The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Welcomes Project Ideas for the 2026 Mississippi Multiyear Implementation Plan Amendment and the Mississippi State Expenditure Plan Amendment

The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act) established a new Trust Fund in the Treasury of the United States known as the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. Eighty percent of the civil penalties paid after July 6, 2012, under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321) in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be deposited into the Trust Fund and invested. Trust Fund amounts will be available for programs, projects, and activities described in the RESTORE Act.

Two of the programs are the Direct Component (Bucket 1), administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Spill Impact Component-Gulf RESTORE Program (Bucket 3), administered by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. These components required Mississippi, through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), to prepare a Multiyear Implementation Plan (MIP, Bucket 1, 2016) and a State Expenditure Plan (SEP, Bucket 3, 2017) describing each activity, project or program for which Mississippi seeks funding. These plans are periodically amended.

· In preparation of the upcoming amendments for both plans, we welcome you to submit new restoration project ideas or revise previously submitted ideas in the project portal · Mississippi Restoration Project Portal

Please note that the project portal is always available for project idea submissions. In order to allow sufficient time for the Governor’s Gulf Coast Advisory Committee to review new and revised projects, please provide or update your project(s) ideas by May 15, 2026.

Thank you for your engagement in this process. We look forward to considering your restoration project ideas.

Questions about project portal idea submissions may be emailed to: restore.portal@mdeq.ms.gov

*Funding for all projects included on the amended MIP is subject to approval by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Inclusion of a project in the amended MIP does not guarantee funding.

* Funding for all projects included on the amended SEP is subject to approval by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. Inclusion of a project in the amended SEP does not guarantee funding.