HLS 171ES-132 ORIGINAL
2017 First Extraordinary Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 4
BY REPRESENTATIVE ZERINGUE
COASTAL RESOURCES: Memorialize Congress to recognize that the Louisiana Coastal
area is in a crisis that warrants federal attention and cooperation
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To memorialize the United States Congress to recognize that the Louisiana coastal area as
3 an area in crisis and to enact federal regulatory reform and disaster recovery
4 regulations that minimize delays in the processes by which the state of Louisiana
5 responds to the crises that we face as a result of coastal land loss and natural
6 disasters.
7 WHEREAS, the citizens of Louisiana are no strangers to natural disasters and have
8been heavily involved in the fight for flood protection infrastructure that will protect our
9vital region, home to two million people who live and work at the epicenter of our nation's
10valuable energy, wetlands, and seafood resources; and
11 WHEREAS, Louisiana's three million acres of wetlands are lost at the rate of about
12sixteen square miles per year, but reducing these losses is proving to be very difficult and
13extremely costly; and
14 WHEREAS, Louisiana's wetlands today represent nearly forty percent of the
15wetlands located in the continental United States, but account for nearly eighty percent of
16the losses experienced in the continental United States; and
17 WHEREAS, many studies indicate that major shifts in the course of the Mississippi
18River over thousands of years built the land in south Louisiana through its delta building
19process; and
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HCR NO. 4
1 WHEREAS, man-made levees have contributed significantly to the degradation of
2the wetlands with the disintegration intensified by the channelization caused by the
3construction of the Mississippi River levees and man-made canals; and
4 WHEREAS, the seasonal flooding that previously provided sediments critical to the
5healthy growth of wetlands that sustain our deltaic system has been virtually eliminated by
6construction of massive levees that channel the river for over a thousand miles which in turn
7cause the sediment carried by the river to now be discharged into the Gulf of Mexico far
8from the coast, thereby depriving wetlands of vital sediment; and
9 WHEREAS, Louisiana's coastal area is critical to our nation's energy security with
10half of the country's oil refineries, a network of pipelines that serve ninety percent of the
11nation's offshore energy production and thirty percent of its total oil and gas supply, and a
12port complex supporting twenty percent of all waterborne commerce vital to thirty-one
13states; and
14 WHEREAS, these valuable and necessary human activities such as energy
15exploration, commercial and recreational navigation, agriculture, and development during
16the past century have affected the wetlands, directly and indirectly, enabling salt water from
17the Gulf of Mexico to intrude into brackish and freshwater wetlands and contributing to
18wetlands deterioration and loss increasing the vulnerability of our coastal communities; and
19 WHEREAS, the state has committed extensive resources to address this crisis,
20through the establishment of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority tasked with
21development of a state Master Plan to provide hurricane protection, coastal restoration, the
22reduction of saltwater intrusion, and improving hydrology throughout the coastal area by
23allowing water to move between the interior and exterior marshes of the system, including
24a mitigation plan that will create an additional one thousand three hundred and fifty-two
25acres of coastal marsh, and risk reduction benefits; and
26 WHEREAS, the state has substantially increased its financial commitment to the
27coast resulting in significant progress on projects that maintain land and reduce risk,
28however capricious regulatory requirements waste tax payer money, delay or deny projects,
29and increase risk both to the federal treasury and our citizens resulting in increased
30construction and emergency response costs.
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HCR NO. 4
1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes
2the Congress of the United States to recognize that the Louisiana coast is in a state of crisis
3and in need of recognition by the President and the federal government, that federal disaster
4attention and cooperation are acutely needed to assist the state to better provide for the
5health, safety, and welfare of the people who need it most, and to increase federal investment
6in infrastructure that provides coastal protection in coastal Louisiana.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
8secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
9Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
10Congress as well as the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
11Preparedness (GOHSEP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to
12enable collaboration between the federal, state, and local officials to clear regulatory hurdles,
13and inform Americans everywhere about the value of our critical communities, ecosystems,
14and our unique hurricane protection and disaster recovery needs.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 4 Original 2017 First Extraordinary Session Zeringue
Memorializes the U.S. Congress to recognize that the La. coast is in a state of crisis and in
need of recognition by the President and the federal government, that federal disaster
attention and cooperation are acutely needed to assist the state to get help to the people who
need it most, and to increase federal investment in infrastructure that provides coastal
protection in coastal La.
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