Louisiana SCR 41: CONGRESS:  Memorializes Congress to allow for variances on certain projects regulated by the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act.

Bill Text

2018 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 41
BY SENATORS GARY SMITH, ALLAIN, CHABERT AND PRICE
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To memorialize the Congress of the United States to allow variances on certain projects
regulated by the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act.
WHEREAS, the federal Clean Water Act establishes a program to regulate the
discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands; and
WHEREAS, the federal Rivers and Harbors Act requires authorization from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of any structure in or over any navigable
waters of the United States, the excavation and dredging or deposition of material, or any
obstruction or alteration to a navigable water; and
WHEREAS, protection of the coast and mitigation of wetland loss is vital to the
future of this state and the many projects designed to protect and preserve the state's coast
invariably require dredging, obstructing, or altering of waters of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act mandate that local,
municipal, and state projects aimed at mitigating coastal wetland losses require permits from
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and
WHEREAS, like federal law, Louisiana law requires compensatory mitigation at a
level sufficient to replace the ecological value of the wetlands lost as a result of permitted
projects, but allows for variances to this requirement when the permittee has demonstrated
that the required mitigation would render the proposed project impracticable if the project
has a clearly overriding public interest; and
WHEREAS, the Clean Waters Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act do not allow for
such variances when a project to mitigate coastal wetland loss is being considered, even
when that project has a clearly overriding public interest; and
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SCR NO. 41 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, in an effort to help the state protect its valuable coast and wetlands,
federal law should allow for a variance for a project that has a clearly overriding public
interest.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes
the Congress of the United States to allow for variances on certain projects regulated by the
Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted
to the secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
Congress.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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