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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina-
tion with the Governor of the State of Louisiana,
shall—
(A) develop a plan for protecting, pre-
serving, and restoring the coastal Louisiana eco-
system;
(B) not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 5 years there-
after, submit to Congress the plan, or an update
of the plan; and
(C) ensure that the plan is fully integrated
with the analysis and design of comprehensive
hurricane protection authorized by title I of the
Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Act, 2006 (Public Law 109–103; 119 Stat.
2247).
(2) INCLUSIONS.—The comprehensive plan shall
include a description of—
(A) the framework of a long-term program
that provides for the comprehensive protection,
conservation, and restoration of the wetlands, es-
tuaries (including the Barataria-Terrebonne es-
tuary), barrier islands, shorelines, and related
land and features of the coastal Louisiana eco-
system, including protection of a critical re-
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source, habitat, or infrastructure from the effects
of a coastal storm, a hurricane, erosion, or sub-
sidence;
(B) the means by which a new technology,
or an improved technique, can be integrated into
the program under subsection (a);
(C) the role of other Federal agencies and
programs in carrying out the program under
subsection (a); and
(D) specific, measurable ecological success
criteria by which success of the comprehensive
plan shall be measured.
(3) CONSIDERATION.—In developing the com-
prehensive plan, the Secretary shall consider the ad-
visability of integrating into the program under sub-
section (a)—
(A) a related Federal or State project car-
ried out on the date on which the plan is devel-
oped;
(B) an activity in the Louisiana Coastal
Area; or
(C) any other project or activity identified
in—
(i) the Mississippi River and Tribu-
taries program;
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(ii) the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands
Conservation Plan;
(iii) the Louisiana Coastal Zone Man-
agement Plan;
(iv) the plan of the State of Louisiana
entitled ‘‘Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable
Coastal Louisiana’’; or
(v) the Comprehensive Master Coastal
Protection Plan authorized and defined by
Act 8 of the First Extraordinary Session of
the Louisiana State Legislature, 2005.
(i) TASK FORCE.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a
task force to be known as the ‘‘Coastal Louisiana Eco-
system Protection and Restoration Task Force’’ (re-
ferred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Task Force’’).
(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall consist
of the following members (or, in the case of the head
of a Federal agency, a designee at the level of Assist-
ant Secretary or an equivalent level):
(A) The Secretary.
(B) The Secretary of the Interior.
(C) The Secretary of Commerce.
(D) The Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
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(E) The Secretary of Agriculture.
(F) The Secretary of Transportation.
(G) The Secretary of Energy.
(H) The Secretary of Homeland Security.
(I) 3 representatives of the State of Lou-
isiana appointed by the Governor of that State.
(3) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall make rec-
ommendations to the Secretary regarding—
(A) policies, strategies, plans, programs,
projects, and activities for addressing conserva-
tion, protection, restoration, and maintenance of
the coastal Louisiana ecosystem;
(B) financial participation by each agency
represented on the Task Force in conserving, pro-
tecting, restoring, and maintaining the coastal
Louisiana 
ecosystem, 
including
recommendations—
(i) that identify funds from current
agency missions and budgets; and
(ii) for coordinating individual agency
budget requests; and
(C) the comprehensive plan under sub-
section (h).
(4) WORKING GROUPS.—
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force may es-
tablish such working groups as the Task Force
determines to be necessary to assist the Task
Force in carrying out this subsection.
(B) INTEGRATION TEAM.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall
establish, for the purposes described in
clause (ii), an integration team comprised
of—
(I) independent experts with expe-
rience relating to—
(aa) coastal estuaries;
(bb) diversions;
(cc) coastal restoration;
(dd) wetlands protection;
(ee) ecosystem restoration;
(ff) hurricane protection;
(gg) storm damage reduction
systems; and
(hh) navigation and ports;
and
(II) representatives of—
(aa) the State of Louisiana;
and
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(bb) local governments in
southern Louisiana.
