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Cochran and Wicker Throw Support Behind Bill to Distribute BP Fines to Gulf Coast States

Senate Measure Would Give 80 Percent of BP Clean Water Act Fines to Affected States

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss) today threw their support behind bipartisan, compromise legislation that would assure Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states a majority of the federal fines levied against BP to be used for ecological and economic recovery.

The RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act of 2011 was introduced today with Cochran and Wicker as original cosponsors. The bill would establish the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund to be made up of 80 percent of all civil penalties paid by BP and other parties held responsible for the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.

The Mississippi Senators participated in negotiations to craft the measure, which has support among the Senators from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Florida.  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to consider and act on the bill soon.

“The effects of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy still reverberate through Mississippi and other Gulf states.  This legislation would direct future BP fines to Gulf Coast states, providing the resources they need to continue the process of cleaning up the economic and environmental damage from that disaster,” Cochran said.

“This bill will speed economic and environmental recovery to Gulf Coast communities following last year’s oil spill,” Wicker said.  “Fines collected from BP under the Clean Water Act should be directed to the States that were impacted, and this bill accomplishes that goal.  This represents a balanced approach by all Gulf State Senators to support economic and environmental restoration with flexibility for States to choose their own priorities.”

The Senate measure would distribute to Gulf Coast states 80 percent of the fines assessed by the U.S. Department of Justice to BP for violating the federal Clean Water Act with the explosion of its Deepwater Horizon platform in April 2010.  The remaining 20 percent would go directly to the U.S. Treasury.

Within that 80 percent allotment, the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and Revived Economy (RESTORE) of the Gulf Coast Act of 2011 would:
• Provide resources to Gulf Coast states to support economic recovery
• Establish a Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council and a Comprehensive Plan for the Gulf Coast
• Establish a Long Term Science and Fisheries Endowment and Gulf Coast Centers of Excellence

Last September, a Gulf Coast restoration effort led by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus  issued a report titled, “America’s Gulf Coast:  A Long Term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” that encouraged Congress to dedicate to the Gulf Coast a significant amount of civil Clean Water Act penalties incurred by those responsible for the spill.  Earlier this year, the National Oil Spill Commission’s report on the BP oil spill recommended that no less than 80 percent of the BP penalty money be sent to Gulf Coast states for coastal and environmental restoration.

The Clean Water Act allows the Environmental Protection Agency to collect $1,100 per barrel of oil spilled, or $4,300 per barrel if there is a finding of gross negligence, from any party found responsible for an oil spill in federal waters.  Based on the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, BP could face fines between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion.  Under current law, this money would go to the U.S. Treasury and the Gulf Coast would get nothing.

The legislation was introduced today by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).  In addition to Cochran and Wicker, it is cosponsored by Senators David Vitter (R-La.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is also cosponsoring the measure.

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