EPA unveils $50M plan for Gulf of Mexico

The Environmental Protection Agency outlined on Monday its $50 million plan to reverse the deterioration of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

The agency’s Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force presented the first restoration blueprint for the Gulf that includes input from states, tribes, federal and local governments, as well as concerned citizens.

“After the Deepwater Horizon disaster, this task force brought together people from across the Gulf Coast in unparalleled ways to talk about how we tackled both the immediate environmental devastation, as well as the long-term deterioration that has for decades threatened the health, the environment and the economy of the people who call this place home,” said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson in a news statement.

“It has all come to this moment — when we move from planning and researching to supporting real, homegrown actions aimed at restoring this vital ecosystem.”

The Gulf of Mexico Initiative will be funded by $50 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The funds represent a 1,100 percent increase in financial assistance for Gulf priority watersheds.

Read more in the Houston Business Journal.