ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 30
BY REPRESENTATIVE ZERINGUE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request continued support for the efforts by the state of Louisiana and other
states 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 coast of
Louisiana.
WHEREAS, the continued formation of a large area of hypoxia, or low oxygen
levels, in Louisiana's coastal waters remains a threat to the health of our state's productive
commercial and recreational offshore fisheries and seafood industry; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana has been an active participant in the cooperative
effort to address this problem through the federal-state Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient Task Force since 1997, and the Action Plan for Reducing Hypoxia in
the Northern Gulf of Mexico since 2000; and
WHEREAS, this endeavor has included engagement from twelve states along the
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, along with federal agencies and private stakeholders, in a
collaborative effort to reduce the average size of the annual hypoxic zone through
conservation, ecosystem restoration, and nutrient management and reduction programs; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana and the task force are working with partners such as the
twelve land-grant universities in states along the Mississippi River, including Louisiana
State University and its LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and
Forestry's (LDAF) office of soil and water conservation, in collaboration with the United
States Department of Agriculture, farmers, and producers to implement programs contained
in the 2018 Farm Bill, including projects in Louisiana's priority watersheds that drain to the
Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya River, and the Gulf of Mexico; and
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WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is working with
LDAF, other partner agencies, and stakeholders to reduce nutrient loading in priority
watersheds throughout the state through the state's nonpoint source pollution program, and
the federal grant program under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, as well as working with
industries along the Mississippi River industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New
Orleans to proactively and voluntarily reduce their nutrient releases into the Mississippi
River and the Gulf of Mexico through the Louisiana Environmental Leadership Program;
and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Legislature has previously expressed its support for
efforts to reduce the Gulf hypoxic zone and ensure the health of the state's offshore fisheries
and waters, in resolutions such as House Concurrent Resolution No. 47 of the 2000 Regular
Session, House Concurrent Resolution No. 80 of the 2007 Regular Session, Senate
Concurrent Resolution No. 40 of the 2010 Regular Session, Senate Resolution No. 84 of the
2012 Regular Session, and House Concurrent Resolution No. 70 of the 2016 Regular
Session.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Louisiana Legislature reaffirms this
support and urges and requests continued support for these efforts by our state and others in
the Mississippi River Basin to work together toward achieving the goals and targets of the
Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan and a reduction of the hypoxic zone off our coast.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to
Governor John Bel Edwards, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, and each member of the
Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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