(ii) PURPOSES.—The purposes referred
to in clause (i) are—
(I) to advise the Task Force and
the Secretary regarding opportunities
to integrate the planning, engineering,
design, implementation, and perform-
ance of Corps of Engineers projects for
hurricane and storm damage reduc-
tion, flood damage reduction, ecosystem
restoration, and navigation in areas of
Louisiana declared to be a major dis-
aster as a result of Hurricane Katrina
or Rita;
(II) to review reports relating to
the performance of, and recommenda-
tions relating to the future perform-
ance of, the hurricane, coastal, and
flood protection systems in southern
Louisiana, including the reports issued
by the Interagency Performance Eval-
uation Team, the National Science
Foundation, the American Society of
Civil Engineers, and Team Louisiana
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to advise the Task Force and the Sec-
retary on opportunities to improve the
performance of the protection systems;
and
(III) to carry out such other du-
ties as the Task Force or the Secretary
determine to be appropriate.
(5) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not
apply to the Task Force or any working group of the
Task Force.
(j) SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish
a coastal Louisiana ecosystem science and technology
program.
(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program es-
tablished by paragraph (1) shall be—
(A) to identify any uncertainty relating to
the physical, chemical, geological, biological, and
cultural baseline conditions in coastal Lou-
isiana;
(B) to improve knowledge of the physical,
chemical, geological, biological, and cultural
baseline conditions in coastal Louisiana; and
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(C) to identify and develop technologies,
models, and methods to carry out this subsection.
(3) WORKING GROUPS.—The Secretary may es-
tablish such working groups as the Secretary deter-
mines to be necessary to assist the Secretary in car-
rying out this subsection.
(4) CONTRACTS
AND
COOPERATIVE
AGREE-
MENTS.—In carrying out this subsection, the Sec-
retary may enter into a contract or cooperative agree-
ment with an individual or entity (including a con-
sortium of academic institutions in Louisiana) with
scientific or engineering expertise in the restoration of
aquatic and marine ecosystems for coastal restoration
and enhancement through science and technology.
(k) ANALYSIS OF BENEFITS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 209
of the Flood Control Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 1962–2)
or any other provision of law, in carrying out an ac-
tivity to conserve, protect, restore, or maintain the
coastal Louisiana ecosystem, the Secretary may deter-
mine that the environmental benefits provided by the
program under this section outweigh the disadvantage
of an activity under this section.
(2) DETERMINATION OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—
If the Secretary determines that an activity under
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this section is cost-effective, no further economic jus-
tification for the activity shall be required.
(l) STUDIES.—
(1) DEGRADATION.—Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary,
in consultation with the non-Federal interest, shall
enter into a contract with the National Academy of
Sciences under which the National Academy of
Sciences shall carry out a study to identify—
(A) the cause of any degradation of the
Louisiana Coastal Area ecosystem that occurred
as a result of an activity approved by the Sec-
retary; and
(B) the sources of the degradation.
(2) FINANCING.—On completion, and taking into
account the results, of the study conducted under
paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation with the
non-Federal interest, shall study—
(A) financing alternatives for the program
under subsection (a); and
(B) potential reductions in the expenditure
of Federal funds in emergency responses that
would occur as a result of ecosystem restoration
in the Louisiana Coastal Area.
(m) PROJECT MODIFICATIONS.—
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(1) REVIEW.—The Secretary, in cooperation
with any non-Federal interest, shall review each fed-
erally-authorized water resources project in the coast-
al Louisiana area in existence on the date of enact-
ment of this Act to determine whether—
(A) each project is in accordance with the
program under subsection (a); and
(B) the project could contribute to ecosystem
restoration under subsection (a) through modi-
fication of the operations or features of the
project.
(2) MODIFICATIONS.—Subject to paragraphs (3)
and (4), the Secretary may carry out the modifica-
tions described in paragraph (1)(B).
(3) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Before com-
pleting the report required under paragraph (4), the
Secretary shall provide an opportunity for public no-
tice and comment.
(4) REPORT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Before modifying an op-
eration or feature of a project under paragraph
(1)(B), the Secretary shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Environment and Public Works of the
Senate and the Committee on Transportation
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and Infrastructure of the House of Representa-
tives a report describing the modification.
(B) INCLUSION.—A report under subpara-
graph (A) shall include such information relat-
ing to the timeline and cost of a modification as
the Secretary determines to be relevant.
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this subsection $10,000,000.
(n) LOUISIANA WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL.—The
Secretary shall establish a council, to be known as the ‘‘Lou-
isiana Water Resources Council’’, which shall serve as the
exclusive peer review panel for activities conducted by the
Corps of Engineers in the areas in the State of Louisiana
declared as major disaster areas in accordance with section
401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) in response to Hur-
ricane Katrina or Rita of 2005, in accordance with the re-
quirements of section 2007.
