$1.4B for hurricane protection projects

Louisiana will be getting $1.4B in federal money - approved by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget - for a variety of flood and hurricane protection projects, including the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain hurricane levee in St. John the Baptist Parish, Comite River Diversion Canal, and flood control projects in East Baton Rouge Parish, according to U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy both of Louisiana. This latest funding raises to $3B the money for flood and hurricane-related projects from a supplemental appropriations bill Congress approved early this year. The lawmakers also won an agreement requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pay the full cost of the Pontchartrain levee up front; and give Louisiana 30 years to repay its 35 percent share. Under normal hurricane protection funding rules, the state would have had to pay 35 percent of levee construction costs as it was being built, in addition to providing the land. (Source: NOLA.com 07/05/18)