ENROLLED
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 186
BY REPRESENTATIVES CONNICK, AMEDEE, BAGLEY, TERRY BROWN,
EMERSON, FOIL, HOFFMANN, HORTON, HOW ARD, HUNTER, JACKSON,
MIKE JOHNSON, NANCY LANDRY, LYONS, MIGUEZ, REYNOLDS,
RICHARD, WILLMOTT, AND ZERINGUE
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Department of Environmental Quality, in cooperation with the
3 office of public safety services in the Department of Public Safety and Corrections,
4 to study the feasibility of sharing internal real-time emissions data from certain
5 facilities with first responders and to report to the House Committee on Natural
6 Resources and Environment.
7 WHEREAS, Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution of Louisiana requires the
8 legislature to enact laws to protect, conserve, and replenish the natural resources of the state,
9 including the air, insofar as possible and consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of
10 the people; and
11 WHEREAS, in furtherance of this duty, the legislature created the Department of
12 Environmental Quality as the primary agency concerned with environmental protection and
13 regulation and enacted the Louisiana Air Control Law, R.S. 30:2051 et seq., that requires the
14 proper control of the state's air resources and the Hazardous Materials Information
15 Development, Preparedness, and Response Act, R.S. 30:2361 et seq., that provides for the
16 collection of data from facilities that manufacture, use, or store hazardous materials for
17 dissemination to, among others, first responders; and
18 WHEREAS, many facilities that produce air emissions under the jurisdiction of the
19 Department of Environmental Quality operate real-time ambient air monitors to ensure
20 compliance with the Louisiana Air Control Law, the rules and regulations of the department,
21 and the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect
22 the employees in the facility; and
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1 WHEREAS, to protect the health and safety of state and local first responders that
2 protect the health and safety of our citizens, pursuant to the Hazardous Materials Information
3 Development, Preparedness, and Response Act, the office of public safety services in the
4 Department of Public Safety and Corrections has developed processes to notify first
5 responders of the hazardous materials a facility contains to ensure the responders
6 preparedness in the event of an emergency at the facility; and
7 WHEREAS, it is equally important those first responders be notified of air emissions
8 of those facilities that may affect their preparedness to react to an emergency.
9 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
10 Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Environmental
11 Quality, in cooperation with the office of public safety services in the Department of Public
12 Safety and Corrections, to study the feasibility of sharing data with first responders from
13 certain facilities equipped with internal real-time air emission monitors and to report the
14 study's findings to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment on or
15 before February 15, 2017.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
17 to the secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality and to the deputy secretary for
18 the office of public safety services in the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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