2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE BILL NO. 220
BY SENATOR CHABERT
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 38:3086.21 and 3086.24, relative to the Bayou Lafourche Fresh
3 Water District; to provide definitions; to provide the district with additional powers;
4 to authorize the district to acquire and sell certain property; to authorize the
5 promulgation of certain rules, regulations, and ordinances; to provide penalties; to
6 provide terms, conditions, and requirements; and to provide for related matters.
7 Notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published.
8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
9 Section 1. R.S. 38:3086.21 and 3086.24 are hereby amended and reenacted to read
10 as follows:
11 §3086.21. Creation; purposes; definitions; jurisdiction
12 A. There is hereby created a body politic and corporate to be known as Bayou
13 Lafourche Fresh Water District, for the purpose of furnishing fresh water from any
14 available fresh water source, including any ground water and surface water sources
15 to the water purification facilities serving the incorporated villages, towns, and cities
16 along Bayou Lafourche and within or adjacent to the boundaries of the district, as
17 provided in this Part.
18 B. As used in this Part, the following terms and phrases shall have the
19 following meanings, unless the context requires otherwise:
20 (1) "Board" means the board of commissioners of the Bayou Lafourche
21 Fresh Water District.
22 (2) "District" means the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District.
23 (3) "Watercraft" means anything used or designated for navigation on
24 water.
25 (4) "Waterway" means Bayou Lafourche or any navigable bayou or
26 river, or portion thereof, located within the geographical boundaries of the
ACT No. 34
Page 1 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 district.
2 * * *
3 §3086.24. Powers
4 A. The domicile of said board shall be in the city of Thibodaux, Lafourche
5 Parish, Louisiana. The district shall have the power to sue and be sued, through its
6 board of commissioners, and service of process in any such suit against the district
7 shall be made upon the chairman of the board of commissioners, the vice chairman,
8 or upon its secretary-treasurer. This provision shall not constitute a waiver of the
9 governmental immunity to which the district is entitled.
10 B. The district shall have authority to incur debt, issue bonds, and levy taxes
11 for the retirement of same, under the provisions of R.S. 33:3811 et seq., and to levy
12 special taxes under the provisions of Article VI, Sections 31 and 32 of the
13 constitution Constitution of Louisiana in accordance with the provisions of law
14 carrying these Articles into effect and particularly the applicable provisions of Title
15 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. The district may acquire by
16 purchase, donation, or lease and may hold and use any immovable or movable
17 property, whether corporeal or incorporeal, or any interest therein necessary
18 or desirable for carrying out the purposes of the district, and may sell, lease,
19 transfer, or convey any property or interest therein at any time after such
20 property or interest has been acquired by it.
21 C. The district shall also have authority to fix and collect, on a gallonage
22 basis, charges for water so furnished.
23 D. Ad valorem taxes so levied by the district shall be assessed and collected
24 in the same manner as state and parish taxes, and the board of commissioners shall
25 prescribe the method for collecting any fixed charges levied on a gallonage basis.
26 The treasurer shall be bonded in such sum as the board may require, the premium on
27 said bond to be paid by the district.
28 E. The board of commissioners shall have power to take the necessary steps
29 to effectuate a program of beautification of the area within the jurisdiction of the
30 commission, particularly but not limited to the banks of Bayou Lafourche, including
Page 2 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 the necessary police power and authority to adopt penalties in connection with such
2 program. For the purposes of this Part "beautification" shall have the following
3 meaning: any method, procedure, or program which has the effect of creating more
4 pleasant surroundings.
5 F.(1) In order to accomplish the purposes of the district, the board may
6 make and enforce such rules, regulations, and ordinances it shall deem
7 necessary:
8 (a) To protect and preserve the works, improvements and properties
9 owned or controlled by the district, prescribe the manner of their use by any
10 person or entity, and preserve order within and adjacent to properties owned
11 or controlled by the district.
12 (b) To protect and preserve the waterway from any substance or act
13 which would render the water therein unfit for the purposes of the district,
14 including but not limited to prohibiting or regulating the discharge of any
15 substance into the waterway in concentrations which tend to degrade the
16 chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of the waterway.
