Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

Louisiana Coastal Protection And Restoration Authority

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.

Read more about Louisiana Coastal Protection And Restoration Authority:  Louisiana Barrier Island Plan, Current Members, Levee Boards

Famous quotes containing the words louisiana, protection, restoration and/or authority:

    The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.
    Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

    We’re for statehood. We want statehood because statehood means the protection of our farms and our fences; and it means schools for our children; and it means progress for the future.
    Willis Goldbeck (1900–1979)

    The 1990s, after the reign of terror of academic vandalism, will be a decade of restoration: restoration of meaning, value, beauty, pleasure, and emotion to art and restoration of art to its audience.
    Camille Paglia (b. 1947)

    Destiny. A tyrant’s authority for crime and a fool’s excuse for failure.
    Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)