HAI tells ANN that it has learned that sometime next week, the Louisiana Congressional Delegation will introduce “Project Pelican,” a comprehensive aid package to address education, wetland restoration, agriculture and other needs of the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.

Senator David Vitter, (R-Louisiana) said, Thursday, in Washington, D.C., that he and Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-Louisiana, plan to introduce their package as one bill. In the U.S. House of Representatives, legislative bills will move separately to capitalize on the expertise and committee assignments of Louisiana’s House Members — who sit on the Appropriations, Way and Means, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Education and the Workforce panels.

Among the many items on the extensive wish list are $14 billion for wetland restoration and $20 billion to accelerate the repair and enhancement of levees. Lawmakers also will seek to increase the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) share of disaster relief from 75 percent currently to 100 percent for three years, retroactive to the date of the disaster declaration.

For several years now, HAI has been aggressively working with the FAA and Members of Congress from Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi to obtain funding to support the development of a weather and communications infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico to support low altitude helicopter operations.

Timing on this issue is extremely critical. All HAI members in Gulf Coast states, especially those employed by helicopter operators working in support of the offshore oil industry are strongly urged to contact their elected officials in Washington, D.C. to ask for their support in having the needs of the helicopter community included in this important legislative bill to support Gulf Coast recovery.

Many constituent voices being heard in Washington, D.C. will help make this longstanding, sorely needed program become a reality to increase the safety and security of helicopter operations in support of oil and natural gas production. There are 650 helicopters operating each day, transporting over 35,000 workers to and from platforms, aiding in the important oil production recovery efforts, and working to ensure that U.S. production levels rise to where they were before Katrina hit.

HAI President Roy Resavage and his staff will continue to push ahead on this important initiative as HAI members continue in the Katrina recovery effort to rebuild important infrastructure and to increase oil production in the United States.

FMI: www.rotor.com