RESTORE Act

In July 2012, the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist, Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act) established the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. The Council is composed of the governors of the five Gulf Coast states and cabinet-level officials from six federal agencies.

The RESTORE Act also created the new Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, which will receive 80% of the civil and administrative penalties paid by the parties found responsible for the spill.

Overseen by the U.S. Treasury, the Trust Fund supports the five restoration processes show in the diagram below.

Interior, as a member of the Council, plays a major role in determining how 60% of the monies in the Trust Fund are used – the Council-Selected Restoration Component and the Spill Impact Component.

The RESTORE Council is guided by its 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update.

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Graphic showing distribution of Clean Water Act penalties

 

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