CIAP: COASTAL IMPACT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
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 The Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) was established by Section 384 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to help producing states and their coastal political subdivisions to mitigate impacts from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas production. CIAP will provide approximately $496 million to Louisiana for fiscal years 2007 through 2010. The 19 coastal parishes (CPSs) will receive 35 percent of those funds and the state will receive 65 percent.
The Act identified five Authorized Uses of CIAP funds which are: 1) projects and activities to conserve, protect or restore coastal areas, including wetland; 2) mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife or natural resources; 3) planning assistance and the administrative costs of CIAP compliance; 4) implementation of a federally approved marine, coastal or comprehensive conservation management plan; and 5) mitigation of the impact of OCS activities by funding onshore infrastructure projects and public service needs. Up to 23 percent of those funds can be spent between AU 3 Projects (CIAP planning assistance and compliance) and AU 5 Projects (onshore infrastructure projects and public service needs to mitigate OCS impacts).
Additionally, the Act also requires that a State’s CIAP Plan be approved by the federal program administrator before the state or its parishes can receive any CIAP funds. In addition to identifying the projects planned to be funded through CIAP, a State CIAP Plan must also document state and parish CIAP goals and objectives; the public process for nominating CIAP projects and commenting on the draft plan; the decision-making process for selecting CIAP projects; a summary of public comments on the draft Plan; measures taken to determine the availability of assistance from other relevant resources and programs for projects proposed in the Plan; how the state and parishes will manage, implement and monitor CIAP projects; how the state and parishes will comply with relevant federal, state and local laws in the implementation of those projects; and in subsequent plan revisions, the process under taken to amend the approved State CIAP Plan.
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Louisiana worked with its coastal parishes to prepare the Louisiana Coastal Impact Assistance Plan that identifies restoration, conservation and infrastructure projects supported by the state and coastal parishes that embody the principles of sustainable coastal restoration and protection to be implemented as State Funded CIAP Projects, Parish Funded CIAP Projects or State and Parish Funded CIAP Projects. The projects planned to be funded through CIAP are consistent with the goals and initiatives contained in the coastal master plan and represent some of the first opportunities to advance that larger vision.
The Louisiana Coastal Impact Assistance Plan was the first CIAP Plan to be approved by the previous federal program administrator, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), in November 2007. The first revisions to the Louisiana Coastal Impact Assistance Plan (Version 2) were submitted to MMS in December 2007 and approved in April 2008. Additional revisions to the Louisiana CIAP Plan (Version 3) were submitted in August 2009 and approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE, formerly MMS) in September 2010. The most recent revisions to the Louisiana CIAP Plan (Version 4) were submitted in November 2011 and approved in March 2012 by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), who became federal program administrator in October 2011.
The current approved LA CIAP Plan, as well as the state’s original CIAP plan, can be viewed by clicking on the following links:
Current Approved CIAP Plan - March 2012
Appendix D: Louisiana State and Parish CIAP Current Budget Sheets
Appendix F: Louisiana CIAP Plan Revisions
Original Louisiana CIAP Plan Authorized November 2007
Questions regarding the Louisiana Coastal Impact Assistance Program can sent via email to CIAP@LA.Gov.
The latest and past issues of the LA CIAP Newsletter can be viewed by clicking the links below:
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana will conduct three informational meetings for interested landowners across coastal Louisiana from July 24-July 31, 2012, to discuss the Coastal Forest Conservation Initiative (CFCI) funded by the state's Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). This is a continuation of the program that began in 2010.
All those who own or are charged with managing forested coastal lands are encouraged to attend. The meeting dates and locations are as follows:
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Tuesday, July 24: Baton Rouge – La. Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries, 2000 Quail Drive.
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Thursday, July 26: Abbeville - LSU AgCenter, 1105 West Port Street.
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Tuesday, July 31: New Orleans - New Orleans Regional Transportation Management Center, 10 Veterans Boulevard
All meetings will begin with an open house session with CPRA officials at 4:30 p.m. followed by a presentation detailing the program at 5:30 p.m. A question and answer period will follow.
The CFCI is a voluntary program with a primary objective of acquiring land rights from willing landowners to address demonstrated threats of habitat loss or land-use change and opportunities for restoration or enhanced sustainability of coastal forest tracts that provide significant ecological value and may provide storm damage reduction functions.
Land owners who are interested in participating are asked to submit an application providing information about the parcel of land they are proposing for inclusion in the program. CPRA has re-opened the application period beginning July 16, 2012 and going through September 28, 2012.
More detailed information about the program is available at the Coastal Forest Conservation Initiative page.
The initiative provides benefits to both the landowner and the public and considers all native forest types including bald cypress-tupelo and other swamps, live oak natural levee forests, coastal live oak-hackberry forests (cheniers), bottomland hardwood forests, barrier island live oak forests (maritime forests), mixed pine hardwood forests, longleaf pine savannahs, salt dome hardwood forests, or other native forest communities which also rank highly within the prioritization process.
Coastal forests in Louisiana have long been recognized as valuable for the goods and services that they provide. More recently, their importance as buffers to hurricane storm surge and winds has been increasingly appreciated.
For more information about the CFCI, please contact Travis Woodard, 225-769-0546 or by email at travis.woodard@la.gov.
For more information about Louisiana's coastal restoration and hurricane protection efforts, please contact Chuck Perrodin at (225) 342-7615 or by e-mail at chuck.perrodin2@la.gov.
