THE 2019 TEXAS COASTAL RESILIENCY MASTER PLAN

In 2017, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the first Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan, an ambitious coastal planning effort to restore, enhance and protect more than 367 miles of coast and some 3,300 miles of bays and estuaries for the State of Texas. The lynchpin of the planning effort is its emphasis on shoring up the coast by using the latest coastal technology backed by research on Texas coastal environments, coastal hydrodynamics and morphology, and sediment supply, among others, in conjunction with federal, public, and private entity coordination. By championing a statewide Plan to guide the future of coastal management, the GLO will assure that Texas continues to restore, enhance, and protect its coastlines and communities.

A State's Response to Oil Spill Preparedness How the Texas General Land Office built and maintains one of the premier oil spill response organizations

Texas produces nearly twice and much oil as the next highest producing U.S. state and has approximately 3300 miles of sensitive jurisdictional shoreline boarding the second highest area of our nation's oil production, the Gulf of Mexico. It is home to over 27 operating refineries and hosts 3 of the top 10 busiest ports in the nation. Since 1991, the Texas General Land Office (TGLO) has built an oil spill prevention and response program that is arguably the premier state oil spill program in the nation; one that responds 24/7 to over 600 reported spills per year, certifies, audits and inspects over 600 oil handling facilities, administers an abandoned vessel removal program, an oily bilge facility program, and has an ongoing oil spill R&D program and its own state Scientific Support Coordinator, ensuring that prevention, planning and response activities are state of the science. The TGLO produces the Texas Oil Spill Toolkit, now in its 17th edition, which is a spill planning and response resource for the western Gulf of Mexico, and houses a collection of plans and documents in a single, easy to use online/off-line .html format. Plans include up-to-date Area Committee Plans (ACP) and pre-planning documents, all aligned with the National Response Framework (NRF). Included are Regional Response Team VI (RRT) documents and guidance, pre-authorization plans and mapping for alternative spill response, Priority Protection Areas (PPA), Environmental Sensitivity Index Maps (ESI), and site specific Geographic Response Plans (GRP). This paper describes the conception, history and evolution of the building and operation of a state response organization in an era of “less government”.

DERELICT AND ABANDONED VESSELS: A UNIQUE STATE APPROACH TO PREVENTION AND REMOVAL

ABSTRACT # 2017-408 The Texas General Land Office (TGLO) has developed an innovative and cost effective approach to dispose of abandoned vessels along the Texas coast. For years, unscrupulous vessel owners have removed serial numbers and registration information from primarily fiberglass boats and cast them adrift in remote or isolated areas along the Texas coast. Weather incidents have also contributed to hundreds of abandoned vessels in or near Texas waters. These vessels, which often still have fuel and lubricants on board, present a threat to the environment, navigation and public safety. Unfortunately, budget constraints, jurisdictional boundaries, and regulations prevent the local, state and federal agencies that have an interest in removing these vessels from taking action. The TGLO strategy is designed to help rid coastal areas of abandoned vessels before they enter coastal water. The Vessel Turn-In Program, known as VTIP, promotes partnerships by pooling the unique funding, capital and human resources of government entities and stakeholders to form a cost effective approach to eliminating abandoned vessels and the pollution they create.