Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA): Effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Implementation

Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and
Restoration Act (CWPPRA): Effects of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on
Implementation
Jeffrey A. Zinn
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Summary
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.
Introduction
The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA), also
called the Breaux Act after an initial sponsor, was enacted to respond to the loss of coastal¹
wetlands, especially in Louisiana. It authorizes funds for three purposes: 70% is for
restoration of Louisiana coastal wetlands, 15% is for coastal wetlands restoration in other
states, and 15% is to support the North American Wildlife Habitat Management Program.

¹ P.L. 101-646, 104 Stat. 4778 (Title III), 16 U.S.C. 3951-3956.

This report is limited to the Louisiana component.² The Louisiana effort is administered
by a task force that includes five federal agencies and the state of Louisiana and is chaired
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The 164 projects that have been funded through
CWPPRA generally have not generated much controversy, perhaps because they are
products of the program’s extensive collaborative planning process and because they are
limited in scale. Congress has not made major amendments to CWPPRA since the initial
enactment other than extending the authorization period. However, in the aftermath of
the 2005 hurricanes, it may consider changes. (For more information on how the state’s
coastal wetlands were affected by the hurricanes, see CRS Report RS22276, Coastal
Louisiana Ecosystem Restoration After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, by Jeffrey A. Zinn.)
The Law and Program
Congress authorized CWPPRA to create and restore coastal wetlands in Louisiana
as a response to rapid rates of land loss as wetlands were converted to open water. The
human and natural causes, geographic patterns, and rapid rates of loss had been
documented in numerous studies and reports since the 1960s. This documentation
continues to be used by restoration advocates to argue that wetlands protection and
restoration is an immediate need; it is also used to argue that restoration is a national issue
deserving federal funding and involvement because of the many roles that coastal
Louisiana plays in the national economy.³ (For a general overview of the rates and causes
of wetland loss, activities to document those losses and identify possible solutions, and
efforts to authorize and fund a more extensive federal restoration effort, see CRS Report
RL32673, Coastal Louisiana: Attempting to Restore an Ecosystem, by Jeffrey A. Zinn.)
CWPPRA created a task force to guide the program. The task force is chaired by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and includes representatives from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior), Natural Resources Conservation Service
(Department of Agriculture), Environmental Protection Agency, National Marine
Fisheries Service (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of
Commerce), and the Governor’s Office from the state. The task force annually identifies
a list of possible projects and uses priorities that it has set to select the projects to be
funded. The list of selected projects is submitted to Congress with each Corps budget
submission. The Corps also provides administrative support for the program and tracks
the status of each project. The task force issues a status report to Congress evaluating
each project every three years. The most recent such report was issued in 2003. The next
report, like the 2003 report, reportedly will be a relatively short overview of the program
rather than a detailed project-by-project review, like the 2000 report.
The task force is at the center of a broad-based collaborative effort to identify and
establish priorities for projects. This effort attempts to involve all interested parties, and

² The other two components are administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as parts of
the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund.
³ Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force, Coastal Wetlands
Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA): A Response to Louisiana’s Land Loss,
2006, 16 pp. An abridged summary of these arguments is presented on pages 1-3, under the
subtitles of “energy scarcity,” “navigation security,” and “fisheries and a flyway.”

serves to generate strong local endorsement.⁴ The effort emphasizes the local benefits that
will result from projects, especially those benefits that result from improved habitat. As
a result of this effort, most of the funded projects possess widespread support and
engender little controversy. However, the length of this process has meant that the
projects selected in 2006 were being considered before the hurricanes struck in 2005, and
the ongoing selection process for 2007 is the first one in which the effects of the
hurricanes are part of the decision-making process.
The task force also seeks to apply a wide range of both traditional and innovative
restoration techniques, including river diversions, marsh creation, sediment trapping, and
barrier island stabilization. CWPPRA projects can be initiated relatively rapidly
compared to more substantial Corps projects because of their small scope and the nature
of the CWPPRA process. The typical amount of time from start of design through
construction is three to five years, which contrasts with the much longer time frames
typically associated with traditional Corps projects. Operating projects are monitored, and
the feedback is used to improve project design and performance.
CWPPRA legislation also requires the state to prepare and periodically update a
coastal wetlands conservation plan.⁵ The state can receive a grant for up to 75% of the
cost of preparing the plan, and federal agencies (Corps, EPA, and FWS) are to provide
technical support for the plan development. The goal, as specified in the legislation, is
to reach no net loss of coastal wetlands as a result of implementing the actions in the plan.
Eight program elements are specified in the statute. Terms of plan approval by federal
officials are specified. The three federal agencies that supported state efforts to prepare
this plan are supposed to periodically report to Congress on the status of the plan,
including an evaluation of the effectiveness and accomplishments of projects carried out
under it.
Funding is provided primarily by the federal government, which pays 85% of the
project costs. The state of Louisiana pays the remainder. The state has a strong financial
incentive to prepare and maintain the wetlands conservation plan described in the
previous paragraph; if it does not, its cost share for all projects rises to 25%. The state,
through its Department of Natural Resources, must pay at least 20% of its portion (that
is, 3% of the total project costs) in cash, and the remainder can be in-kind contributions,
such as lands, easements, or rights-of-way. CWPPRA places several limits on how funds
may be spent. For example, almost all funds go to construction, as no more than $5
million can be spent on studies and planning associated with maintaining and updating

