Coastal funding closer

SPANISH FORT — Two years after it was announced, nearly $50 million in Coastal Impact Assistance Program money was approved Tuesday for use by Alabama, and Mobile and Baldwin counties.

Well, almost, anyway.

U.S. Minerals Management Service Acting Director Walter Cruickshank visited the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center on the Causeway to sign an approval letter for the state's spending plan.

He said the Mobile-Tensaw Delta was the perfect backdrop because the program is designed to protect and showcase such "treasured landscapes."

For example, one of Alabama's projects is a $750,000 "water-based nature trail" with informational and camping stops throughout 100 miles of the Delta, he said.

Now, however, a grant application must be submitted and approved for each project, and federal officials could not give a timeframe for that.

Funds come from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas production lease fees and are designed to compensate coastal states and counties for the impact of that activity.

Also Tuesday, Cruickshank announced nearly $500 million in program funds for 2009-10, with about $40 million for Alabama. Gulf Coast states are getting less because of the impact of hurricanes and because Alaska's share increased dramatically, MMS officials said.

But plan approval shouldn't take as long the next time, they said. Issues that stalled the release of the 2007-08 funds have been clarified, said Lars Herbst, regional director for the agency's Gulf of Mexico Region.

"We've worked through those bugs," Herbst said.

In spring 2007, nearly $33.2 million was announced for Alabama, $9.9 million for Mobile County and $7.8 million for Baldwin County. Plan approval was delayed by debate over whether money could be spent on public water access and recreation projects.

At one point, the federal agency was challenging $8 million for reconstruction of Gulf State Park Pier and $2 million for property to build a boat launch in Lillian. Those were approved, but Baldwin County was asked to remove a proposed $1 million boat ramp at its Bicentennial Park.

The key for getting recreational projects OK'd is to show a "direct or indirect benefit" to the environment by public access, said Stephanie Gambino of the MMS coastal programs section.