RESTORE Act
The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Act established the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund to allocate penalties paid from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig drilling explosion and offshore oil spill. The Trust Fund is distributed by federal agencies or councils through five different components.
View the current Trust Fund allocations for each of the five Gulf Coast states, including the 23 Florida counties. Pinellas County has opportunities to apply for grant awards through the Direct Component, the Comprehensive Plan Component or the Spill Impact Component.
Direct Component
Awards are administered by the U.S. Treasury, which approved the Pinellas County Multiyear Implementation Plan (MYIP) in November 2015 to fund four initial MYIP project applications.
Comprehensive Plan Component
Awards are administered by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. Pinellas County is currently a subrecipient of an award through the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
Spill Impact Component
Awards are administered by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council through Florida’s Gulf Consortium. The Consortium is a public entity created in October 2012 and approved by the State Expenditure Plan for economic and environmental recovery of the Gulf coast.
Resource Links
- Ocean Conservancy Deepwater Horizon Flowchart
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) — About the RESTORE Act
- Gulf Restoration Council
- National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund
- Pinellas County’s BP Economic Fund Claims (Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2010)