ENROLLED
2017 First Extraordinary Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 4
BY REPRESENTATIVE ZERINGUE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To memorialize the United States Congress to recognize that the Louisiana coastal area as
an area in crisis and to enact federal regulatory reform and disaster recovery
regulations that minimize delays in the processes by which the state of Louisiana
responds to the crises that we face as a result of coastal land loss and natural
disasters.
WHEREAS, the citizens of Louisiana are no strangers to natural disasters and have
been heavily involved in the fight for flood protection infrastructure that will protect our
vital region, home to two million people who live and work at the epicenter of our nation's
valuable energy, wetlands, and seafood resources; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's three million acres of wetlands are lost at the rate of about
sixteen square miles per year, but reducing these losses is proving to be very difficult and
extremely costly; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's wetlands today represent nearly forty percent of the
wetlands located in the continental United States, but account for nearly eighty percent of
the losses experienced in the continental United States; and
WHEREAS, many studies indicate that major shifts in the course of the Mississippi
River over thousands of years built the land in south Louisiana through its delta building
process; and
WHEREAS, man-made levees have contributed significantly to the degradation of
the wetlands with the disintegration intensified by the channelization caused by the
construction of the Mississippi River levees and man-made canals; and
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WHEREAS, the seasonal flooding that previously provided sediments critical to the
healthy growth of wetlands that sustain our deltaic system has been virtually eliminated by
construction of massive levees that channel the river for over a thousand miles which in turn
cause the sediment carried by the river to now be discharged into the Gulf of Mexico far
from the coast, thereby depriving wetlands of vital sediment; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's coastal area is critical to our nation's energy security with
half of the country's oil refineries, a network of pipelines that serve ninety percent of the
nation's offshore energy production and thirty percent of its total oil and gas supply, and a
port complex supporting twenty percent of all waterborne commerce vital to thirty-one
states; and
WHEREAS, these valuable and necessary human activities such as energy
exploration, commercial and recreational navigation, agriculture, and development during
the past century have affected the wetlands, directly and indirectly, enabling salt water from
the Gulf of Mexico to intrude into brackish and freshwater wetlands and contributing to
wetlands deterioration and loss increasing the vulnerability of our coastal communities; and
WHEREAS, the state has committed extensive resources to address this crisis,
through the establishment of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority tasked with
development of a state Master Plan to provide hurricane protection, coastal restoration, the
reduction of saltwater intrusion, and improving hydrology throughout the coastal area by
allowing water to move between the interior and exterior marshes of the system, including
a mitigation plan that will create an additional one thousand three hundred and fifty-two
acres of coastal marsh, and risk reduction benefits; and
WHEREAS, the state has substantially increased its financial commitment to the
coast resulting in significant progress on projects that maintain land and reduce risk,
however capricious regulatory requirements waste tax payer money, delay or deny projects,
and increase risk both to the federal treasury and our citizens resulting in increased
construction and emergency response costs.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes
the Congress of the United States to recognize that the Louisiana 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 better provide for the
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health, safety, and welfare of the people who need it most, and to increase federal investment
in infrastructure that provides coastal protection in coastal Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
Congress as well as the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness (GOHSEP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to
enable collaboration between the federal, state, and local officials to clear regulatory hurdles,
and inform Americans everywhere about the value of our critical communities, ecosystems,
and our unique hurricane protection and disaster recovery needs.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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