The Gulf Consortium has approved the Draft Florida State Expenditure Plan for public comment and opened the 45-day public comment period through March 2, also scheduling a public comment meeting and webinars. The draft plan includes $12.6 million for the Bayou Chico Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project, which was unanimously selected by the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners as the county's sole project for the SEP.
The public is encouraged to review and provide comments on the SEP to the Gulf Consortium. The Draft Florida SEP can be viewed here. Comments can be submitted here.
The Gulf Consortium is a public entity created in October 2012 by inter-local agreement among Florida's 23 Gulf Coast counties following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The Gulf Consortium is the recipient of RESTORE Act Pot 3 funds on behalf of the State of Florida. In order for Pot 3 funds to be disbursed, the RESTORE Act requires Florida to develop a State Expenditure Plan outlining proposed projects and their consistency with the RESTORE Act.
In preparing the Florida SEP, the Consortium, through the direction of its consultant team, conducted a thorough process of project nomination, definition, evaluation and refinement, resulting in the projects, programs and activities proposed. Early in the SEP development process, the Consortium voted to distribute Florida’s Spill Impact Component (Pot 3) equally among the 23 member counties, and to implement a “county-driven” approach whereby each of the counties would self-determine their priority projects.
The Bayou Chico Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project selected by the Escambia County BCC primarily involves the remediation of legacy contaminated sediments from Bayou Chico and is the keystone project for restoring Bayou Chico. Escambia County will receive $12.6 million from Pot 3 for Bayou Chico.
Escambia County's Natural Resources Management Department recently completed a study of the fine-grain sediment located throughout Bayou Chico, one of the first tangible steps toward developing a remediation plan for the bayou. County scientists were able to accomplish all four of the project goals, which included delineating distribution of fine-grain sediment; developing an estimate of overall volume of fine-grain sediment; collecting data necessary to guide future planning activities; and conserving funding available for project planning by completing the study utilizing existing county resources. To view the summary report from the study, click here.
The public is invited to attend the Gulf Consortium Florida State Expenditure Plan Public Comment Meeting:
When: Monday, Jan. 22 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Bay County Commission Chambers – 840 W. 11th St., Panama City, FL 32401
Two Public Comment Webinars will also be held:
When: Thursday, Feb. 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Registration: Click here to register.
When: Thursday, Feb. 15 from 1-3 p.m.
Registration: Click here to register.
To learn more about the restoration of Bayou Chico, please visit myescambia.com/restoringbayouchico. For more information, please contact Matt Posner, RESTORE Program Manager, at mjposner@myescambia.com.
