EPA chief to lead Gulf Coast restoration task force

The plan also calls for steering a large amount of the Clean Water Act penalties against BP and other parties responsible for the Gulf oil spill into restoration.

The Obama administration supports the idea, which requires Capitol Hill action.

The plan also calls on Congress to create a Gulf Coast Recovery Council to manage the funds, but envisions the quickly-created task force that Jackson will lead as a way to get the ball rolling on restoration without Capitol Hill action.

The task force – which will include federal, state and tribal officials – could be “modified or dissolved” if Congress creates the Gulf Coast Recovery Council, the strategy unveiled Tuesday notes.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) on Tuesday warned that states – not federal officials – must call the shots on the region’s recovery.