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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 50
BY REPRESENTATIVE CHAMPAGNE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary for the proper
allocation of resources on the federal, state, and local level to fund real-time audit
practices in developing, planning, constructing, and executing projects funded by the
RESTORE Act's Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund to ensure proper expenditures and
the restoration of the Gulf Coast for the benefit of all the citizens of the United States.
WHEREAS, on April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the mobile offshore drilling
unit Deepwater Horizon which resulted in the fire that eventually sank the rig, killing eleven
crewmen, and destroying Louisiana's delicate coast and industries that rely on the coast with
an estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil released over an eighty-seven day period from the
Macondo well five thousand feet below on the ocean bottom; and
WHEREAS, this incident has had a long-lasting impact on the state's natural resources,
including land, water, fish, wildlife, fowl, and other biota, and likewise on the livelihoods of
Louisiana's citizens living along the coast; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act also known as the Clean Water
Act, 33 U.S.C. 1321, provides for administrative and civil penalties for parties responsible for
unauthorized discharge of pollutants into United States waters as occurred during the
Deepwater Horizon disaster; and
WHEREAS, these fines estimated between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion would
ordinarily be deposited into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund pursuant to the Clean Water Act;
however, congress passed the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities,
and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE) that requires eighty
percent of the fines to be deposited into the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (trust fund) for
restoration efforts in the five coastal states damaged by the spill: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Texas; and
WHEREAS, the monies from the trust fund will be principally divided into three
funding mechanisms, the Direct Component that evenly distributes thirty-five percent to the
five affected states; the Comprehensive Plan Component that directs thirty percent to the Gulf ENROLLEDHCR NO. 50
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Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council to implement a comprehensive Gulf Coast wide recovery
plan; and the Spill Impact Component that distributes thirty percent to the affected states based
upon a formula calculated on the miles of coastline affected by the oil spill, distance from
Deepwater Horizon, and the average 2010 population; and
WHEREAS, unfortunately, Louisiana has recent experience in administering
restoration and recovery programs in the wake of disasters such as hurricanes Katrina, Rita,
Gustav, and Isaac and has learned the value of real-time audit practices in terms of ensuring
proper expenditures, providing guidance to program administrators, and assuring transparency
of decisions for the public; and
WHEREAS, auditing after the fact provides little assistance for parish and county
governments with minimal resources to recoup large sums in the case of improper
expenditures; and
WHEREAS, the RESTORE Act provides for up to three percent for administrative
costs; there remains uncertainty whether those funds are only for the cost of the United States
Treasury Department administering the RESTORE Act and whether those funds can be utilized
by state and local governments for real-time audits.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary for the proper
allocation of resources on the federal, state, and local level to fund real-time audit practices in
developing, planning, constructing, and executing projects funded by the RESTORE Act's Gulf
Coast Restoration Trust Fund to ensure proper expenditures and the restoration of the Gulf
Coast for the benefit of all the citizens of the United States.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United
States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE