Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Trustees Announce Major Progress in Gulf Restoration Effort, Really?

News from the Department of the Interior: “An estimated $60 million in early restoration projects soon will begin along the Gulf Coast following the nation’s largest oil spill, the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustee Council announced. With finalization of the “Deepwater Horizon Phase I Early Restoration Plan & Environmental Assessment” (ERP/EA), eight restoration projects will be implemented. The projects provide for marsh creation, coastal dune habitat improvements, nearshore artificial reef creation, and oyster cultch restoration, as well as the construction and enhancement of boat ramps to compensate for lost human use of resources. The ERP/EA is the first early restoration plan under the unprecedented April 2011 agreement with BP to fund $1 billion in early restoration projects. The funding enables the trustees to begin restoration before the completion of damage assessment activities….In addition to speaking at meetings, hundreds of citizens filed comments by mail and online…The comments, as well as trustee responses to them, are included in the Phase I plan, which can be reviewed at here and here.”

Really?  But see the latest “tort reform” from the Congress:  H.R.4345, titled, “Domestic Fuels Protection Act of 2012” and its companion in the Senate, S.2264, titled, “Domestic Fuels Act of 2012”.