2019 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 156
BY SENATORS CARTER, ALARIO AND MORRELL
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 Corporation, the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the Federal
Railroad Administration, the executive office of the United States Department of
Transportation, 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 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 and Gulf Coast Railway Company, 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.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate 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
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Pacific Corporation, the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the Federal
Railroad Administration, the executive office of the United States Department of
Transportation, 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 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 president of the Rio Grande Pacific
Corporation, the president of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, the
administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, the secretary of the United States
Department of Transportation, the president of the United Transportation Union, and the
chairwoman of the Surface Transportation Board.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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