SLS 19RS-1992 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 156
BY SENATORS CARTER, ALARIO AND MORRELL
RAILROADS. Requests DOTD and DEQ to collaborate with designated entities to conduct
an environmental review on quantifiable public health, safety, and welfare impacts
associated with any new railroad alignment in the city of Gretna.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the
3 Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to collaborate with the Rio Grande
4 Pacific Corporation, the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the Federal
5 Railroad Administration, the executive office of the United States Department of
6 Transportation, the United Transportation Union, and the Surface Transportation
7 Board to conduct a thorough environmental review that accounts for the magnitude
8 of adverse, quantifiable public health, safety, and welfare impacts associated with
9 any new railroad alignment in the city of Gretna, Louisiana.
10 WHEREAS, the city of Gretna is acknowledged to have some of the most
11 problematic urban rail safety conditions in the country, with some of the nation's highest
12 concentration of unprotected rail crossings and insufficient buffers for the transport of
13 hazardous materials; and
14 WHEREAS, the city of Gretna, and other regional partners, including the New
15 Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, Jefferson Parish, and Plaquemines Parish,
16 worked together to identify a viable, mutually agreed upon realignment during a four-year
17 Environmental Assessment for the LA 23 New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Relocation
18 Project conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration; and
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SLS 19RS-1992 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, any new rail alignment within the city of Gretna that does not conform
2 to the preferred alternative should require a thorough environmental review that fully
3 accounts for the public health and safety impacts associated with the addition of new
4 crossings, transport of hazardous materials, impact on emergency services response and
5 critical facilities, and community quality of life and welfare.
6 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
7 does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
8 and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to collaborate with the Rio Grande
9 Pacific Corporation, the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the Federal
10 Railroad Administration, the executive office of the United States Department of
11 Transportation, the United Transportation Union, and the Surface Transportation Board to
12 conduct a thorough environmental review that accounts for the magnitude of adverse,
13 quantifiable public health, safety, and welfare impacts associated with any new railroad
14 alignment in the city of Gretna, Louisiana.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
16 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the secretary of
17 the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the president of the Rio Grande Pacific
18 Corporation, the president of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the
19 administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, the secretary of the United States
20 Department of Transportation, the president of United Transportation Union, and the
21 chairwoman of the Surface Transportation Board.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
SR 156 Original 2019 Regular Session Carter
Requests the DOTD and the DEQ to collaborate with the Rio Grande Pacific Corporation,
the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the Federal Railroad Administration,
the executive office of the U.S. DOT, the United Transportation Union, 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 Gretna, Louisiana.
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