2019-0321
INTRODUCED BY: JULIA FISHER-PERRIER, COUNCILWOMAN, DISTRICT VII
PAUL J. HOGAN, PE, COUNCILMAN-AT-LARGE, DIVISION B
DICK GIBBS, COUNCILMAN, DISTRICT III
RESOLUTION NO.
Title
A resolution fully supporting Senate Bill 2418 and House of Representatives Bill 3814, which seeks to increase GOMESA revenue sharing with Gulf Coast States to a level that is more on par with the revenue sharing with onshore mineral production states.
Body
WHEREAS, many of the energy resources enjoyed by the entire United States are dependent upon the health of Gulf Coast ecosystems which provide access to those resources and related infrastructure and protection for communities that house its workforce; and,
WHEREAS, Louisiana is home to 30 percent of the nation's wetlands and 90 percent of its wetland loss, a crisis that impacts communities, ecosystems, and the very economic engines that contribute to the nation's energy security; and,
WHEREAS, this impacted area is home to half the country's oil refineries and pipelines serving 90 percent of the nation's federal offshore energy production; and,
WHEREAS, under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920, 50 percent of the mineral funds generated from federal lands onshore are shared with the host state to offset impacts of the federal mineral development - and there is no cap on the revenue shared with the host state; and,
WHEREAS, only a small portion of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leases active since 2006 are eligible for GOMESA revenue sharing with the Gulf states, Gulf states and their coastal political subdivisions receive 37.5 percent, not 50 percent, of such federal revenue; and the four GOMESA states are capped at a total of $375 million of revenue sharing annually; and,
WHEREAS, in 2018, this resulted in only 4.97 percent of Gulf of Mexico offshore mineral revenues being shared with Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama combined; and,
WHEREAS, Louisiana's ambitious coastal protection and restoration program ...
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