ENROLLED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 526
BY REPRESENTATIVES ZERINGUE, BOURRIAQUE, AND JENKINS AND SENATOR
MILLIGAN
1 AN ACT
2 To enact Part VIII of Chapter 2 of Title 49 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be
3 comprised of R.S. 49:220.41 through 220.46, relative to resilience; to provide for
4 definitions; to establish a chief resilience officer; to provide for the purposes and
5 duties of the chief resilience officer; to provide for a statewide resilience report; to
6 establish an Interagency Resilience Coordination Team and provide for its members
7 and meetings; to establish a Louisiana Resilience Task Force; and to provide for
8 related matters.
9 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
10 Section 1. Part VIII of Chapter 2 of Title 49 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of
11 1950, comprised of R.S. 49:220.41 through 220.46, is hereby enacted as follows:
12 PART VIII. RESILIENCE
13 §220.41. Chief resilience officer; purpose; definition
14 A. There shall be a chief resilience officer within the office of the governor
15 to perform the functions and duties provided in this Part.
16 B. The chief resilience officer shall be appointed by the governor, subject to
17 confirmation by the Senate. The chief resilience officer shall be paid a salary fixed
18 by the governor. The chief resilience officer shall serve at the pleasure of and shall
19 report directly to the governor.
20 C. The governor may assign other personnel to assist the chief resilience
21 officer in the performance of his duties as he deems necessary.
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1 D. For purposes of this Section, "resilience" shall mean a capability to
2 anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from significant multi-hazard threats
3 with minimal damage to social well-being, the economy, infrastructure, and the
4 environment.
5 §220.42. Functions and duties
6 A. The chief resilience officer shall:
7 (1) Coordinate and provide strategic direction for governmental resilience
8 initiatives in order to build long-term resilience for a robust, vibrant economic
9 activity and a sustainable natural environment for Louisiana residents.
10 (2) Provide technical guidance to agencies, as well as local and regional
11 jurisdictions, to integrate statewide resilience goals into future projects, plans, and
12 programs.
13 (3) Review and reconcile state agency comments on federally sponsored
14 resilience and risk mitigation activities to establish and present an official state
15 position.
16 (4) Pursue all available federal and private funds consistent with the
17 purposes of this Part.
18 (5) Coordinate with the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and
19 Emergency Preparedness for emergency management and disaster response.
20 B. The chief resilience officer, subject to the approval of the governor, shall:
21 (1) Coordinate state agency powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities
22 relative to reducing risk and protecting communities, businesses, vital infrastructure,
23 and the environment, including flood risk mitigation and disaster housing.
24 (2) Coordinate all state departmental budget requests for programs and
25 projects pertaining to resilience and risk mitigation.
26 (3) Appraise the adequacy of statutory and administrative mechanisms for
27 coordinating the state's policies and programs at both the intrastate and interstate
28 levels with respect to resilience and risk mitigation.
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1 (4) Appraise the adequacy of federal, regional, state, and local programs to
2 achieve the policies and meet the goals of the state with respect to resilience and risk
3 mitigation.
4 (5) Coordinate and focus federal involvement in Louisiana with respect to
5 resilience and risk mitigation.
6 (6) Provide official state recommendations to the legislature and congress
7 with respect to policies, programs, and coordinating mechanisms relative to
8 resilience and risk mitigation.
9 (7) Assist with the state's planning efforts including the Coastal Master Plan,
10 the State Hazard Mitigation Plan, and the Statewide Watershed Management Plan,
11 to ensure the incorporation and alignment of the state's resilience goals and
12 objectives into a unified, proactive, pre-disaster approach to adaptation and
13 long-term resilience.
14 (8) Represent the resilience and risk mitigation policy of the state at the
15 federal, regional, state, and local levels.
16 §220.43. Statewide resilience report
17 A. To coordinate and strengthen efforts to reduce losses from future disasters
18 across the state, the chief resilience officer shall contribute to all statewide planning
19 efforts related to resilience and risk mitigation and shall develop a strategic statewide
20 resilience report to protect the state from multiple threats, prioritizing the risks from
21 inland and coastal flooding. The report shall include but is not limited to the
22 following:
23 (1) Articulation of the state's resilience goals and objectives.
24 (2) Utilization of best available science, including a range of future
25 projections, to identify and implement policies, projects, and programs that achieve
26 the state's resilience goals and objectives.
27 (3) Prioritization of agency-identified adaptation actions based on a
28 vulnerability assessment of risks to agency mission areas, assets, services, and
29 populations served from multiple environmental threats.
30 (4) Descriptions of agency strategic actions.
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1 B. The statewide resilience report shall be updated every year with the latest
2 available science and updated conditions.
3 C. The office of resilience shall submit the annual statewide resilience report
4 to the legislature and to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library in
5 accordance with the provisions of R.S. 24:772 by February fifteenth every year.
6 §220.44. State agency resilience officers
7 A.(1) Each department head in the executive branch of state government
8 shall designate at least one person to serve as the department's resilience officer and
9 shall transmit the name and contact information of each designee to the chief
10 resilience officer and shall notify the chief resilience officer of any change in the
11 name or contact information of a designee within ten days.
12 (2) Each presiding officer of the legislature shall designate at least one
13 person to serve as the legislature's resilience officer and shall transmit the name and
14 contact information of each designee to the chief resilience officer and shall notify
15 the chief resilience officer of any change in the name or contact information of a
16 designee within ten days.
17 (3) The chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court shall designate at least
18 one person to serve as the judiciary's resilience officer and shall transmit the name
19 and contact information of each designee to the chief resilience officer and shall
20 notify the chief resilience officer of any change in the name or contact information
21 of a designee within ten days.
22 B. The agency resilience officers shall coordinate activities with the chief
23 resilience officer as necessary and shall serve on the Interagency Resilience
24 Coordination Team as provided in R.S. 49:220.45.
25 §220.45. Interagency Resilience Coordination Team
26 A. The Interagency Resilience Coordination Team is established to maintain
27 awareness, communication, and alignment with regard to the state's resilience and
28 risk mitigation needs, progress, and priorities and to oversee development of the
29 statewide resilience report.
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1 B. The team shall be comprised of the resilience officers from each state
2 agency and the chief resilience officer, who shall serve as chair.
3 C. The team shall meet upon the call of the chair, with a minimum of four
4 meetings annually.
5 D. The team shall make recommendations to and render assistance and
6 guidance to agencies in the development of strategic plans for resilience.
7 §220.46. Louisiana Resilience Task Force
8 A. There is hereby established a Louisiana Resilience Task Force to provide
9 strategic direction to resilience efforts across the state and to make recommendations
10 to the chief resilience officer.
11 B. The task force shall be composed of the following members:
12 (1) The chief resilience officer, who shall serve as chair and shall represent
13 the views of the Interagency Resilience Coordination Team.
14 (2) The director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and
15 Emergency Preparedness or his designee.
16 (3) The Governor's Executive Assistant for Coastal Activities or his
17 designee.
18 (4) The commissioner of the division of administration or his designee.
19 (5) The commissioner of insurance or his designee.
20 (6) The secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or
21 his designee.
22 (7) The executive director of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, Inc.
23 or his designee.
24 (8) The executive director of the Parish Presidents of Louisiana Association
25 or his designee.
26 (9) The speaker of the House of Representatives or his designee.
27 (10) The president of the Senate or his designee.
28 (11) The executive director or his designee of Louisiana Municipal
29 Association.
30 (12) A member from the Public Service Commission.
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1 (13) The commissioner of higher education or his designee.
2 (14) The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services or his
3 designee.
4 C. The task force shall meet quarterly and at the call of the chairman.
5 Section 2. The chief resilience officer shall submit the initial statewide resilience
6 report to the legislature and the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library by February
7 15, 2024, and the chief resilience officer shall convene the first meeting of the Interagency
8 Resilience Coordination Team no later than October 1, 2023.
9 Section 3. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not
10 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature
11 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If
12 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become
13 effective on the day following such approval.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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