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1 (March 17, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabdpz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22276 Updated March 17, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Coastal Louisiana Ecosystem Restoration After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Jeffrey A. Zinn Specialist in Natural Resources Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division Summary Prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been seeking congressional approval for a $1.1 billion multi-year program to both construct five projects that would help to restore specified sites in the coastal wetland ecosystem in Louisiana, and to continue planning several other related projects. The state of Louisiana and several federal agencies have participated in the development of this program. This report introduces this program and restoration options that are being discussed in the wake of the hurricanes. It also discusses whether this program, if completed, might have muted the impacts of these hurricanes. Congressional consideration will also be informed by slowly emerging information about the location and extent of change that resulted from these hurricanes. This report will be updated. Introduction The widespread destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has altered the congressional perspective on coastal Louisiana restoration as it considers provisions in legislation (e.g., S. 728 and H.R. 2864) that would authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to implement numerous activities to slow the rate of coastal wetlands loss. Both bills, developed before the hurricanes struck, would authorize funding to implement a program that the Corps had recommended in a November 2004 feasibility report. The Corps recommended $1.1 billion for activities to be initiated immediately and completed over the next decade, and estimated an additional cost of $0.9 billion for future work. As a result of the hurricanes, more expansive options, costing up to $14 billion, are also being considered. Of the initial $1.1 billion in the proposal being considered when the hurricanes struck, $828 million is to complete planning and construct five projects, called near-term features, where the planning process is well along, and construction could be completed in about a decade. The remainder of this initial authorization would be spent on: monitoring program performance; building small demonstration projects (a maximum cost of $25 million per project); exploring options to use dredged materials to create Congressional Research Service +. The Library of Congress

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