ENROLLED
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 95
BY REPRESENTATIVE HODGES
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the governor of Louisiana and the office of community development
within the division of administration to evaluate the feasibility of using Community
Development Block Grant funds received from the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security
and Emergency Preparedness to evaluate the feasibility of using any future Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program funding from the Federal Emergency Management
Agency to complete the Comite River Diversion Canal Project, and to report their
findings to the legislative committees on homeland security.
WHEREAS, the flooding of August 2016 that was declared a state and national
disaster caused devastating destruction of property, economic losses to the state and its
citizens, a public health crisis, and loss of life; and
WHEREAS, the office of community development's action plan was approved by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and as such has been
appropriated Community Development Block Grant funding by the United States Congress;
and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana anticipates receiving Hazard Mitigation Grant
Program funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be administered by
the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness; and
WHEREAS, water levels in the Comite and Amite Rivers reached record levels
during the flooding of August 2016 from the extraordinary rainfall; and
WHEREAS, had the United States Army Corps of Engineers completed the Comite
River Diversion Canal Project, the flooding impacts on the property within the Comite and
Amite Rivers' flood plain could have been mitigated or reduced entirely; and
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WHEREAS, the Comite River Diversion Canal project was authorized in 1986 and
expected to be completed in 2012 and currently over $100 million has been invested in the
project and the need for funding to complete the project has never been more necessary in
order to protect the region from the possibility of future catastrophic flood events.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the office of community development within the division of administration
to evaluate the feasibility of using Community Development Block Grant funds received
from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Governor's
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to evaluate the feasibility of
using any future Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to complete the Comite River Diversion Canal Project.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting the evaluation requested in this
Resolution, the office of community development can monitor and include in its findings
how many homeowners utilized Community Development Block Grant funding, an estimate
when the homeowner rehabilitation and reconstruction program will be completed, and the
balance of funds remaining in the program at its conclusion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the office of community development and the
Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness shall each submit a
written report of its findings resulting from each of the evaluations requested in this
Resolution to the House Special Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Select
Committee on Homeland Security no later than August 1, 2018.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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