ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 168
BY REPRESENTATIVES MARINO, BILLIOT, GARY CARTER, CONNICK,
GISCLAIR, HENRY, HILFERTY, LEOPOLD, LYONS, STAGNI, STOKES,
TALBOT, AND THOMAS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to collaborate with the Rio Grande
Pacific Railroad, the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the Federal
Railroad Administration, the executive office of the United States Department of
Transportation, and the Surface Transportation Board to conduct a thorough
environmental review that accounts for the magnitude of adverse, quantifiable public
health, safety, and welfare impacts associated with any new railroad alignment in the
city of Gretna, Louisiana.
WHEREAS, the city of Gretna is acknowledged to have some of the most
problematic urban rail safety conditions in the country, with some of the nation's highest
concentration of unprotected rail crossings and insufficient buffers for the transport of
hazardous materials; and
WHEREAS, the city of Gretna, and other regional partners, including the New
Orleans Gulf Coast Railroad, Jefferson Parish, and Plaquemines Parish, worked together to
identify a viable, mutually agreed upon realignment during a four-year Environmental
Assessment for the LA 23 New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Relocation Project
conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration; and
WHEREAS, any new rail alignment within the city of Gretna that does not conform
to the preferred alternative should require a thorough environmental review that fully
accounts for the public health and safety impacts associated with the addition of new
crossings, transport of hazardous materials, impact on emergency services response and
critical facilities, and community quality of life and welfare.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of
Transportation and Development and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
to collaborate with the Rio Grande Pacific Railroad, the New Orleans and Gulf Coast
Railway Company, the Federal Railroad Administration, the executive office of the United
States Department of Transportation, and the Surface Transportation Board to conduct a
thorough environmental review that accounts for the magnitude of adverse, quantifiable
public health, safety, and welfare impacts associated with any new railroad alignment in the
city of Gretna, Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the secretary of
the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Rio Grande Pacific Railroad, the
New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the administrator of the Federal Railroad
Administration, the secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, and the
chairwoman of the Surface Transportation Board.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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