Texas State Expenditure Plan Amendment #3-2026: 45-Day Public Notice
Notice of Public Input Period on the Draft of the Texas State Expenditure Plan (SEP) Amendment #3-2026
Steven Schar, Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), announces the opportunity for the public to provide input on its draft Texas State Expenditure Plan Amendment #3-2026 to secure funds under the Spill Impact Component section of the federal RESTORE Act.
The federal RESTORE Act (Act) was signed into law in 2012 in response to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. It established the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (RESTORE Trust Fund) in the U.S. Treasury Department. Deposits come from 80% of all administrative and civil penalties paid by responsible DWH parties under the Clean Water Act. The funds are available for programs, projects, and activities that restore and protect the environment and economy of the Gulf Coast region. The RESTORE Act also established the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) as an independent federal entity. RESTORE funds are distributed through different allocations (also referred to as Buckets), which are established under different sections of the Act.
In his capacity as Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Schar was appointed by the Governor to perform RESTORE-related duties for Texas. TCEQ, on behalf of the Governor and Mr. Schar, assists in the implementation of the federal RESTORE Act in Texas.
To secure funds under the Spill Impact Component section, Gulf Coast states, including Texas, are required to develop a State Expenditure Plan (SEP) for specific coastal area activities. TCEQ developed and obtained meaningful public input for the initial SEP, which was submitted to and accepted by the RESTORE Council in 2019. The RESTORE Act allocated $121.5 million to Texas in the Spill Impact Component funding to the State of Texas.
The initial Texas SEP included four programs to address the effects of Hurricane Harvey, focusing on hurricane recovery, ecological and economic, as well as resiliency-related programs eligible under the Spill Impact Component of the RESTORE Act. The approved amount for three of the four programs was $31,510,000 of the available $121.5 million. To date, the approved programs include:
• Nature-Based Tourism
• Removal of Debris and/or Associated Sediment from Creeks, Bayous, and Other Waterways to Improve Water Quality (un-funded to date)
• Water Quality and Quantity (un-funded to date)
• Shoreline and Beach Restoration
Amendment #1-2020 and #2-2024 reallocated funding between the programs as the projects were developed, and the required funding became clearer.
Amendment #3-2026 (this amendment) TCEQ is proposing to add two new programs to the Spill Impact Component - Texas State Expenditure Plan (SEP) entitled Texas Land Acquisition for Coastal Conservation (TLACC) Program and Texas SEP Planning Program.
The Texas SEP Planning Program is proposed to be funded by newly requested funds from the Spill Impact Component funding allocated to Texas of $782,596. The addition of the Texas SEP Planning Program will allow TCEQ to define clear goals and objectives, establish funding priorities, develop application and selection criteria, and engage interested stakeholders in the process.
TCEQ is proposing to fund the TLACC Program at $20,539,358. This amount is comprised of moving $9,150,682 of unallocated funding from the Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) Program, $2,600,285 of unallocated funds from the Shoreline and Beach Restoration (SBR) Program and adding $8,788,391 from the Spill Impact Component funding allocated to Texas.
The total Spill Impact Component amount allocated to Texas would increase from $31,510,000 to $41,080,987.
Individual projects under the TLACC Program will be submitted once the Texas SEP Amendment #3 is approved, and projects have been identified. Adding the TLACC Program will allow TCEQ to fund conservation of large coastal zone properties through fee simple or conservation easement acquisitions which will not only promote long-term management and preservation of vital high-quality habitat along the Texas coast, but will also cause the land to serve as a natural buffer and protection from relative sea level variations, hurricanes, and flooding events, which will add to community resilience and indirectly support the efforts identified prior SEP versions.
One of the projects under consideration is the West Powderhorn Habitat Protection Project. If funded, TCEQ would provide funding up to $20,360,000 through this SEP. If the project is approved, The Conservation Fund (TCF) will acquire in fee a large coastal habitat in Calhoun County to ensure that this property is protected in perpetuity. The approximately 7,463-acre West Powderhorn Ranch is one of the largest remaining intact coastal prairie and wetland assemblages on the Texas coast. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Wetland Inventory Database, 40% of the property is classified as estuarine or freshwater emergent wetland or ponds. The property contains a diverse complex of habitat associations, including live oak mottes, tallgrass prairie, sand barrens, freshwater marshes and freshwater pothole ponds. Tidal bayous, brackish emergent marshes, creeks and 6.8 miles of frontage on Coloma Creek further enhance the ranch’s biological diversity. After acquisition by TCF, the title will be simultaneously transferred to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and added to the existing 17,000-acre Powderhorn Wildlife Management Area (WMA), where it will be protected in perpetuity and managed through ownership by TPWD. This acquisition will accomplish the objectives of providing long-term habitat management and high-quality coastal habitat in this area. The conservation of coastal prairie lands and wetlands will provide permanently protected habitat for the federally endangered whooping crane, Attwater’s prairie-chicken and eastern black rail, and, also to mottled ducks, grassland birds, and wintering waterfowl as well as migratory birds in general.
TPWD will develop an adaptive management plan similar to their existing plan at Powderhorn WMA to ensure that the land will be managed to protect and enhance its natural resources well into the future. Conservation of the land will meet the primary RESTORE program objective to restore, enhance, and protect habitats by permanently conserving land that is otherwise vulnerable to stressors such as residential or commercial development, including recreational ranches and industrial projects. This project will also protect water quality in Texas’ bays and marshes; promote community resilience by providing natural buffers to the communities of Seadrift and Port O’Connor; decrease the need for hard engineered projects; and provide additional ecosystem and community services. In addition, Powderhorn WMA has offered public hunts, bird tours, school groups, and Texas Master Naturalist trainings on the property since 2018, all which would be extended to West Powderhorn when it is added to TPWD’s ownership.
Prior to finalizing the Texas SEP Amendment #3-2026 for submission to the Council, the proposed SEP Program must be published for a 45-day public comment period. Meaningful input from the public, including broad-based participation from individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, is required for the evaluation process to determine activities for inclusion in Texas’ SEP.
Written comments on the draft Texas SEP Amendment #3-2026 should be submitted electronically no later than 5:00 p.m. central time on Monday, June 22 to restoretexas@tceq.texas.gov.
Melissa Porter
RESTORE Program Manager
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality