GULF SHORES, Ala. – A deal working between BP and the U.S. Justice Department could drastically reduce the amount of BP fine money that ends up in Alabama, Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft and Rep. Jo Bonner said today.

“It’s a huge threat,” Craft said. “It’s absolutely contrary to everything that we have been expecting and told we were going to get.”

Bonner, R-Mobile, who worked hard with Alabama senators and congress members from other coastal states to get the RESTORE Act passed to funnel money to Gulf states, had a similar reaction.

“I think it is an outrage that the Justice Department would even contemplate doing this and it raises the question in my mind, ‘why?’” Bonner, who was traveling in North Alabama today, said. “And if it’s anything other than political then I think everyone who lives on the Gulf Coast who was injured from the Deep Water Horizon tragedy should be up in arms.”

Craft said it was his impression that politics play a big role in this decision especially considering Florida’s likely role in electing the next president.

“It’s kind of like the worst part of politics because the impression I get is that his is being orchestrated for the political gain in the presidential election that if more money can go to Florida then more votes will go to Obama,” he said. “And I think, in my mind, that being a political pawn is just not something that our community deserves after what we’ve been through.”

The deal would take money from the agreed upon fine, which is still being negotiated, and place a smaller amount under the Clean Water Act. Instead, the bulk of the money would be diverted to a Natural Resource Damage Assessment account.

Other settlements between BP and the Justice Department have been proposed, but Bonner says this is the one he is hearing the most about.

“In fairness, the Justice Department has been keeping their cards close to the vest,” he said. “But there have been many signals coming out of Washington that this is something they are actually pursuing.”

NRDA money must be used specifically for ecological projects and would be directed through the U.S. Treasury. Also, money sent to NRDA is tax deductible which would be a big advantage to BP. Clean Water Act fines are not tax deductible.

Bonner said if the fines were paid to the NRDA funds, they would still be directed to the five Gulf Coast states, but the process would be totally different.

“The NRDA fines have a lot more federal strings attached to it,” Bonner said. “So other than have the states and the local communities making decisions on how they would like to see that money invested, you’d have to do on bended knee to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency and these other federal agencies and departments and ask permission on whether or not this program qualifies.”

Craft said NRDA money usage would not be restricted to within 25 miles of the coast.

“So Florida could interject like the Everglades, for example, in some type of programs down there for ecological recovery and restoration that would not have been eligible otherwise which would put them in a position for the lion’s share of the money, along with Louisiana,” Craft said. “We’d have very little in play if that were to happen.”

Bonner said he hopes the proposed new distribution doesn’t break what has been a solid coalition of representatives from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

“We were unified to get the RESTORE Act,” Bonner said. “This would certainly send a terrible signal that the five Gulf Coast states which were on the front lines of the impact are no longer unified. I hope that this is just something that the Justice Department was considering, but perhaps with a little bit more thought to it they will realize this is a bad, raw deal for the people on the Gulf Coast.”

Under the RETSORE Act passed in July, 80 percent of money collected for violation of the Clean Water Act would come to the five Gulf Coast states. The act said the money would have to be spent within 25 miles of coastal areas.

The RESTORE act places the money in three areas, two of which highly involve local officials and one that has limited oversight. Money could be spent to boost tourism, the economy and help on infrastructure.

Some possible projects officials were hoping to apply for RESTORE Act funds to complete include extension of 20^th Street in Gulf Shores through the state park to Canal Road, a Wolf Bay bridge in Orange Beach and repairing the sea wall at Perdido Pass so fishermen can start using that area again.

Craft said the settlement now being considered would not go against the RESTORE Act law because it would still assess a Clean Water Act fine, but much lower than previously hoped for and reducing the amount available to the five coastal states.