§214.5.3. Coastal protection annual plans; development; priorities

A.(1) The board shall, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section, develop a master plan for integrated coastal protection and an annual plan for integrated coastal protection for protecting, conserving, enhancing, and restoring the coastal area through the construction and management of integrated coastal protection projects and programs, including privately funded marsh management projects or plans, and addressing those activities requiring a coastal use permit which significantly affect such projects, all consistent with the legislative intent as expressed in R.S. 49:214.1, and which plan shall be subject to the approval of the legislature as provided in Subsections B and E of this Section. In addition, the board, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section including legislative approval, shall review, revise, and amend the master plan when necessary or, at a minimum, every six years.

(2) The master plan and the annual plan shall include requests for funding of projects and programs related to integrated coastal protection. The annual plan shall include at least a three-year projection of funding of projects and programs related to integrated coastal protection, including but not limited to relevant public or private funding sources.

B. The board shall develop the master and annual plans in accordance with the following procedure:

(1) The board shall conduct not less than three public hearings in separate locations in the western, central, and eastern areas of the coastal area for the purpose of receiving comments and recommendations from the public and elected officials. All public hearings must be held at least sixty days prior to the submission of the plans to the legislature.

(2) At least two weeks prior to each public hearing the board shall contact the parish governing authorities, regional flood protection authorities, levee districts, and the state legislators of the parishes in the coastal area for the purpose of soliciting their comments and recommendations and notifying them of the public hearing to be held in their area.

(3) Ten days prior to the first such public hearing the board shall publish in the Louisiana Register and the official state journal the schedule of public hearings setting out the location, place, and time of all the hearings.

(4) At least seven days prior to each hearing the board shall publish a notice of the hearing in the official journal of each parish within the area of the hearing. The notice of a hearing shall have been published in the official journal of each parish in the coastal area prior to the final scheduled public hearing. The board may provide for additional public hearings when necessary upon at least three days notice published in the official journal of the parishes in the area of the hearing and written notice to the parish governing authorities.

(5) The board shall receive written comments and recommendations until thirty days prior to the submission of the master and annual plans to the legislative committees.

C. The master plan shall address integrated coastal protection efforts from both short-term and long-range perspectives and shall incorporate structural, management, and institutional components of both efforts. The plan shall include but not be limited to the following:

(1) A list of projects and programs required for the protection, conservation, enhancement, and restoration of the coastal area and the action required of each state agency to implement said project or program.

(2) A schedule and estimated cost for the implementation of each project or program included in the master plan.

D.(1) Where feasible, the master plan shall include scientific data and other reasons, including but not limited to the social, geographic, economic, engineering, and biological considerations as to why each project or program was selected for inclusion. Specifically, this will include an explanation as to how each project or program advances the plan objectives with respect to the protection, conservation, enhancement, and restoration of the coastal area.

(2) Prior to recommending any project for inclusion in the master plan, the board shall identify and declare in writing:

(a) The public use benefits intended to be derived from the project which justify the project.

(b) The use benefits which private landowners are expected to derive from the project.

(c) The manner in which the benefits will be realized over the life of the project.

(d) The entities or persons who will be responsible for the long-term operation and maintenance of the project both in terms of manpower and cost.

(e) The entities or persons who will be responsible for monitoring the project to ensure that it is functioning properly and realizing the intended public and private benefits.

E.(1) After adoption by the board, the master plan shall be submitted to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works and the Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works for approval. In addition, the annual plan shall be submitted to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works and the Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works on or before the fifteenth day of the regular legislative session of each year. The committees shall take action on the annual plan on or before June first of each calendar year.

(2) If any committee disapproves a plan, it shall send the plan back to the authority together with a brief summary of the reasons for disapproval and may make recommendations concerning changes it deems necessary or appropriate to remedy any deficiencies in the plan.

(3) The legislature may approve or disapprove a plan by resolution adopted by a majority vote of the members of each house of the legislature. If the legislature disapproves a plan, it shall include in the resolution a brief summary of the reasons for disapproval and may make recommendations concerning any changes it deems necessary or appropriate to remedy any deficiencies in the plan.

(4) If the legislature approves the master plan, or if the legislature fails to take action on the master plan within sixty days after the plan is submitted, the board shall provide for implementation of the plan as submitted. If the legislature approves the annual plan, or if the legislature fails to disapprove the annual plan by July first, the board shall provide for implementation of the plan as submitted. The projects and programs provided for in the annual plan shall be undertaken in conformity with the order of priority as contained in the annual plan.

(5) At any time subsequent to the adoption or implementation of a plan in accordance with the procedure set forth herein, the board may amend or supplement the plan to add or delete projects and programs. No project shall be added or deleted unless and until the amendment to the plan is approved as provided herein. Any such amendment to the plan submitted to the legislature shall conform to the requirements specified in Subsections B and D of this Section.

Acts 2009, No. 523, §3, eff. July 10, 2009; Acts 2012, No. 604, §3, eff. June 7, 2012; Acts 2013, No. 220, §23, eff. June 11, 2013; Acts 2018, No. 244, §1.