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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 24, 2008
Gulf of Mexico Restoration and Protection Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reestablish the Program Office of the Gulf of Mexico Program as an office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to be headed by a Director. Requires the Office to: (1) coordinate the actions of EPA and of other federal agencies and state and local authorities; (2) assist in developing specific action plans to carry out the program; (3) coordinate and implement priority state- and community-led restoration plans and projects and facilitate activities that support the program; (4) implement outreach programs to foster stewardship of the Gulf's resources; (5) develop and make available information about the environmental quality and living resources of the Gulf; (6) serve as the liaison with the Mexican members of the Gulf of Mexico States Accord and Mexican counterparts of the EPA; and (7) focus on activities that will result in measurable improvements to water quality and living resources of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
Authorizes the EPA Administrator to enter into interagency agreements to carry out this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to provide grants for use in: (1) monitoring the water quality and living resources of the Gulf ecosystem; (2) researching the effects of environmental changes on such water quality and resources; (3) developing cooperative strategies that address the water quality and needs of Gulf resources; (4) developing locally-based protection and restoration programs or projects within a watershed that complement those strategies; and (5) eliminating or reducing point sources that discharge pollutants that contaminate the Gulf ecosystem.
People & committees
Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] · R–MS
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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