NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Four Gulf of Mexico states and their coastal counties are getting nearly $188 million in revenue-sharing funds as the offshore leasing area s involved expand.
The money must be used for coastal conservation, restoration and hurricane protection.
An Interior Department news release Thursday says Louisiana is getting a total of about $82 million, with more than $50 million going to Texas, nearly $28 million to Mississippi and almost $27 million to Alabama.
The state shares of those totals are $66.3 million for Louisiana, $40.5 million for Texas, $22.2 million for Mississippi and $21.4 million for Alabama.
Congress approved the revenue-sharing program in 2006. For the first 10 years, it covered a smaller leasing area in the Gulf of Mexico. The states and counties got about $37 million over those years.