July 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 22

ADVOCACY

The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA)
What it means for the future of the LWCF State Assistance Program
By David Tyahla

F

or those of us who closely follow the Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF) State Assistance Program, there's very important news regarding
funding for this critical conservation and recreation priority. And, it comes
as a result of an energy law passed back in 2006.

The LWCF is funded through revenues
generated from oil and gas exploration in
federal waters along the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) of the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, LWCF is NOT funded at the expense
of the individual taxpayer, but rather
through lease and production fees paid by
energy companies. These fees (in the billions of dollars) are collected annually, but
are NOT guaranteed to the LWCF, which
is authorized to receive up to $900 million
each year in support of its broad portfolio
of federal and state land acquisition and
conservation initiatives, including State
Assistance. Congress must still act each
year to determine exactly how much fund20

Parks & Recreation

ing is " appropriated " to the various LWCF
programs - 2016 saw total LWCF dollars
reach $450 million with State Assistance
receiving a major increase to $110 million.
Both amounts represent the highest funding levels in more than a decade.
What Is GOMESA?
While the LWCF Act is more than 50
years old, the focus of this column is on a
much more recent Gulf Coast energy law,
known as the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 or " GOMESA. " This
law was enacted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and, in return for opening up
additional parts of the Gulf of Mexico to

| J U LY 2 0 1 7 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

energy exploration and production, allows
four states - Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas - to share significant oil
and gas revenues produced in the federal
waters located off their coasts. In an effort
to make the proposed law less of a parochial " Gulf Coast " initiative, the measure
included a mandate that a portion of the
overall revenues generated go to the State
Assistance Program so each state could
benefit from these new OCS funds.
It's important to note that this mandate
means that the GOMESA revenues that are
identified for LWCF State Assistance are
guranteed and not subject to annual congressional approval and designation (appropriation)! Furthermore, the law included
tight " caps " on the annual payments for
the first 10 years, a move that facilitated bipartisan passage by lowering the measure's
impact on the federal deficit. So, although



July 2017 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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