LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto
A DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
link that has led and directed the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay since 1983. The Chesapeake Bay Program partners include the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia; the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a tri-state legislative body; the EPA, representing the federal government; and participating citizen advisory groups. Each Bay Program partner uses its own resources to implement Bay restoration and protection activities. Partners work together through the Bay Program’s goal teams, workgroups and committees to collaborate, share information and set goals.
Reauthorized by Section 314 of the Clean Water Act; Authorizes EPA grants to States for lake classification surveys, diagnostic/feasibility studies, and for projects to restore and protect lakes.
The "2012 Response to Climate Change" strategy presents five long-term visions designed to shape EPA's future work on climate change and water issues based on the growing understanding of climate change. Each of these vision areas identifies a range of long-term goals and the strategic actions that need to be taken in the coming years to achieve those goals.
Established the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) in 2002 to protect coastal and estuarine lands considered important for their ecological, conservation, recreational, historical or aesthetic values. The program provides state and local governments with matching funds to purchase significant coastal and estuarine lands, or conservation easements on such lands, from willing sellers. Lands or conservation easements acquired with CELCP funds are protected in perpetuity so that they may be enjoyed by future generations.
In 1990, amendments to the Coastal Zone Management Act, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and EPA; Required that States with coastal zone management programs develop and implement programs to control nonpoint sources of pollution.
This program is conducted through partnerships among the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources/Coastal Restoration Division, the LDAF/Office of Soil & Water Conservation and eleven coastal SWCDs. Using locally adapted plant species, an average of 30 linear miles of shoreline and interior wetland restoration plantings are implemented each year within the LA coastal zone.
Passed in 1990 by United States Congress; Entrusted the States with the task of developing and implementing State CNPCPs (Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program). Section 6217 of CZARA required that states with federally approved coastal zone management programs develop and implement CNPCPS. These states must implement management measures approved by NOAA and EPA that will control or prevent nonpoint source pollution from five designated sources: agriculture, forestry, hydromodification, marinas and recreational boating, urban runoff (TSS) and wetlands, riparian areas, and vegetated treatment systems.
The U.S. Congress recognized the importance of meeting the challenge of continued growth in the coastal zone by passing the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in 1972. The Act, administered by NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), provides for management of the nation's coastal resources, including the Great Lakes, and balances economic development with environmental conservation; The CZMA outlines two national programs, the National Coastal Zone Management Program and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The 34 coastal programs aim to balance competing land and water issues in the coastal zone, while estuarine reserves serve as field laboratories to provide a greater understanding of estuaries and how humans impact them. The overall program objectives of CZMA remain balanced to "preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the nation's coastal zone."
Louisiana received $1.06 billion from HUD’s CDBG program to assist in the recovery from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The vast majority of CDBG funds were allocated to the 19 coastal parishes for use in protecting their communities and infrastructure. However, included within the $1.06B was an allocation of $27.4M to the Louisiana Office of Community Development – Disaster Recovery Unit (OCD-DRU) for State coastal protection and restoration projects that will help communities recover from the 2008 hurricanes and prepare to withstand future hurricanes with greater resilience.
Initiated by EPA in 1991, coordinates operation of all Federal, State, tribal, and local programs that address groundwater quality; States have the primary role in designing and implementing CSGWPP's in accordance with distinctive local needs and conditions.