SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Baldwin County inched closer Tuesday to collecting almost $7 million in federal coastal restoration grants when Alabama’s $51.1 million Coastal Impact Assistance Program Plan received approval Tuesday from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Services.

“I applaud the state of Alabama for submitting such a strong and balanced plan for the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, so we can put these funds to work,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

The Coastal Impact Assistance Program, mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, authorizes funds to be dispersed to states adjacent to Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing areas “to mitigate the impacts of that energy development on marine and coastal areas.”

The state’s comprehensive plan is expected to fund as many as 129 programs and initiatives designed to conserve, protect, restore and enhance the state’s shoreline environments over the next four years.

Alabama joined Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, California and Alaska in receiving approval to pursue its share of almost $500 million in assistance program funds.

Alabama’s plan includes 75 projects—encompassing both Mobile and Baldwin counties—totaling $90 million over four years. Specifically, Alabama received an allocation of $25.5 million for both fiscal years 2007 and 2008. Lease sales executed in Alaska during the review process then shifted dramatically the amount that state received and decreased Alabama’s allocations for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 by almost 23 percent to $19.7 million. All projects must be completed by 2014.

Of the $25.5 million annually to be allocated for the first two years of the program, the state will receive $16.6 million, or 65 percent, directly, while Baldwin and Mobile counties will share $8.9 million. Details of the grant are available at www.grants.gov.

Now that the plan has been approved, respective agencies and governmental bodies can soon begin the grant approval process to claim their portions of the funding. In fact, grant workshops will be scheduled throughout the summer to help walk petitioning parties through the process.

Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the federal Minerals Management Service, attended Tuesday’s plan approval announcement at the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center and said Alabama’s projects will include everything from wetland protection to the implementation of marine, coastal and comprehensive management plans.