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2023 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 17
BY SENATOR HENSGENS AND REPRESENTATI VE ZERINGUE
COASTAL PROTECT/RES AUTH. Approves the comprehensive master plan for
integrated coastal protection.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To approve the comprehensive master plan for integrated coastal protection projects, as
3 adopted by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board.
4 WHEREAS, R.S. 49:214.5.1 et seq. provides for the creation, duties, and
5 responsibilities of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board (board); and
6 WHEREAS, under R.S. 49:214.5.2, the board represents the state's position in policy
7 relative to the protection, conservation, enhancement, and restoration of the coastal area of
8 the state through oversight of integrated coastal protection projects and programs; and
9 WHEREAS, in accordance with the responsibility of the board to represent the state's
10 position in policy relative to integrated coastal protection, membership on the board includes
11 the following: the governor's executive assistant for coastal activities; the secretaries of the
12 Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Department
13 of Environmental Quality, the Department of Transportation and Development, the
14 Department of Economic Development, and the commissioners of the division of
15 administration, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Department of
16 Insurance; eight members who are appointed by the governor in consultation with the Police
17 Jury Association of Louisiana and the Association of Levee Boards of Louisiana; the chair
18 of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and
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1 Conservation; the director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
2 Preparedness; the lieutenant governor; and two ex-officio members designated by the
3 president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives; and
4 WHEREAS, the powers and duties of the board require working in conjunction with
5 state agencies, political subdivisions, including flood protection authorities, levee districts
6 and federal agencies, as well as representatives from the Louisiana Legislature, to develop
7 a state comprehensive master plan for integrated coastal protection (coastal master plan) to
8 address integrated coastal protection efforts from both short-term and long-range
9 perspectives, and to incorporate the structural, management, and institutional components
10 of both efforts; and
11 WHEREAS, the board has engaged a state steering committee to assist with the
12 development of the coastal master plan as directed by Governor John Bel Edwards'
13 Executive Order No. JBE 2016-09, which requires all state agencies, departments, and
14 offices to administer their regulatory practices and programs in a manner consistent with the
15 coastal master plan; and
16 WHEREAS, in development of the coastal master plan, the board has also engaged
17 a diverse group of key stakeholders to serve as the coastal advisory team (CAT) which began
18 meeting in September of 2018, with meetings occurring every four to six months thereafter,
19 to establish a clear vision for the 2023 coastal master plan consisting of members from the
20 following groups: Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, building industry,
21 chemical industry, oil and gas, ports and navigation, community representative, land
22 conservation, recreational fishing, commercial fisheries, environmental and community
23 nonprofit organizations, landowner representatives, local flood control, Louisiana
24 Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources - office
25 of coastal management, Louisiana Department of Economic Development - small business
26 development, Louisiana Sea Grant, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - marine
27 fisheries office, Mississippi River Delta-Coalition, national advocacy group, National
28 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - national marine fisheries services, parish
29 representatives from the eastern, central, and western areas of coastal Louisiana, RESTORE
30 Council, university/academic representative, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United
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1 States Department of Agriculture - natural resources conservation service, and the United
2 States Fish and Wildlife Service; and
3 WHEREAS, in addition to the CAT, the board also engaged a series of advisory
4 groups to establish the 2023 coastal master plan, including a Predictive Modeling Technical
5 Advisory Committee including scientists and engineers with national or international
6 experience who cover a range of disciplines relevant to the 2023 coastal master plan to
7 provide independent technical review, five regional workgroups representing five coastal
8 regions to integrate local knowledge and expertise, and community engagement
9 workgroups; and
10 WHEREAS, the coastal master plan shall include a list of projects and programs
11 required for the protection, conservation, enhancement, and restoration of the coastal area,
12 the action required of each agency to implement said project or program, and a schedule and
13 estimated cost for the implementation of each project or program included in the plan; and
14 WHEREAS, R.S. 49:214.5.3 requires that, as part of the development of the coastal
15 master plan, the board shall conduct not less than three public hearings in separate locations
16 in the western, central, and eastern areas of the coastal area for the purpose of receiving
17 comments and recommendations from the public and elected officials; and
18 WHEREAS, R.S. 49:214.5.3 also requires that at least two weeks prior to each public
19 hearing, the board must contact the parish governing authorities, regional flood protection
20 authorities, levee districts, and the state legislators of the parishes in the coastal areas for the
21 purpose of soliciting their comments and recommendations and notifying them of the public
22 hearing to be held in their area; and
23 WHEREAS, R.S. 49:214.5.3 requires the board to receive written comments and
24 recommendations until thirty days prior to the submission of the coastal master plan to the
25 legislative committees; and
26 WHEREAS, the board has gone well above and beyond the public outreach required
27 by law and in addition to meeting its obligations as set forth in R.S. 49:214.5.3, the board
28 has: (1) hosted a total of four public hearings between January and February 2023 in the
29 cities of Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Houma, and New Orleans, with a total of over three
30 hundred attendees, (2) participated in ten community conversations sponsored by a coastal
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1 Louisiana nongovernmental organization in Belle Chasse, Violet, New Orleans, Larose,
2 Lacombe, Abbeville, Gonzales, Gretna, Lutcher, and Grand Lake between November 2022
3 and March 2023 with 500 attendees, (3) opened the plan for public comment for
4 seventy-nine days of public comment ending on March 25, 2023, (4) given one hundred
5 twenty-seven general presentation briefings, (5) conducted seventy-five meetings with
6 advisory groups, and (6) received over one thousand eight hundred unique views on the
7 master plan data viewer; and
8 WHEREAS, as required under the provisions of R.S. 49:214.5.3, the coastal master
9 plan adopted by the board must be submitted to the House Committee on Natural Resources
10 and Environment and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee
11 on Transportation, Highways and Public Works and the Senate Committee on
12 Transportation, Highways and Public Works; and
13 WHEREAS, the legislature may approve or disapprove of the coastal master plan by
14 resolution adopted by a majority vote of the members of each house of the legislature; and
15 WHEREAS, the board shall provide for implementation of the coastal master plan
16 if the legislature approves such plan or if the legislature fails to take action on such plan
17 within sixty days after the plan is submitted.
18 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
19 approve the comprehensive master plan for integrated coastal protection as adopted by the
20 Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
22 chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board and the executive
23 director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jacob K. Wilson.
DIGEST
SCR 17 Engrossed 2023 Regular Session Hensgens
Approves the comprehensive master plan for integrated coastal protection.
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