U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

MMS Awards Cooperative Agreement for $10 Million to
Louisiana State University

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced today that a second $10 million Cooperative Agreement has been awarded to Louisiana State University (LSU) under the Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) Program.  To date, MMS and LSU have each contributed approximately $12 million to fund the CMI Program.

“The CMI Program provides an excellent means of building partnerships with States in strengthening environmental, social, and economic studies,” Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Chris Oynes said.  “These studies will provide both MMS and the State of Louisiana with the best scientific information possible upon which to base decisions about natural gas and oil activities.”

The most recent CMI Agreement will provide funding for an additional 5 years for individual Task Orders.  Topics of special interest related to the oil and gas industry arise from year to year and are nominated annually by the researchers of the Louisiana State University System.  To be funded, the proposed research must be relevant to informational needs of the State and MMS with a match funding on a one-to-one basis.

This Agreement will provide for funding to continue research to determine the effect on regional environmental and socio-economic issues related to the area; the research will cover various areas of interest such as atmospheric science, cultural resources, physical oceanography, and endangered species.

Participation in the CMI program is restricted to LSU and other affiliated State universities, as well as the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON),  However, investigators at other institutions (even other states) may take part as Co-Principal Investigators.

The MMS’s funds will be matched by contributions of both funding and in-kind services from LSU and industry.  The MMS Gulf of Mexico Environmental Studies Program has funded $170 million in scientific research and marine habitat studies since 1974.  A large percentage of these studies are performed under Agreements with State and academic institutions.

MMS is the Federal Agency that manages the Nation’s natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the OCS, and collects, accounts for and distributes about $6 billion in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.

-MMS-GOM-

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