(o) EXTERNAL REVIEW.—The Secretary shall enter
into a contract with the National Academy of Science to
perform an external review of the demonstration program
under subsection (d), and the results of the review shall be
submitted to the Committee on Environment and Public
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Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
(p) NEW ORLEANS AND VICINITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized—
(A) to raise levee heights as necessary, and
to otherwise enhance the Lake Pontchartrain and
Vicinity Project and the West Bank and Vicinity
Project to provide the levels of protection nec-
essary to achieve the certification required for the
100-year level of flood protection, in accordance
with the National Flood Insurance Program
under the base flood elevations current at the
time of the construction;
(B) to modify the 17th Street, Orleans Ave-
nue, and London Avenue drainage canals, in-
cluding installing pumps and closure structures
at or near the lakefront at Lake Pontchartrain;
(C) to armor critical elements of the New
Orleans hurricane and storm damage reduction
system;
(D) to improve and otherwise modify the
Inner Harbor Navigation Canal to increase the
reliability of the flood protection system for the
city of New Orleans;
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(E) to replace or modify certain non-Fed-
eral levees in Plaquemines Parish to incorporate
the levees into the New Orleans to Venice Hurri-
cane Protection Project;
(F) to reinforce or replace flood walls in the
existing 
Lake 
Pontchartrain 
and 
Vicinity
Project and the existing West Bank and Vicinity
Project to improve performance of the flood pro-
tection systems;
(G) to perform onetime storm-proofing of
interior pump stations to ensure the operability
of the stations during hurricanes, storms, and
high-water events;
(H) to repair, replace, modify, and improve
non-Federal levees and associated protection
measures in Terrebonne Parish; and
(I) to reduce the risk of storm damage to the
greater New Orleans metropolitan area by restor-
ing the surrounding wetlands through—
(i) measures to begin to reverse wet-
land losses in areas affected by navigation,
oil and gas exploration and extraction, and
other channels; and
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(ii) modification of the Caernarvon
Freshwater Diversion structure or its oper-
ations.
(2) FUNDING
AUTHORITY.—An activity under
paragraph (1) shall be carried out in accordance with
the cost-sharing requirements of the Emergency Sup-
plemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global
War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Pub-
lic Law 109–234; 120 Stat. 418).
(3) CONDITIONS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Environment and Pub-
lic Works of the Senate and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House
of Representatives a notice in any case in which
an estimate for the expenditure of funds on any
project or activity described in paragraph (1) ex-
ceeds the amount specified for that project or ac-
tivity in the Emergency Supplemental Appro-
priations Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 (Public
Law 109–234; 120 Stat. 418).
(B) APPROPRIATIONS LIMITATION.—No ap-
propriation in excess of an amount equal to 25
percent more than the amount specified for a
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project or activity in that Act shall be made
until an increase in the level of expenditure has
been approved by resolutions adopted by the
Committees referred to in subparagraph (A).
(q) LAROSE TO GOLDEN MEADOW.—
(1) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Environment and Public
Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa-
tives a report describing any modification required to
the project for flood damage reduction, Larose to
Golden Meadow, Louisiana, to achieve the certifi-
cation necessary for participation in the National
Flood Insurance Program.
(2) MODIFICATIONS.—The Secretary is author-
ized to carry out a modification described in para-
graph (1) if—
(A) the Secretary submits a recommenda-
tion for authorization of the modification in the
report under paragraph (1); and
(B) the total cost of the modification does
not exceed $90,000,000.
(3) REQUIREMENT.—No appropriation shall be
made to construct any modification under this sub-
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section if the report under paragraph (1) has not been
approved by resolutions adopted by the Committee on
Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives.
(4) CREDIT.—The Secretary shall credit to the
non-Federal share of the cost of the project under this
subsection any amount otherwise eligible to be cred-
ited under section 221 of the Flood Control Act of
1970 (42 U.S.C. 1962d–5b) (as amended by section
2001).
(r) CONSOLIDATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may consoli-
date the flood damage reduction projects in Lower
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, that have been identified
for implementation under section 205 of the Flood
Control Act of 1948 (33 U.S.C. 701s) as of the date
of enactment of this Act.
