Title: Louisiana Resource Trustees Early Restoration Public MeetingLocation: New Orleans, LALink out: Click hereDescription: The State of Louisiana is currently engaged in the process of selecting potential early restoration projects, as are other impacted state and federal trustees. Project proposals may be submitted online at http://losco-dwh.com.

Louisiana trustees will hold a public meeting to solicit early restoration projects on June 20, 2011 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Room 110 in Weinmann Hall at Tulane University School of Law.Start Time: 17:30Date: 2011-06-20End Time: 20:30

Title: Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force Meeting and Public Listening SessionDescription: The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force will meet from 8 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. A public listening session will take place from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Galveston Island Convention Center, 5600 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77550. The meeting space is fully accessible. If you have special needs or require translation, please contact the Task Force. For more information on the Task Force or to pre-register for this meeting, please visit www.epa.gov/gulfcoasttaskforce. Pre

Title: Texas Resource Trustees Early Restoration Public MeetingLocation: Corpus Christi, TXDescription: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will be hosting a public meeting Thursday, June 9 from 6-8 p.m. to discuss the early restoration planning process designed to start addressing impacts to natural resources caused by the Deepwater BP oil spill. The meeting will take place in Room 1003 of the Natural Resource Building on the Texas A&M Corpus Christi campus.

Start Time: 18:00Date: 2011-06-09End Time: 20:00

Title: Alabama Resource Trustees Early Restoration Public MeetingLocation: Spanish Fort, ALDescription: The State of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Geological Survey of Alabama, as Alabama Natural Resource Trustees, will conduct a Public Meeting on Wednesday, June 8, from 6-8:30 pm in the Tensaw Theater at Five Rivers Alabama Delta Resource Center at 30945 Five Rivers Boulevard (Mobile Bay Causeway) Spanish Fort, AL 36527 to discuss the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Early Restoration process and to receive suggestions for potential early

The recent agreement between the natural resource trustees and BP to make available $1 billion for the implementation of restoration projects is an opportunity for the public to get engaged in the restoration process.

The trustees will continue to make available our Suggest a Restoration Project page, where the public can submit specific project proposals for consideration. Project ideas previously submitted to the co-trustees will also be considered. All projects approved by the trustees will be included in a draft Early Restoration Plan that will be subject to public review and comment

The Gulf of Mexico supports more than half of the wetlands in the United States—in fact, more than 40 percent of the wetlands in the lower 48 states are in Louisiana alone.

Title: Deadline for PEIS Public CommentLink out: Click hereDescription: Do you have thoughts on the types and scope of actions that might be needed to restore the Gulf? You can give us your feedback through our online form. Comments will be accepted until May 18, 2011.Date: 2011-05-18

Title: Deadline to Submit Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative RFP Letter of IntentLink out: Click hereDescription: On May 24, 2010, BP committed $500 million over a 10-year period to create a broad, independent research program to be conducted at research institutions primarily in the U.S. Gulf Coast States. The program is known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI). The independent GRI Research Board, composed of 20 scientific experts, is responsible for preparing this and subsequent requests for proposals (RFPs), enabling an open and transparent peer-review process, selecting

Under an unprecedented agreement, BP has agreed to provide $1 billion toward early restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the largest agreement of its kind ever reached. These projects will begin to address impacts to natural resources caused by the Deepwater BP oil spill.

Early restoration is restoration that can be implemented prior to the completion of the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) process to achieve restoration faster. So, this agreement can be seen as BP’s down payment toward the yet-to-be determined full cost of the damage to the Gulf Coast.

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