The Coastal Protection and Restoration Board, with the CPRA’s guidance, is required by a 2009 Louisiana law to produce a plan annually projecting anticipated revenues, expenditures, and restoration and protection project priorities for three fiscal years and detailing progress since the last annual plan. (The State’s fiscal calendar runs from July 1 to June 30.)  

Known as the Annual Plan, the document includes an inventory, or list, of the restoration and protection projects that have been completed. The annual plan also includes projects in the process of planning, engineering, construction, and permitting, including project schedules, funding sources, and budgets. This information is included for the next three fiscal years. In the Annual Plan, you can also find a list of current CPRA board members, summaries of work completed the prior year, highlights of certain projects, and breakdowns in spending. 

It is essential to note the plan is only an authorization or approval to spend money on projects outlined but is not an actual appropriation (or commitment) of those dollars.    

The plan is typically released at the beginning of the calendar year, presented to the CPRA Board in draft form, then is vetted through public meetings. The CPRA board then approves and sends the revised version to the Louisiana Legislature in its regular spring session, where it receives approval from four committees: House and Senate Natural Resources and House and Senate Transportation. The Annual Plan then receives an up or down vote by the full legislature, and because it is presented as a resolution, it is not subject to line-item changes, meaning lawmakers cannot strike any one particular project out of the plan or even add a project.  

Geography: 20 coastal parishes from the Texas to Mississippi borders  

State Entities Involved: The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, House and Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committees, Full Legislature 

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