⁴ Detailed presentations of the process by which the projects are identified and selected can be
found at [http://www.lacoast.gov/ppl/index.htm], visited May 18, 2006.
⁵ In November 2005, Louisiana enacted legislation to replace the Wetland Conservation and
Restoration Authority with a Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which has a broader
mandate to combine flood control efforts with coastal restoration initiatives. The new authority
issued its initial report, Annual Coastal Protection and Restoration Plan: Fiscal Year 2007, in
April 2006. The report includes a chapter on CWPPRA and other federal matching projects and
programs, and a chapter on projects and programs that involve only the state. Each program
discussion includes activities in FY2006, needs in FY2007, and the funding amount to be
provided by the state in FY2007.

the project list each year. In addition, the state may not receive more than $2.5 million
annually, or $10 million in total, to prepare its conservation plan.⁶
CWPPRA is funded from revenues accumulated in the Sports Fish Restoration and
Boating Safety Trust Fund, which derives revenues from several sources. The largest
sources are the sale of gas for motor boats and the sale of fishing equipment. Income into
the fund has been increasing; it has grown from $263 million in FY1991 to just over $500
million in FY2005. The allocation for the Louisiana portion of the program —
appropriated to the Corps from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which maintains the
fund — started at $33 million in FY1992, and has generally increased from year to year,
reaching just over $76 million in FY2007.
The Louisiana Experience
The CWPPRA program has been very active in Louisiana. Currently, 164 high-
priority projects have been identified. In the 2007 selection process, three projects were
approved for construction and four projects were approved for engineering and design.
The task force reported that 78 projects have been constructed, are under construction, or
have been approved for construction.⁷ These projects are located throughout coastal
Louisiana, with the largest number in the Calcasieu/Sabine area in the western part of the
state (18) and in Terrebonne Parish in the central part of the state (14). The task force
credits these projects with having reestablished more than 32,000 acres, protected more
than 38,000 acres, and enhanced (specific functions have been intensified/improved) more
than 320,000 acres. The total cost of these projects is $625 million. An additional 47
projects with an estimated cost of more than $913 million are in some stage of
engineering or design and will be seeking approval for construction. These projects, when
completed, would establish or protect almost 33,000 acres and enhance almost 195,000
acres. However, more funds will be needed before these additional projects can all be
constructed.
Coastal wetlands in Louisiana were being converted to open water at a declining
annual rate on average before the 2005 hurricanes, according to the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS).⁸ CWPPRA projects could be a factor contributing to this decline as they
continue to partially offset the losses. Other factors contributing to this declining loss rate
may include reduced levels of some human activity, especially the declining intensity of
additional oil and gas drilling and pipeline installations, and the fact that so many acres
of wetlands have been lost already.

⁶ The state will have considerably more funds to devote to wetland restoration as a result of
section 384 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005(P.L. 109-58), which creates a new program to assist
coastal states to mitigate the impacts of offshore energy activities, and the Gulf Mexico Energy
Security Act (P.L. 109-432), which will share 37.5% of certain federal revenues from offshore
oil and gas activities with affected coastal states.
⁷ Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force. Coastal Wetlands
Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA): A Response to Louisiana’s Wetland Loss.

2006, 16 p. Most of the information in the remainder of this paragraph comes from this report.

⁸ Other USGS studies concluded that the average annual loss rate was more than 28,000 acres
between 1956 and 1978, and about 22,000 acres between 1978 and 1990.

