of the ten projects outlined in the MYIP to the U.S. Department of Treasury. The County anticipates submitting the remaining six projects to Treasury in February. The first projects should begin in March.

The County's MYIP includes 10 projects selected by the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners for a total of $8,638,650 of the funds available in Escambia County's allocation in the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. The approval comes after a three-year process that included diligent efforts from the RESTORE Advisory Committee, along with a 45-day public comment period for citizens to give input on the projects.

To learn more about Escambia County's Multi-Year Implementation Plan, please click here.

RESTORE staff will present a RESTORE Update at the March 8, 2018 Committee of the Whole Workshop at 9:00 am in the Escambia County Board Chambers, 221 Palafox Place, Pensacola, FL. Staff will provide an update on the status of Pot 1 projects and discuss the Pot 1 project selection process.

Click here for more information about the Direct Component.

Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council

Recent Activity

GCERC_Logo The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council), the federal entity responsible for overseeing RESTORE Act Pot 2 funds, has a new chairman. In January, Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assumed the chairmanship. Pruitt has appointed EPA Senior Adviser Ken Wagner to serve as his representative. Florida also has a new representative. Noah Valenstein, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been appointed by Governor Scott to replace former DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard.

In January, the Council approved the 2017 Funded Priorities List (FPL). The 2017 FPL allocates funding to federal and state Council members for planning activities. To review the 2017 FPL click here.

Escambia County has received $6.2 million to date from the Council for three projects.

The Bayou Chico Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project - Planning
The Pensacola Bay Living Shoreline Project - Planning
The Beach Haven NE Phase 2- Sanitary and Stormwater Sewer Project - Construction

All three projects are expected to begin later this spring.

For more information on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, click here.

Gulf Consortium

Recent Activity

The Gulf Consortium has approved the Draft Florida State Expenditure Plan for public comment and opened the 45-day public comment period through March 2. The draft plan includes $12.6 million for the Bayou Chico Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project, which was unanimously selected by the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners as the county's sole project for the SEP.

The public is encouraged to review and provide comments on the SEP to the Gulf Consortium. The Draft Florida SEP can be viewed here. Comments can be submitted here.

The Gulf Consortium is a public entity created in October 2012 by inter-local agreement among Florida's 23 Gulf Coast counties following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The Gulf Consortium is the recipient of RESTORE Act Pot 3 funds on behalf of the State of Florida. In order for Pot 3 funds to be disbursed, the RESTORE Act requires Florida to develop a State Expenditure Plan outlining proposed projects and their consistency with the RESTORE Act.

In preparing the Florida SEP, the Consortium, through the direction of its consultant team, conducted a thorough process of project nomination, definition, evaluation and refinement, resulting in the projects, programs and activities proposed. Early in the SEP development process, the Consortium voted to distribute Florida’s Spill Impact Component (Pot 3) equally among the 23 member counties, and to implement a “county-driven” approach whereby each of the counties would self-determine their priority projects.

The Bayou Chico Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project selected by the Escambia County BCC primarily involves the remediation of legacy contaminated sediments from Bayou Chico and is the keystone project for restoring Bayou Chico. Escambia County will receive $12.6 million from Pot 3 for Bayou Chico.

Escambia County's Natural Resources Management Department recently completed a study of the fine-grain sediment located throughout Bayou Chico, one of the first tangible steps toward developing a remediation plan for the bayou. County scientists were able to accomplish all four of the project goals, which included delineating distribution of fine-grain sediment; developing an estimate of overall volume of fine-grain sediment; collecting data necessary to guide future planning activities; and conserving funding available for project planning by completing the study utilizing existing county resources. To view the summary report from the study, click here .

A Public Comment Webinar will be held:

When: Thursday, Feb. 15 from 1-3 p.m.
Registration: Click here to register.

Escambia County will hold a Public Hearing:

When: Thursday, Feb. 15 at 5:32 p.m.
Where: Escambia County Board Chambers, 221 Palafox Place, Pensacola, FL 32502

To learn more about the restoration of Bayou Chico, please visit myescambia.com/restoringbayouchico. To listen to the WUWF report on Bayou Chico, click here.

Upcoming

Board Meeting

Date: Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Location: City of Tallahassee Commission Chambers 2^nd Floor, 300 S. Adams Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301

For more information on The Gulf Consortium, click here.

Natural Resources Damage Assessment

Recent Activity

Phase 5.2 Cover

The Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees held their second annual public meeting November 30, 2017 in Mobile, Alabama. NRDA provided an update on ongoing efforts since the historic settlement with BP, and described restoration planning activities and opportunities for public engagement.

Representatives of the seven Trustee Implementation Groups, responsible for planning and implementing restoration projects for the natural resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, gave updates on their progress over the last year.

Click here to review NRDA meeting materials.

Click here for more information on the Natural Resources Damage Assessment.

National Fish & Wildlife Foundation

Recent Activity

The Northwest Florida Water Management District Surface Water Improvement and Management Plans for the Pensacola Bay System and Perdido River and Bay Watershed have been approved by the Northwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board. The Pensacola Bay System SWIM Plan is available here. The Perdido River and Bay Watershed SWIM Plan is available here.

Escambia County has received $11 million from NFWF for five projects in the Bayou Chico watershed. All five projects are currently underway. Those projects include:

Beach Haven NE Phase 1 - Sanitary and Stormwater Sewer
Bill Gregory Stormwater Park
R Street Rain Garden
Jones Creek Stream Restoration
Jackson Creek Stream Restoration

Click here for more information on the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

Triumph Gulf Coast

Recent Activity

Mr. Ben Lee of Lynn Haven has been appointed by Speaker Corcoran to serve on the Triumph Gulf Coast Board following the resignation of former Board member Bob Bonezzi. In January, Dr. Rick Harper and Ms. Cori Henderson joined Triumph staff.

Triumph staff has reviewed all 116 Pre-Applications submitted to Triumph. Of the 116 Pre-Applications, 92 were deemed eligible with 24 deemed ineligible.

Escambia County's projects were deemed eligible. Those projects include:

Downtown Sports Complex
Beulah Interchange Connector
OLF8/OLFX Land Swap

Escambia County supported projects were also deemed eligible. Those projects include:

CDOT Marine Research Facility at the Port of Pensacola
Escambia County School Board Workforce Development Program
UWF Innovation Network Project at Downtown Technology Park
The Bluffs Corridor- Beck's Lake Road

The complete list of submitted projects can be viewed here. The ineligible list of projects can be viewed here.

Click here for more information on Triumph Gulf Coast.

NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program

Recent Activity

The science and restoration programs working in the Gulf of Mexico understand the need for stakeholders to remain informed of future funding opportunities in the region. To this end, they have collectively updated a two-year calendar consolidating currently planned funding opportunities. This calendar will enable stakeholders to remain informed about opportunities and assist grant applicants in planning ahead and submitting their high-quality applications to the appropriate funding opportunity.

This calendar only contains information on currently planned future opportunities as of January 2018. Additional opportunities and details may be released as funding programs develop and finalize their funding opportunities, especially for years 2019 and beyond. This calendar only includes a subset of programs in the Gulf region that have received funding as a consequence of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Click here to view the calendar.

Click here for more information on the NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program.