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The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill resulted in several settlements with responsible parties, leading to subsequent payments of fines and claims related to a number of statutes including the Oil Pollution Act and the Clean Water Act. A number of different entities oversee the distribution and oversight of these funds, and the processes for decision-making varies from state to state. Below is additional information about each process.
Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council (Alabama)
The AGCRC was created with the passage of the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012. This legislation was passed by Congress to steer a percentage of the civil penalties levied against the responsible parties of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident directly to the Gulf Coast states to assist with recovery efforts.
Learn More Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Federal)
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 (Council), which includes the governors of the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Commerce, Homeland Security, the Interior and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Learn More National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
In early 2013, a U.S. District Court approved two plea agreements resolving certain criminal cases against BP and Transocean which arose from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The agreements directed a total of $2.544 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (NFWFGEBF) to fund projects benefiting the natural resources of the Gulf Coast that were impacted by the spill.
Learn More Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)
Natural Resource Damage Assessment is the legal process that federal agencies together with the states and Indian tribes, use to evaluate the impacts of oil spills, hazardous waste sites, and ship groundings on natural resources both along the nation's coast and throughout its interior.
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