17 (c) To prohibit any person or entity from abandoning, sinking, allowing
18 to be sunk, or failing to remove any watercraft from in or on the waterway after
19 having been requested to do so in writing.
20 (d) To prohibit any person or entity from erecting, locating, constructing,
21 or using any building or structures within the district that may threaten the
22 purposes of the district unless a permit has been approved by the board.
23 (e) To prohibit any person or entity from knowingly or willfully
24 emptying, draining, or permitting to be drained from any pump, reservoir, well
25 or oil field into the waterway any oil, salt water, or other noxious, toxic,
26 hazardous, or poisonous gas, liquid, or substance which would render the
27 waterway unfit for the purposes of the district or for human consumption, or
28 would destroy the aquatic and fish life in the waterway. Each day that oil, salt
29 water, or other prohibited substances are permitted to empty, drain or flow into
30 the waterway shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
Page 3 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 (f) To regulate the conduct, management, and control of its operations
2 and functions, and its structures and other facilities within its jurisdiction or
3 under its administration.
4 (g) To protect property, life, and the welfare of its employees and the
5 public.
6 (h) To control, use, and protect its property, equipment, and other
7 facilities and improvements.
8 (i) To control, regulate, and protect the channel and banks of the
9 waterway from erosion, decay, or destruction.
10 (j) To control and regulate the pumping of or flowing of water into the
11 waterway from adjacent or nearby canals, drainage systems, bayous, ditches,
12 streams, tributaries, or other sources which empty or are pumped into the
13 waterway.
14 (2) Notwithstanding R.S. 34:851.27 or any other provision of law to the
15 contrary, and upon a declaration of an emergency by the board that the size and
16 speed of watercraft traveling through the waterway needs to be regulated to
17 protect the integrity of the banks of the waterway due to low water levels or due
18 to another event causing the banks to be in peril of erosion or instability, the
19 board may:
20 (a) Implement and enforce a "no-wake" zone where each watercraft
21 shall operate at bare steerage speed, the slowest speed the watercraft can travel
22 while allowing the operator to maintain directional control of the watercraft to
23 produce the minimum water surface turbulence.
24 (b) Limit the size of watercraft permitted to travel in certain areas of the
25 waterway until there is no declaration of emergency. Except during times of a
26 declaration of an emergency by the board, the provisions of this Paragraph shall
27 not supersede or otherwise interfere with the authority of the Department of
28 Wildlife and Fisheries.
29 (3) The board shall not make and enforce any rules, regulations, and
30 ordinances that shall impair the rights and obligations in C.C. Arts. 655 and
Page 4 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 656, or that shall affect any agriculture drainage established prior to the
2 creation of the district.
3 G. In addition, the board may adopt an anti-littering ordinance with penalties
4 for the violation thereof not to exceed a fine of two hundred fifty five hundred
5 dollars.
6 H.(1) The rules, regulations, and ordinances established and
7 promulgated by the board shall provide penalties and shall be enforced by any
8 state or local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction in the district. Any
9 violations shall be prosecuted by the district attorney in the judicial district
10 where the violation occurred.
11 (2) The rules, regulations, and ordinances may contain penalties,
12 including a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment of not
13 more than six months, or both.
14 G.I.(1) The board of commissioners shall have full power to adopt and
15 enforce, by penal ordinance, such sanitary regulations as it may deem necessary to
16 protect from pollution the water so furnished, after it leaves its source and to that end
17 may regulate the location, construction, or use of any buildings or structures within
18 the district, where same they threaten to pollute or pollute said water. Any such
19 action by the board shall be subject to review by the courts.
20 (2) For the purposes of this Part the following definitions of pollution shall
21 apply:
22 (a) "Ashes" includes the solid residue resulting from the combustion of all
23 fuels used for heating, cooking, and the production of power in any public or private
24 establishment, institution, or residence.
25 (b) "Garbage" includes all putrescible waste matter except sewage and
26 recognizable industrial byproducts and includes putrescible vegetable matter, animal
27 offal, and animal carcasses.
28 (c) "Refuse" includes garbage, rubbish, ashes, animal and vegetable waste
29 from animal quarters, and all other waste matter, except sewage, from any public or
30 private establishment, institution, or residence.
