Ivey announces $41 million in GOMESA funding for Mobile, Baldwin County projects
Gov. Kay Ivey announced $41 million in GOMESA funding for Mobile and Baldwin counties, including a $8.5 million Spanish Fort land preservation project.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey joined state and local officials to announce how $41 million in Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) funding will be spent in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Among the largest allocations is $8.5 million for the City of Spanish Fort’s Cypress Point land acquisition, preserving 142 acres linking Bay Minette Creek to the Mobile River Delta. Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan said the purchase protects one of Baldwin County’s unspoiled gems from overdevelopment and could become a waterfront park with walking trails, piers and public access.
The GOMESA program directs a share of federal offshore energy revenue to coastal states for conservation, recreation and shoreline projects. Additional funded work spans public access, environmental restoration and community amenities across the two counties.
How GOMESA works
Congress passed the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act in 2006. Under the law, 37.5 percent of qualified federal revenue from certain offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf is shared with Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and their coastal counties and parishes, and another 12.5 percent goes to the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The total shared each year is generally capped at $500 million.
