ENROLLED
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 772
BY REPRESENTATIVE ZERINGUE
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 29:726.4(A), (C), (E), and (F), relative to cemetery emergency
3 assistance and disaster relief; to provide for the Louisiana Cemetery Response Task
4 Force; to provide for its powers, duties, and functions; to provide for certain terms
5 and procedures; to provide for an effective date; and to provide for related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 29:726.4(A), (C), (E), and (F) are hereby amended and reenacted to
8 read as follows:
9 ยง726.4. Statewide Louisiana Cemetery Response Task Force; authority and
10 responsibilities
11 A. The Statewide Louisiana Cemetery Response Task Force is hereby
12 established to assess response and recovery needs related to cemeteries during any
13 emergency declaration by the state or any parish thereof.
14 * * *
15 C.(1) The task force shall appoint a chairperson from among its members.
16 Each member may appoint a designee who shall have all of the rights and privileges
17 as a member of the task force when acting in such capacity.
18 (2) Upon approval of the task force, any other state authority may appoint
19 a representative as a member of the task force. The appointing authority of such
20 entity shall make the appointment.
21 (3) Each member may appoint a designee who shall have all the rights and
22 privileges as a member of the task force when acting in such capacity.
23 * * *
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1 E. Upon activation, the task force shall complete and submit within
2 seventy-two hours a preliminary assessment of the known impacts to cemeteries as
3 a result of the emergency event to the director of the Governor's Office of Homeland
4 Security and Emergency Preparedness. Such assessments shall be updated from time
5 to time as additional information is acquired.
6 F. The Statewide Cemetery Response Task Force task force shall have the
7 following powers and duties:
8 (1) Determine whether response and recovery efforts related to cemeteries
9 is necessary.
10 (2) When a response is necessary, make recommendations for the nature of
11 the response.
12 (3) Provide subject matter expertise as requested during the response.
13 (4) May direct Direct available state, parish, and local resources for the
14 response.
15 (5) Coordinate with any relevant federal agencies on cemetery impacts
16 response and recovery.
17 (6) Coordinate with any impacted parish or local governments on the
18 cemetery impacts response and recovery.
19 (7) Coordinate with any non-governmental organizations, funeral directors,
20 monument and vault companies, churches, cemetery authorities, associations,
21 individuals, and vendors involved in the cemetery impacts response and recovery.
22 (8) Advise the director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and
23 Emergency Preparedness and the Louisiana Department of Health, office of public
24 health, of any public health or other concerns related to disinterred remains for which
25 the person responsible for disposition cannot be located.
26 (9) Be exempted from any requirements under R.S. 40:52 through 54 and
27 any successor laws thereof due to the exigent circumstances under which the task
28 force operates.
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1 (10) Be authorized to access records as set forth in R.S. 40:2020(D)(1) and
2 any successor law thereof, subject only to the limitations set forth in R.S. 44:4 and
3 4.1(26), or any applicable federal law.
4 (11) Be subject to the confidentiality mandates set forth in R.S. 15:660 and
5 any successor law thereof.
6 (12) Be authorized to retain and test materials as set forth in R.S.
7 13:5713(B)(4)(b) or any successor law thereof, pursuant to an order of a court of
8 competent jurisdiction or to consent pursuant to R.S. 8:655 or any successor law
9 thereof.
10 (13) Have discretion to direct deviations from requirements to repair and
11 restore grave spaces or wall vaults to original condition as set forth in R.S. 8:308,
12 903, and 903.1, or any successor laws thereof.
13 (14) Have a right of action and a cause of action to file suit in its own name
14 against private parties for the recovery of federal cemetery recovery funds not
15 allocated according to federal law, regulation, and policy and against individuals or
16 juridical persons for specific performance of the recovery and repair work for which
17 they received such funds.
18 (15) Adopt rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act to effectuate
19 the provisions of this Section.
20 (16) Provide for the permanent archiving of its final identification records.
21 (17) Activate at the discretion of its chairman to direct or supplement efforts
22 in the search for human remains associated with cold cases or mass fatality events
23 if requested by a state, local, or tribal governmental agency and approved by the
24 director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
25 Preparedness.
26 (18) Be authorized to access both public and private property to abate public
27 health and safety risks posed by human remains, caskets, or burial vaults located
28 thereon and to remove such hazards from both public and private property.
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1 (19) Be authorized to access both public and private property to reinter or
2 direct the reinterment of human remains, caskets, or burial vaults to their original
3 resting place in order to mitigate risks to human health and safety.
4 * * *
5 Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not
6 signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature
7 by the governor, as provided by Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If
8 vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become
9 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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