Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
Encyclopedia
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is a governmental authority created by the Louisiana Legislature in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita
. The creation of such a state or quasi-state local sponsor was ordered by Congress in Public Law 109-148. The CPRA's forerunner, the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority, was restructured as the CPRA by Act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2005 when the tasks of coastal restoration and hurricane protection were consolidated under a single authority. The authority is responsible for overseeing all levee districts in the Louisiana Coastal Zone and dispersal of funding from Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Trust Fund to be used exclusively for wetland restoration and hurricane protection projects.
Act 8 defines the CPRA's mandate as, "hurricane protection and the protection, conservation, restoration, and enhancement of coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines or reefs." Additionally, the act defined the term "coastal area" as the Louisiana Coastal Zone and contiguous areas that are subject to storm or tidal surge.
In April 2007, the CPRA submitted Louisiana's first ever Comprehensive Master Plan for coastal restoration and hurricane protection to the state's legislature for approval. The legislature approved the plan unanimously. Entitled: "Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Hurricane Protection: Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast," the Master Plan represents an overarching vision that fully incorporates hurricane protection projects and structures with coastal wetland and hydrology restoration projects.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials will use the CPRA Master Plan as the cornerstone of the Congressionally mandated Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LaCPR) Report scheduled to be written and submitted to Congress by December 2007.
for an emergency permit to build an extensive system of barrier island
s to protect Louisiana coastal islands from crude oil released by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
. An emergency permit good for 30 days was offered by the Corps of Engineers on May 27, 2010.
Secretary Scott Angelle
, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
Secretary Bill Ankner, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
Secretary Robert Barham, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Secretary Harold Legget, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Jason El Koubi (Designee) of Sec. Steven Moret, Louisiana Department of Economic Development
Commissioner Mike Strain, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry
Angele Davis, Louisiana Division of Administration
R. King Milling, Chair - Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation
Mark Cooper, Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Ben Moss (Designee) for Commissioner Jim Donelon, Louisiana Department of Insurance
John M. Barry
, Levee Region 1 Representative
Mark L. Morgan, Levee Region 2 Representative
Steve C. Wilson, Levee Region 3 Representative
Windell A. Curole, Levee Region 4 Representative
Tina Horn, Non-Levee Parish Representative
Billy Nungesser
Additionally, decisions are pending on the Southwest Louisiana Parishes of Cameron
, Vermillion and Iberia
.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
. The creation of such a state or quasi-state local sponsor was ordered by Congress in Public Law 109-148. The CPRA's forerunner, the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority, was restructured as the CPRA by Act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2005 when the tasks of coastal restoration and hurricane protection were consolidated under a single authority. The authority is responsible for overseeing all levee districts in the Louisiana Coastal Zone and dispersal of funding from Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Trust Fund to be used exclusively for wetland restoration and hurricane protection projects.
Act 8 defines the CPRA's mandate as, "hurricane protection and the protection, conservation, restoration, and enhancement of coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines or reefs." Additionally, the act defined the term "coastal area" as the Louisiana Coastal Zone and contiguous areas that are subject to storm or tidal surge.
In April 2007, the CPRA submitted Louisiana's first ever Comprehensive Master Plan for coastal restoration and hurricane protection to the state's legislature for approval. The legislature approved the plan unanimously. Entitled: "Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Hurricane Protection: Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast," the Master Plan represents an overarching vision that fully incorporates hurricane protection projects and structures with coastal wetland and hydrology restoration projects.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials will use the CPRA Master Plan as the cornerstone of the Congressionally mandated Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LaCPR) Report scheduled to be written and submitted to Congress by December 2007.
Louisiana barrier island plan
On May 11, 2010 the agency applied to the United States Army Corps of EngineersUnited States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
for an emergency permit to build an extensive system of barrier island
Barrier island
Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...
s to protect Louisiana coastal islands from crude oil released by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
. An emergency permit good for 30 days was offered by the Corps of Engineers on May 27, 2010.
Current members
Garret Graves, Chairman, Governor’s Executive Assistant for Coastal ActivitiesSecretary Scott Angelle
Scott Angelle
Scott Anthony Angelle is a former lieutenant governor of Louisiana. He was appointed to the position by Governor Bobby Jindal and confirmed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2010, when Mitch Landrieu resigned the lieutenant governorship to become mayor of New Orleans...
, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
Secretary Bill Ankner, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
Secretary Robert Barham, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Secretary Harold Legget, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Jason El Koubi (Designee) of Sec. Steven Moret, Louisiana Department of Economic Development
Commissioner Mike Strain, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry
Angele Davis, Louisiana Division of Administration
R. King Milling, Chair - Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation
Mark Cooper, Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Ben Moss (Designee) for Commissioner Jim Donelon, Louisiana Department of Insurance
John M. Barry
John M. Barry
John M. Barry is an American author and historian, perhaps best known for his books on the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and the influenza pandemic of 1918....
, Levee Region 1 Representative
Mark L. Morgan, Levee Region 2 Representative
Steve C. Wilson, Levee Region 3 Representative
Windell A. Curole, Levee Region 4 Representative
Tina Horn, Non-Levee Parish Representative
Billy Nungesser
Billy Nungesser
William Harold "Billy" Nungesser is the President of Plaquemines Parish in suburban New Orleans, Louisiana. A Republican, Nungesser was re-elected in the 2010 general election, defeating two other candidates with more than 71% of the vote. His second term began on January 1, 2011...
Levee Boards
The following Levee Districts are overseen by the CPRA.- Atchafalaya Basin Levee District
- Grand Isle Independent District
- Lafourche Basin Levee District
- North Lafouche Levee District
- Plaquemines Parish Government
- Pontchartrain Basin Levee District
- South Lafourche Levee District
- Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East
- Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - West
- St. Mary Parish Government
- Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District
Additionally, decisions are pending on the Southwest Louisiana Parishes of Cameron
Cameron Parish, Louisiana
Cameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron and as of 2010, the population was 6,839...
, Vermillion and Iberia
Iberia Parish, Louisiana
Iberia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is New Iberia. As of 2000, the population was 73,266.Iberia Parish is part of the New Iberia Micropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Lafayette–Acadiana Combined Statistical Area.Iberia, along with...
.