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LAPLACE — Proposed cuts to Louisiana’s 2021 budget could disrupt the state’s plan to pay for its share of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Levee Project, officials said Thursday evening.

The Louisiana House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations amended House Bill 2 to cut and repurpose $117 million of 2019 surplus revenue from the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Trust Fund. Earlier this year, Governor John Bel Edwards publicly supported using these surplus funds for the West Shore Levee and other coastal restoration efforts.

When full federal funding for the $760 million West Shore Levee Project was awarded in 2018 through the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, it was announced the state would have to repay 35 percent of the cost.

“We’re on the hook for roughly 266 million,” said Bren Haase, executive director of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. “The state was fortunate enough to be blessed with some surplus dollars from the 2019 fiscal year. The administration supported identifying some of those funds to serve as part of our cost share for this project.”

There are a couple of reasons why this situation is unique, according to Haase.

First, the surplus funding would allow the state to design and construct a portion of the West Shore Levee Project, which will stretch for roughly 18.5 miles and provide flood protection to more than 60,000 residents in the River Parishes.

“By constructing a portion of the levee, we could pay for most of our cost share up front and eliminate the need for the majority of our payments down the line, which could result in significant costs to the state in the future,” Haase said.

If surplus funds are not available, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will construct the entirety of the project with federal funding, and the state will have to pay much more interest over the next 30 years.

Haase compared it to the situation the state is in with the Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS Project) constructed in and around New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.

“Roughly 2/3 of what we’re paying for the HSDRRS Project is interest,” he said. “We’re trying to avoid that situation.”

Constructing a portion of the levee would also allow the state to integrate the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Levee with the Maurepas Diversion Project for greater costs savings.

According to Haase, the state has received approximately $130 million in RESTORE funding that could potentially be in jeopardy if the state cannot use the surplus funds to build the West Shore and Maurepas projects together.

The RESTORE funding comes from administrative and civil penalties resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“There is potential that the Maurepas Diversion could be used at least in part as mitigation for the levee project. It would go a long way toward us covering part of this cost share for the West Shore Levee project,” Haase said. “All of these things have to fall into place for it to work. It’s a complicated puzzle, and without the funding for us to be able to design and build a portion of the levee, the whole thing falls apart.”

In order for the House Bill 2 amendments to go into effect, the House of Representatives and the Senate would need to approve the state budget by June 1.

St. John Parish President Jaclyn Hotard took quick action against the amendment by submitting a letter of opposition, signed by herself and parish presidents Matt Jewell and Pete Dufresne, to the Louisiana House of Representatives.

This week, the St. John Parish Council unanimously approved a resolution in strong opposition to House Bill 2, urging the House to immediately remove the amendment and reinstate the $117 million to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Trust Fund.

“These projects are critical to St. John the Baptist Parish and we strongly urge opposition to these amendments,” Parish President Hotard said.

Hotard remains in constant communication with the chairman of the Coastal Protection Restoration Agency as well as members of the state delegation working diligently toward the removal of this amendment.

Residents are urged to contact local state officials and request their opposition to the amendment. Contact information can be found at http://sjbparish.com/government_general.php?id=37

Stay tuned to L’OBSERVATEUR, sjbparish.com, St. John the Baptist Parish on social media and the Government Access Channel (15/99) for updates.