RESTORE Act

On September 9, 2012, the Board of County Commissioners received a briefing from the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) detailing the manner in which the fines to be imposed upon the BP Oil Company for the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill will be distributed to the affected states of the Gulf and, more importantly, to the State of Florida. A distribution of fines within the state of Florida are described in the Congressional RESTORE Act of 2012 calling for approximately 1/3 of the total funds to be distributed under the direction of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, 1/3 to be distributed to Gulf Coastal Counties impacted directly or indirectly by the oil spill and acting as a "consortium" and roughly 1/3 to be distributed directly to those same affected Counties on the basis of a weighted calculation which includes population, per capita sales tax, and distance from the spill for each of the affected Counties.

The funds coming to the Gulf Coast Counties impacted directly or indirectly by the oil spill are to be distributed for projects focused on environmental restoration, mitigation, economic development and job creation, seafood and tourism promotion. As mentioned above, the governance for this section of fine distribution is described in the RESTORE Act as being provided by a "consortium" of the affected Counties that includes at least one representative from each affected County.

In the attached "Gulf Consortium Formation and Structure Memorandum," dated September 14, 2012, the FAC representatives describe that the Gulf Consortium can be created by adoption of the attached interlocal agreement by the 23 "affected counties". Without such governance structure, the distribution of funds under this formula could by default, be administered by the Florida legislature and the Governor's Office. FAC clearly points out that the governance structure by consortium of the 23 affected counties is not mandatory. Every county along the Gulf Coast of Florida has the right to join the Gulf Consortium by adopting the interlocal agreement and causing it to be recorded. Any member may withdraw from the Consortium at any time.

The September 14, 2012 FAC memorandum adequately describes the structure of the Gulf Consortium, the responsibilities, authorities and limitations of its members, and budgets. Notably with the formation of the Gulf Consortium, an interim budget is authorized with each participating County contributing a nominal amount for initial cost during the interim period of the Consortium formation. Once formed, the Gulf Consortium members will appoint an "executive" committee from its membership who will act on behalf of the Consortium to hire an Executive Director, support staff, and other activities to carry out the process of managing the distribution of hundreds of millions of  funds anticipated to be allocated to the Consortium under the BP settlement. A complete budget to support the adminuistrative functions of the Consortium over the long term will be developed annually and approved by the membership.

In the attached undated memorandum from the FAC under the subject heading "Transition Budget", FAC is asking the 23 Gulf Counties reimburse FAC for the investments being made to create the Consortium. Should any funds remain from the transition period, they will be transferred to the Consortium. Further, the Transition Budget memorandum states:

   "The Transition Budget is not a bill for developing the interlocal agreement (ILA) and is not a fee for joining the Gulf Consortium. If approved by a majority of affected counties, the Transition Budget will be presented to the FAC Executive Committee for approval and invoicing."

The total proposed transition budget is estimated at $53,000 to carry FAC activities from the period of July 1, 2012 through December 1, 2012. Under an allocation formula for all participating Counties in accordance with the funding formula stated elsewhere in the RESTORE Act, Manatee County's share of the total transition budget is identified as $1,120. Staff recommends funding of the transition budget amount requested by FAC from the General Fund General County account.

The County Attorney has reviewed the execution document for the "Interlocal Agreement Relating To the Establishment for the Gulf Consortium" and has determined that the structure, form and requirements for County participation are acceptable but caution that careful monitoring of the consortium expenses be followed by Manatee County and its staff to insure that the administrative costs are proportional to the benefit returned to the County. The Department of Natural Resources, through the County Administrator, accepts this responsibility to advise the Board accordingly.

In the meeting of the affected Counties hosted by FAC in St. Petersburg, Florida on September 19, 2012, an informal poll was taken by the assembled County representatives to determine support for the interlocal agreement and the role that FAC would play in providing guidance to the consortium. With few exceptions and concerns expressed by the individual members, there was near unanimous support for moving forward with the structure and governance model set forth in the interlocal agreement.

Accordingly , staff recommends approval of Resolution R-12-122, approving the form of the interlocal agreement that admits Manatee County as a member of the Gulf Consortium; and authorizing the Gulf Consortium to act on the county's behalf in the implementation of the RESTORE Act in accordance with the interlocal agreement.