GoCoast 2020 report shows how RESTORE Act money should be spent
Sun Herald
By MARY PEREZ — meperez@sunherald.com
BILOXI -- Gov. Phil Bryant said Mississippi has its play book ready to go
when the RESTORE Act money starts flowing to the state.
He and Trudy Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, presented the final report of the GoCoast 2020
Commission today at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum Convention Center.
The commission was established by Bryant to look at how best spend funds
that will come to the state from fines levied against BP for the 2010 Gulf
oil spill.
Bryant said it is "a dynamic, vibrant report, that will not be put on a
shelf. "This is a way forward."
Among the recommendations of the report are better high speed Internet
access across the Coast, preserving areas of the Coast as "working
waterfronts," looking at relocating CSX railroad tracks north of Interstate
and returning Amtrak and a collaboration between schools and industry to
provide a skilled workforce.
Fisher said the report sets Mississippi ahead of other states by having a
plan already in place when the money arrives in 2013 or 2014.
A meeting to get public comment will be held Feb. 19 at a time and place in
South Mississippi yet to be determined.
The RESTORE Act will return 80 percent of the BP fines to the Gulf states
affected by the 2010 oil spill. The fine, expected to be between $5 billion
and $21 billion, will be split among the five states.
Eight committees and more than 100 volunteers from South Mississippi worked
since August to determine how the money can improve economic development,
tourism, small business, workforce development, infrastructure, seafood,
eco restoration and research and education in South Mississippi.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/28/4432273/gocoast-2020-final-report-to-be.html
GoCoast 2020's final report released by Gov. Bryant
WLOX
"The most important resource on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is our people."
That statement, made by a citizen at one of the GoCoast 2020 public
listening sessions, is listed in GoCoast 2020's final report as an
"essential truth" guiding upcoming restoration efforts from the 2010 Gulf
Oil Spill.
In August, 2012, Gov. Bryant announced the creation of GoCoast 2020 to
serve as the official advisory body for the allocation of funds received by
the State of Mississippi under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability,
Tourist Opportunity, and Revived Economies of the Gulf States Act of 2011
(RESTORE).
Monday, Gov. Bryant and Trudy Fisher, Executive Director of the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), highlighted commission's final
report.
"When we launched GoCoast 2020 last August, we all knew this would be a
major undertaking that would require a lot of time, energy and a sincere
spirit of cooperation among everyone involved," Gov. Bryant said. "While we
still don't have all of the details or final federal regulations of how the
Mississippi Plan will need to be formulated for RESTORE, we are ahead of
the game and will be ready day one. That's why I'm so grateful and
appreciative of all of the time and work put into this GoCoast 2020 Final
Report by so many people on the Coast."
The RESTORE Act directs that 80 percent of certain penalties assessed as a
result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill be directed to the five Gulf
Coast states impacted by the spill.
GoCoast 2020 was established to set a foundation and road map of priorities
for Mississippi so the state will be better prepared as the final federal
guidelines and regulations are set forth under RESTORE. Created by an
Executive Order from Gov. Bryant, GoCoast 2020 was comprised of more than
one hundred twenty business and community leaders, elected officials and
citizens from across the three Mississippi Gulf Coast counties.
Gov. Bryant talked about the strong spirit of cooperation that went into
the GoCoast 2020 effort saying, "I thank you for working together, for
dreaming big and for creating a vision for the Mississippi Gulf Coast for
many future generations to come. As tragic as the oil spill was, if we
continue working together, we are going to turn it into a springboard which
will catapult the Mississippi Gulf Coast forward."
"This report is the result of focused conversations examining overarching
goals and priorities to make the Coast better than it has ever been," MDEQ
Executive Director, Trudy Fisher said. "We have been handed an
unprecedented opportunity to improve not only the environment and our
natural resources but the lives of all residents on the Coast. Through the
foresight of Governor Bryant, it's a chance for us to lay a foundation for
what will eventually be the "Mississippi Plan" for the RESTORE Act. This
GoCoast 2020 Final Report clearly demonstrates that Mississippi is the
leader in preparing for the use of RESTORE funds when they are available."
GoCoast 2020 focused on eight key areas related to the activities specified
in the RESTORE Act to provide a framework of recommendations that will
protect the environment as the foundation of the coastal lifeblood, improve
the job creation climate to increase economic opportunities, and enhance
the unique quality of life for Mississippi's coastal residents in the near
term and for generations to come.
GoCoast 2020's eight key areas of focus were:
· Eco-restoration
· Economic development
· Seafood
· Infrastructure
· Tourism
· Workforce development
· Small business
· Research and education
The GoCoast 2020 Commission's eight committees, called GoTeams, all
identified several common threads that should be followed as the
Mississippi Gulf Coast prepares for the implementation of the RESTORE Act.
Each GoTeam focused on the need for any project considered in the future
under RESTORE to have as positive an impact as possible on the entire
Coastal region, not just one single area.
Among the other shared goals of each GoTeam included the need for the
long-term sustainability of any projects that are ultimately undertaken as
a result of RESTORE. That includes financial stability so that there is a
strong foundation in place for the Coast's continued growth in the future.
The GoCoast 2020 Final Report can be viewed in its entirety here:
http://www.gocoast2020.com/wp-content/uploads/finalreport.pdf
http://www.wlox.com/story/20746406/gocoast-2020s-final-report-released-by-gov-bryant
GoCoast 2020 Commission releases final report (updated)
By Mississippi Press Staff
updated January 28, 2013 at 1:13 PM
BILOXI, Mississippi -- Gov. Phil Bryant's plan for restoring Mississippi's
coastal areas with funds from the BP oil spill focuses on workforce
training and programs to bring more high-tech communications and better
transportation services to the region.
Bryant and Trudy Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi Department
of Environmental Quality, released the final report the GoCoast 2020
Commission Monday in Biloxi.
The five states bordering the Gulf of Mexico will get 80 percent of Clean
Water Act fines from the 2010 BP spill, although the money won't be split
evenly. The total haul is estimated at $5 billion to $21 billion, depending
on what parties agree to in a settlement or what a federal judge
determines.
The RESTORE Act, passed by Congress, sets up the distribution, though Clean
Water Act fines must be settled or ruled on by a court before they will be
distributed. There's likely to be more money through a federal
environmental damage process and from Mississippi's legal claims of
economic harm.
Bryant created the group, called Go Coast 2020, to focus on eight areas:
ecological restoration, economic development, small business, seafood,
tourism, education, infrastructure and workforce development.
Among the recommendations of the report are better high speed Internet
access across the Coast, preserving areas of the coast as "working
waterfronts," looking at relocating CSX railroad tracks north of Interstate
and returning Amtrak and a collaboration between schools and industry to
provide a skilled workforce.
"GoCoast 2020 will make sure this effort is coast-driven," Bryant said
Monday. "It should not be run from Jackson; it should not be run from
Washington, D.C."
Fisher said the report sets Mississippi ahead of other states by having a
plan already in place when the money arrives in 2013 or 2014.
A meeting to get public comment will be held Feb. 19 at a time and place in
South Mississippi to be announced later.
"While we still don't have all of the details or final federal regulations
of how the Mississippi Plan will need to be formulated for RESTORE, we are
ahead of the game and will be ready day one. That's why I'm so grateful and
appreciative of all of the time and work put into this GoCoast 2020 Final
Report by so many people on the coast," Bryant said.
___
Read the final report here.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/01/gocoast_2020_commission_releas.html#incart_river