Page 5 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 (d) "Rubbish" includes all nonputrescible waste matter, except ashes, from
2 any public or private establishment, institution, or residence.
3 (e) "Untreated sewage" includes animal feces and urine as well as any
4 material contaminated by animal body discharges and waste feed stuff which has not
5 been subjected to proper primary treatment. Any such action by the board shall be
6 subject to review by the courts.
7 H.J.(1) The board shall have full power and authority to cooperate and
8 contract with the United States government, or any of its agencies, the state of
9 Louisiana, or any of its departments, agencies, commissions, districts, or other
10 political subdivisions, or with any person, firm, partnership, or corporation, with the
11 view of accomplishing the construction, maintenance, and operation of pumping
12 facilities and appurtenant pipeline facilities, the purpose of which would be to
13 provide fresh water for said Bayou Lafourche. In the event that such pumping
14 facilities and appurtenant pipeline facilities are constructed, erected, or installed by
15 the state of Louisiana, the office of engineering of the Department of Transportation
16 and Development, state of Louisiana, the Coastal Protection and Restoration
17 Authority Board, the board of commissioners for the Lafourche Basin Levee District,
18 the board of commissioners for the Atchafalaya Basin Levee District, the board of
19 commissioners for the Lafourche Parish Water District No. 1 or other local interests,
20 and the board of commissioners for the Bayou Lafourche Freshwater Fresh Water
21 District, or any of them, it shall be the obligation of the board of commissioners for
22 the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District, and the board is hereby authorized and
23 directed to operate and maintain such pumping and pipeline facilities so as to provide
24 an adequate supply of fresh water in Bayou Lafourche.
25 (2) The board of commissioners for the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water
26 District shall also have power and authority to contribute to the cost of construction
27 and installation of such pumping and pipelining facilities from any funds available
28 for such purpose. It shall also be the obligation of said the board to operate and
29 maintain such drainage facilities, floodgates, channel improvements, and drainage
30 structures and appurtenances constructed with the view of providing fresh water in
Page 6 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 Bayou Lafourche and facilitating the flow thereof. The board shall have power and
2 authority to contribute to the cost of construction of any of the facilities mentioned
3 in this Section.
4 I.K. The board of commissioners may implement measures for the abatement
5 of water hyacinths within the water bodies of the parishes of Ascension, Assumption,
6 and Lafourche.
7 J.L. The board of commissioners may develop and implement measures to
8 prevent the intrusion of salt water into the flow of fresh water.
9 K.M. The board of commissioners may execute such contracts for the sale
10 or purchase of water pursuant to the authority granted the district in R.S. 33:4164.
11 L.N.(1) With the approval of the Coastal Protection and Restoration
12 Authority Board, the board of commissioners, in addition to any other powers and
13 duties provided by law, may establish on its own behalf or for the areas under its
14 authority, particularly but not limited to the banks of Bayou Lafourche, water
15 resources development and integrated coastal protection, including but not limited
16 to the studying, engineering, designing, planning, maintenance, operation, and
17 construction of erosion control measures, marsh management, coastal restoration,
18 reservoirs, diversion canals, gravity and pump drainage systems, and other works as
19 such activities, facilities, and improvements relate to integrated coastal protection,
20 conservation, water resources development, and saltwater intrusion. To that end and
21 only upon approval of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board, the
22 board of commissioners may regulate the location, construction, or use of any
23 building or structure within the district, where such building or structure threatens
24 to interfere with water resources development and integrated coastal protection.
25 (2) The board of commissioners may enter into contracts or other agreements,
26 including cooperative endeavor agreements, with any public or private person or
27 persons, corporation, association, or other entity, including the Coastal Protection
28 and Restoration Authority Board, the state, and other agencies thereof, public
29 corporations, port authorities, levee districts, parishes, other political subdivisions,
30 or the United States government or agencies thereof, or any combination thereof, or
Page 7 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 220 ENROLLED
1 with the instrumentalities of any kind to provide water resources development and
2 integrated coastal protection, and to this end, may contract for the acceptance of any
3 grant of money upon the terms and conditions, including any requirement of
4 matching the grants in whole or in part, that may be necessary.
5 Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not
6 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature
7 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If
8 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become
9 effective on the day following such approval.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
Page 8 of 8
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.