HLS 19RS-1014 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 30
BY REPRESENTATIVE ZERINGUE
WATERWAYS: Urges and requests continued support for the efforts by the state of
Louisiana and others in the Mississippi River Basin to work together toward
achieving the goals of the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan and a reduction of the hypoxic
zone off the state's coast
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request continued support for the efforts by the state of Louisiana and other
3 states in the Mississippi River Basin to work together toward achieving the goals of
4 the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan and a reduction of the hypoxic zone off the coast of
5 Louisiana.
6 WHEREAS, the continued formation of a large area of hypoxia, or low oxygen
7levels, in Louisiana's coastal waters remains a threat to the health of our state's productive
8commercial and recreational offshore fisheries and seafood industry; and
9 WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana has been an active participant in the cooperative
10effort to address this problem through the federal-state Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico
11Watershed Nutrient Task Force since 1997, and the Action Plan for Reducing Hypoxia in
12the Northern Gulf of Mexico since 2000; and
13 WHEREAS, this endeavor has included engagement from twelve states along the
14Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, along with federal agencies and private stakeholders, in a
15collaborative effort to reduce the average size of the annual hypoxic zone through
16conservation, ecosystem restoration, and nutrient management and reduction programs; and
17 WHEREAS, Louisiana and the task force are working with partners such as the
18twelve land-grant universities in states along the Mississippi River, including Louisiana
19State University and its LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and
20Forestry's (LDAF) office of soil and water conservation, in collaboration with the United
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HCR NO. 30
1States Department of Agriculture, farmers, and producers to implement programs contained
2in the 2018 Farm Bill, including projects in Louisiana's priority watersheds that drain to the
3Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya River, and the Gulf of Mexico; and
4 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is working with
5LDAF, other partner agencies, and stakeholders to reduce nutrient loading in priority
6watersheds throughout the state through the state's nonpoint source pollution program, and
7the federal grant program under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, as well as working with
8industries along the Mississippi River industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New
9Orleans to proactively and voluntarily reduce their nutrient releases into the Mississippi
10River and the Gulf of Mexico through the Louisiana Environmental Leadership Program;
11and
12 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Legislature has previously expressed its support for
13efforts to reduce the Gulf hypoxic zone and ensure the health of the state's offshore fisheries
14and waters, in resolutions such as House Concurrent Resolution No. 47 of the 2000 Regular
15Session, House Concurrent Resolution No. 80 of the 2007 Regular Session, Senate
16Concurrent Resolution No. 40 of the 2010 Regular Session, Senate Resolution No. 84 of the
172012 Regular Session, and House Concurrent Resolution No. 70 of the 2016 Regular
18Session.
19 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Louisiana Legislature reaffirms this
20support and urges and requests continued support for these efforts by our state and others in
21the Mississippi River Basin to work together toward achieving the goals and targets of the
22Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan and a reduction of the hypoxic zone off our coast.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to
24Governor John Bel Edwards, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, and each member of the
25Louisiana congressional delegation.
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HCR NO. 30
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 30 Original 2019 Regular Session Zeringue
Urges and requests continued support for the efforts by the state of La. and others in the
Mississippi River Basin to work together toward achieving the goals of the Gulf Hypoxia
Action Plan and a reduction of the hypoxic zone off the state's coast.
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