Number: RS22467
Title: Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA): Effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Implementation
Authors: Jeffrey A. Zinn, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA), enacted in 1990 and administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has funded wetland restoration projects since 1992. By law, CWPPRA allocates 70% of appropriated funds ($76 million of $109 million in FY2007) to projects in Louisiana. Louisiana wetland protection and restoration proponents largely view the program as an established success in enhancing coastal wetlands by implementing numerous relatively inexpensive and smaller-scale projects. At the same time, many of these proponents also have worked to develop and seek administration and congressional support for a more substantial multibillion-dollar coastal Louisiana restoration program consisting of far larger projects. Their efforts have intensified in the aftermath of two highly destructive hurricanes that struck Louisiana in 2005, both because the scale of the CWPPRA program is insufficient to counter the large wetlands losses that resulted, and because wetlands restoration could play a more prominent role in reducing the impacts of future hurricanes on developed areas. Congress may consider amending CWPPRA to redirect or expand it as a response to these hurricanes.
Pages: 6
Date: October 25, 2007