Texas Trustees Initiate Second Restoration Plan

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Aerial view of parts of Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge looking into East Matagorda Bay on the Texas Coast. Image: USFWS

The Texas Trustee Implementation Group is beginning the process of drafting their second Deepwater Horizon restoration plan to address the following restoration goals:

  • Restore and Conserve Habitat
  • Restore Water Quality
  • Replenish and Protect Living Coastal and Marine Resources

The plan will consider projects under the following restoration types:

  • Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats
  • Nutrient Reduction
  • Oysters
  • Sea Turtles
  • Birds

We began this restoration planning effort in October 2020 by requesting project ideas from the public. The submission period for project ideas closed on December 10, 2020. We greatly appreciate your input and are reviewing those project ideas that were submitted.

We expect to release a draft restoration plan and environmental assessment in early 2022. The public will be given the opportunity to review and provide comment on the draft plan and proposed projects. After the public comment period ends, we will review, consider, and incorporate public comments, as appropriate, before releasing a final restoration plan.

Development of the restoration plan will be consistent with the Trustees’ Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan, the Trustee Council Standard Operating Procedures, the Oil Pollution Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, their implementing regulations, and all applicable Federal and Texas law.