HLS 202ES-108 ORIGINAL
2020 Second Extraordinary Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO.7
BY REPRESENTATIVE COUSSAN AND SENATOR HENSGENS
ENERGY/OIL & GAS: Memorializes Congress to require the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to more efficiently coordinate the removal of dislocated
oilfield equipment after natural disasters in Louisiana
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To memorialize the United States Congress and the Louisiana Congressional delegation to
3 take such actions as are necessary to require the Federal Emergency Management
4 Agency (FEMA) to more efficiently coordinate the removal of dislocated oilfield
5 equipment after natural disasters in Louisiana.
6 WHEREAS, hurricanes that blow through coastal Louisiana, particularly those that
7come ashore as a Category 3 or higher, such as Hurricane Rita in 2005 and particularly
8Hurricane Laura in 2020, leave behind destruction and dislocation of people, homes, and
9equipment; and
10 WHEREAS, Hurricane Laura is estimated to have caused between $4 billion and $12
11billion in damages mostly to Louisiana and mostly in the coastal areas of Southwest
12Louisiana; and
13 WHEREAS, a component of that damage involves the dislocation of equipment from
14the oil and gas industry located in coastal Louisiana, including storage tanks, drums, pipe
15segments, and other equipment used in the oil patch, equipment that is picked up by the wind
16and water of the hurricane and dropped elsewhere in the coast; and
17 WHEREAS, nearly eighty percent of the land in coastal Louisiana is privately-owned
18land, so much of the dislocated oil and gas equipment lands on privately-held property; and
19 WHEREAS, some of the dislocated oilfield equipment contains materials that can
20cause pollution if the tanks and drums are damaged through the dislocation and could also
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HCR NO. 7
1be the cause of marine accidents when they are located in waterways where boat captains
2do not expect to find such hazards; and
3 WHEREAS, initial efforts to locate and identify equipment displaced by a hurricane
4include an attempt to identify the owner of the equipment, notify the owner that their
5equipment has been found, and request that the owner remove their equipment from another
6person's property; and
7 WHEREAS, the second step in attempting to address the dislocated equipment is the
8Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LaDEQ), the Louisiana State Police, and
9the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO) working in cooperation with the
10United States Coast Guard and under the auspices of FEMA work to remove any tank or
11drum that could be the source of pollution in the marsh or could be the cause of marine
12accidents involving boats and displaced tanks or drums; and
13 WHEREAS, after sources of pollution and immediate hazards are removed by
14LaDEQ, State Police and LOSCO, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and
15Development and the Louisiana National Guard, again under the auspices of the FEMA
16identify the location and nature of additional tanks, drums, and other oilfield equipment
17dislodged by the hurricane so removal plans can be developed; and
18 WHEREAS, plans for removal of dislodged equipment that is neither hazardous nor
19polluting include a development of a timeline and an assessment of the potential damage to
20the marsh that could occur as a result of removal efforts versus the damage that the item may
21cause by its relocation to the spot; and
22 WHEREAS, because the process is a bifurcated process, requiring removal of
23hazardous or polluting items first and then removal of the remainder of the equipment, many
24times a situation arises that results in a displaced tank being bypassed on the way to remove
25a hazardous or polluting tank when removing all the equipment at the same time would be
26more efficient, more cost-effective, and require less overall time to remove all the dislodged
27equipment; and
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HCR NO. 7
1 WHEREAS, the FEMA practices and procedures do not allow the removal of
2nonhazardous, non-polluting items prior to or at the same time as removal of other displaced
3oilfield tanks, drums, and other equipment, thereby elongating the process and increasing
4the damage to the private property located in the marshes of coastal Louisiana.
5 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
6memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to require the
7Federal Emergency Management Agency to more efficiently coordinate the removal of
8dislocated oilfield equipment after natural disasters in Louisiana.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
10presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
11United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
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 7 Original 2020 Second Extraordinary Session Coussan
Memorializes the U.S. Congress to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
more efficiently coordinate the removal of dislocated oilfield equipment after natural
disasters in La.
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