U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, will stop in Lafayette at 2:15 p.m. today as part of a five-city coastal tour touting the recent passage of the federal RESTORE Act that dedicates billions in BP fine money to Gulf Coast restoration efforts. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, is speaking in Lafayette at 2:15 p.m. today as part of a five-city coastal tour touting the recent passage of the federal RESTORE Act that dedicates billions in BP fine money to Gulf Coast restoration efforts.
According to a release from Landrieu's office, the senior Louisiana senator authored the legislation in response to the 2010 BP oil spill, which Landrieu's office described as "the worst environmental accident in our nation's history."
The bill received bi-partisan support and dedicates 80 percent of BP fines paid under the Clean Water Act to Gulf states for the restoration of our ecologically fragile coast. The measure also establishes a Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, a Fisheries Monitoring Program and Gulf Coast Centers of Excellence.
Louisiana will use some of the RESTORE Act money to help fund 109 projects slated as part of the state's 50-year coastal improvement plan that was approved earlier this year.
Landrieu is scheduled to speak at 2:15 p.m. at the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce office on East St. Mary Boulevard. Other stops on the tour include Jean Lafitte, Thibodaux, Bell City and Lake Charles.
Read more on the RESTORE Act here.