by Cameron Smith
By now, it's no secret that many coastal residents aren't happy with the proposed settlement between BP, the federal government, and the five Gulf Coast states. They have until December 4th to make their thoughts known to the U.S. Department of Justice before the consent decree is finalized.
But this is more than simply wanting a pound of flesh from BP after the oil spill. The final settlement consent decree provides for $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act (CWA) civil penalties. That means the actual penalty assessed ($1,724 per barrel of oil) is 60 percent less than the maximum allowable under law.
Why does that matter to coastal residents?
In 2012, Congress passed the Resources and Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Act. The law redirects 80 percent of those CWA penalties in a manner that affords local and regional officials significantly more control over restoring the economic and environmental damage inflicted on their communities.
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