NFWF's Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund
The U.S. Department of Justice entered into criminal plea bargain agreements with two of the responsible parties,
BP and
Transocean for the oil spill caused by the explosion of the Macondo exploratory well off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, 2010. As part of these agreements, BP agreed to pay $2.394 billion and Transocean agreed to pay $150 million in criminal penalties to the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). In these plea agreements, the court charged NFWF with the proper distribution and spending of the criminal fines. To that end, NFWF has established the
Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (GEBF) to provide restoration funding for the five Gulf States.
The criminal penalties are allocated among the five states as follows: 50% to Louisiana; 14% each to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida; and 8% to Texas.
Over five years, the Fund will receive a total of $1.272 billion for barrier island and river diversion projects in Louisiana; $356 million each for natural resource projects in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi;
and $203 million for similar projects in Texas.
Plea agreements require NFWF to consult with appropriate state and federal resource managers to identify projects and maximize environmental benefits. In Texas, NFWF is consulting with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas General Land Office (GLO), as well as with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NFWF’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund – Texas Projects Funded to Date
See the list of Texas projects.
