2026 Funded Priorities List

Draft 2026 Funded Priorities List

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council or Council) proposes to commit approximately $403,654,000 in new funding for water quality improvement, habitat conservation and restoration, and other ecosystem projects and programs across the Gulf Coast, pursuant to the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies Act of the Gulf Coast States of 2012 (33 U.S.C. § 1321(t) and note) (RESTORE Act). This 2026 Funded Priorities List (FPL) proposal includes 19 ecosystem restoration projects and programs which build upon over $685 million in restoration activities previously identified by the Council. With these additional funds, the RESTORE Council will have committed over $1 Billion for restoration activities across the Gulf Coast under the Council-Selected Restoration Component of the RESTORE Act. In addition, the RESTORE Council proposes to reallocate $9,605,860 in savings from previously approved projects and programs to further support activities in this draft FPL. This draft 2026 FPL proposal also includes updates to the RESTORE 2022 Comprehensive Plan. Members of the public are invited to provide comments on this proposal.

More detail on the proposed 2026 FPL activities is provided in the table below, along with links to associated documents, including best available science reviews and environmental compliance documentation, where applicable. For projects marked as N/A, the best available science reviews can be found in the 2026 FPL Proposal Package.

Geographic Area	New 2026 FPL Proposal Packages	Previous FPL Proposal Package (with associated documents)	Factsheet
Coastal Texas, Chenier Plain, Texas-Louisiana	Managing Wetlands Migration Corridors and Natural Floodways Program	N/A	Factsheet
	Oyster Reef Restoration Program	N/A	Factsheet
	Protecting and Restoring Waterbird Rookery Habitat Program	N/A	Factsheet
	Colonial Waterbird Rookery Island Restoration	N/A	Factsheet
	Development of Indicators and Identification of Thresholds to Support Reef Restoration - Environmental Compliance	N/A	Factsheet
	Wind-Tidal Flat Restoration Pilot, Phase 2	DOI Decommissioning Onshore Orphaned Energy Facilities on NPS and FWS lands (includes Wind-Tidal Flat Restoration Pilot - FPL 3b) - Environmental Compliance	Factsheet
Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana- Mississippi	Chandeleur Islands Restoration Project	N/A	Factsheet
Mississippi Sound, Mississippi- Alabama	Restoration of Grand Batture Island (joint project with Mississippi and Alabama)	N/A	Factsheet
	Coastal Nearshore Habitat Restoration and Development Program	MS Coastal Nearshore Habitat Restoration and Development Program - FPL 3b	Factsheet
Mobile Bay and Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Perdido Bay and River	Coastal Alabama Regional Water Quality Program	AL WQ Program Proposal Package - FPL3b	Factsheet
	Upper Mobile Bay Beneficial Use Wetland Creation Site	AL Upper Mobile Bay Beneficial Use Wetland Creation Site (Planning) - Initial FPL	Factsheet
	West End Dauphin Island, Alabama Renourishment and Resilience	N/A	Factsheet
Coastal Florida	Florida Gulf Coast Resilience Program	FL Gulf Coast Resilience Program - FPL 3b	Factsheet
	Florida Gulf Coast Tributaries Hydrologic Restoration Program	FL Gulf Coast Tributaries Hydrologic Restoration Program Package - FPL 3b	Factsheet
	Florida Water Quality Improvement Program	FL Water Quality Improvement Program Package - FPL 3b	Factsheet
	Enhance Coastal Resilience Through Beach and Dune Restoration, Escambia County - Environmental Compliance	N/A	Factsheet
Gulf-wide	Trash Free Waters Program Benefiting Communities in the Gulf Coast	N/A	Factsheet
	Gulf Coast Conservation Reserve Program	USDA - Gulf Coast Conservation Reserve Program Package - FPL 3b - Environmental Compliance	Factsheet
	Tribal Youth Conservation Corps	DOI BIA - Tribal Youth Coastal Restoration Program Package - FPL 3b - Environmental Compliance	Factsheet

Public Comment Period:

The draft 2026 FPL will be available for public review and comment period beginning November 20, 2025 and ending at 11:59 pm MT Janurary 2, 2026. During this time frame, the Council will provide an overview of the proposed 2026 FPL via live public webinars and in-person meetings, per the schedule provided on the Council’s website.

Draft 2025 FPL Public Comment Webinar and Public Meeting Schedule

Date	Location	Time	Registration Link
Nov 20, 2025	Opening Day Overview Virtual Webinar	1:00 PM CST	Register
Nov 20, 2025	Opening Day Overview Virtual Webinar	6:00 PM CST	Register

The public will be able to provide feedback during the public comment period, both verbally and in writing during public webinars, by email at restorecouncil@restorethegulf.gov.

Future Council Vote:

The Council will review all comments received before the deadline, develop a written response to comments, and consider those comments as it proceeds to finalize the 2026 FPL. The Council will then vote on whether to approve the draft 2026 FPL. It is anticipated that this vote will occur in 2026.

The Council appreciates those stakeholders who are interested in Gulf restoration and participate in the Council’s restoration activities by offering comments during the public comment period. If you are interested in receiving notifications of upcoming webinars, public meetings, or public comment periods, please subscribe to receive the Council’s automatic email updates. There are options to select the “Public Meetings and Public Comment Periods” category, in addition to other categories of interest to you.