(2) TOTAL COST.—The Secretary may implement
the consolidated project referred to in paragraph (1)
if the total cost of the consolidated project does not ex-
ceed $100,000,000.
(s) MISSISSIPPI RIVER GULF OUTLET.—
(1) DEAUTHORIZATION.—
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(A) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning on
the date of submission of the plan required under
subparagraph (C), the navigation channel por-
tion of the project for navigation, Mississippi
River Gulf outlet, authorized by the Act of March
29, 1956 (70 Stat. 65, chapter 112;100 Stat.
4177; 110 Stat. 3717), which extends from the
Gulf of Mexico to Mile 60 at the southern bank
of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, is not au-
thorized.
(B) SCOPE.—Nothing in this paragraph
modifies or deauthorizes the Inner Harbor navi-
gation canal replacement project authorized by
that Act.
(C) CLOSURE AND RESTORATION PLAN.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committee
on Environment and Public Works of the
Senate and the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives a final report on the de-
authorization of the Mississippi River Gulf
outlet, as described under the heading ‘‘IN-
VESTIGATIONS’’ under chapter 3 of title II
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of the Emergency Supplemental Appropria-
tions Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006
(Public Law 109–234; 120 Stat. 453).
(ii) INCLUSIONS.—At a minimum, the
report under clause (i) shall include—
(I) a comprehensive plan to de-
authorize navigation on the Mis-
sissippi River Gulf outlet;
(II) a plan to physically modify
the Mississippi River Gulf outlet and
restore the areas affected by the navi-
gation channel;
(III) a plan to restore natural
features of the ecosystem that will re-
duce or prevent damage from storm
surge;
(IV) a plan to prevent the intru-
sion of saltwater into the waterway;
(V) efforts to integrate the rec-
ommendations of this report with the
program authorized under subsection
(a) and the analysis and design au-
thorized by title I of the Energy and
Water Develop Appropriations Act,
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2006 (Public Law 109–103; 119 Stat.
2247); and
(VI) consideration of—
(aa) use of native vegetation;
and
(bb) diversions of fresh water
to restore the Lake Borgne eco-
system.
(D) CONSTRUCTION.—The Secretary shall
carry out a plan to close the Mississippi River
Gulf outlet and restore and protect the ecosystem
substantially in accordance with the plan re-
quired under subparagraph (C), if the Secretary
determines that the project is cost-effective, envi-
ronmentally acceptable, and technically feasible.
(t) HURRICANE AND STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION.—
With respect to the projects identified in the analysis and
design of comprehensive hurricane protection authorized by
title I of the Energy and Water Development Appropria-
tions Act, 2006 (Public Law 109–103; 119 Stat. 2247), the
Secretary shall—
(1) to the maximum extent practicable, submit
specific project recommendations in any report devel-
oped under that Act; and
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(2) submit the reports to the Committee on Envi-
ronment and Public Works of the Senate and the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives.
(u) EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines
that a feature recommended in the analysis and de-
sign of comprehensive hurricane protection under title
I of the Energy and Water Development Appropria-
tions Act, 2006 (Public Law 109–103; 119 Stat.
2447), could—
(A) address an imminent threat to life and
property;
(B) prevent a dangerous storm surge from
reaching a populated area;
(C) prevent the loss of coastal areas that re-
duce the impact of storm surge;
(D) benefit national energy security;
(E) protect emergency hurricane evacuation
routes or shelters; or
(F) address inconsistencies in hurricane
protection standards;
the President may submit to the Speaker of the House
of Representatives and the President pro tempore of
the Senate for authorization a legislative proposal re-
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lating to the feature, as the President determines to
be appropriate.
(2) PRIORITIZATION.—In submitting legislative
proposals under paragraph (1), the President shall
give highest priority to any project that, as deter-
mined by the President, would—
(A) to the maximum extent practicable, re-
duce the risk—
(i) of loss of human life;
(ii) to public safety; and
(iii) of damage to property; and
(B) minimize costs and environmental im-
pacts.
(3) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning after Decem-
ber 31, 2008, any legislative proposal submitted
by the President under paragraph (1) shall be el-
igible for expedited consideration in accordance
with this paragraph.
(B) INTRODUCTION.—As soon as practicable
after the date of receipt of a legislative proposal
under paragraph (1), the Chairman of the Com-
mittee on Environment and Public Works of the
Senate and the Chairman of the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House