The USGS estimates that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused almost 140,000 acres
of wetlands to be converted to open water between October 2004 and October 2005. This
is a larger acreage than had been and will be reestablished and protected under all the
completed, active, and planned projects, as summarized in the data above. It is also equal
to more than nine years of wetland loss at the average annual rate of 15,300 acres that
USGS documented between 1990 and 2000.⁹ The losses from these hurricanes are not
uniformly distributed across Louisiana’s coast. Where the storm damage was most
concentrated, USGS reports that the amount of loss is greater than total predicted losses
over the next 50 years. However, the CWPPRA projects are more evenly distributed
throughout coastal Louisiana. It is possible that in some areas where damage was limited
and annual loss rates have been small, these projects may be largely offsetting losses.
Interest in thinking about coastal Louisiana as a larger integrated landscape or system
rather than a large number of individual sites (and projects) is growing. This theme was
at the heart of a 2005 report from the National Research Council, which recommended
that a detailed map depicting the expected future landscape of coastal Louisiana be
developed from a set of goals to which all interests can agree. This map would then serve
as a basis to guide more specific decisions and choices about the restoration effort.¹⁰
Planning at a landscape scale would help decision makers determine the interrelated
benefits of projects. With such a vast expanse of wetlands, it seems highly likely that
many projects would not provide these benefits without this type of planning effort. This
recommendation from the NRC was endorsed in at least one subsequent report, and is
recognized less directly in the recent task force report, cited in footnote 3. Although the
CWPPRA program follows state and federal plans to set priorities and select projects, it
does not appear to take an overarching approach that considers the entire landscape.
After the Hurricanes: Options for CWPPRA
CWPPRA is widely viewed by wetland protection advocates as a successful program
for several reasons, including (1) projects can move relatively quickly through planning,
design and construction; (2) projects can include a wide range of restoration and
protection techniques; and (3) project development is a collaborative process involving
many federal, state, and local interests that tends to result in strong support for the
projects that are approved. The 2006 task force report describes it as a program for
“holding the line” against the continuing loss of wetlands while awaiting legislation and
engineering work to implement the larger projects that would most likely be authorized
in Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) legislation.¹¹

⁹ Loss estimates have been calculated by U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wetland Research
Center, which has published a number of reports describing past and predicted loss rates.
¹⁰ National Research Council, Ocean Studies Board, Committee on Restoration and Protection
of Coastal Louisiana. Drawing Louisiana’s New Map: Addressing Land Loss in Coastal
Louisiana. 2005, 204 p. This study was prepared at the request of Louisiana’s Office of the
Governor, which asked the Council to review the Corps’ Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA,
Louisiana — Ecosystem Restoration Study) released in November 2004 to examine its
“effectiveness for long-term, comprehensive restoration development and implementation.”
¹¹ For more information on WRDA, see CRS Report RL33504, Water Resources Development
Act (WRDA): Corps of Engineers Authorization Issues, coordinated by Nicole T. Carter.

In the wake of the 2005 hurricanes, some advocates may see CWPPRA as already
established and having potential, if expanded, to play a more significant part by using
natural features to protect south Louisiana from the full brunt of future storms. The most
recent CWPPRA task force report, cited earlier and written in the spring of 2006 after the
hurricane, sums up the current situation as follows: “In some areas, the losses incurred
from these two hurricanes [Katrina and Rita] exceeded estimates of future land loss over
the next 50 years. The land loss crisis will not wait while details of large restoration
projects are developed.” In this context, the task force identifies and endorses many
qualities of the CWPPRA program, which include “responsive, interagency approach,
predictable funding, fiscally responsible, complementary, science-based, and community
involvement.”
The destruction caused by the hurricanes has greatly increased the demand, primarily
from Louisiana, for an accelerated restoration for coastal Louisiana wetlands. This
expanded need could be partially met by the CWPPRA program, although some may
believe that other approaches would result in a more effective wetland restoration effort.
If the program were expanded by increasing the authorized funding ceiling, it could lead
to a larger number or size of the projects, and therefore have the potential to result in
greater accomplishments.¹² An advantage for restoring wetlands through CWPPRA is
that the program is already operating, although the implications of scaling it up, such as
pressures on staff resources and how an expanded effort might alter the project selection
process, have not been widely discussed in Congress. Another question is whether
changes in this program might include giving greater consideration to making decisions
about projects at the landscape scale.

¹² As the demand for more projects grows, the funding does not go as far because project costs
reportedly have risen an estimated 25%, on average, since the hurricanes, and much of the
funding this year is paying for higher costs of existing projects rather than new ones, according
to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff who work with this program.