Louisiana § RS 49:214.29 - Special areas, projects, and programs

§ RS 49:214.29. Special areas, projects, and programs

            A. Special areas are areas within the coastal zone which have unique and valuable characteristics requiring special management procedures. Special areas may include important geological formations, such as beaches, barrier islands, shell deposits, salt domes, or formations containing deposits of oil, gas or other minerals; historical or archaeological sites; corridors for transportation, industrialization or urbanization; areas subject to flooding, subsidence, salt water intrusion or the like; unique, scarce, fragile, vulnerable, highly productive or essential habitat for living resources; ports or other developments or facilities dependent upon access to water; recreational areas; freshwater storage areas; and such other areas as may be determined pursuant to this Section.

            B. The secretary may adopt, after notice and public hearing, rules for the identification, designation, and utilization of special areas and for the establishing of guidelines or priorities of uses in each area.

            C. Those areas and facilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Offshore Terminal Authority are deemed to be special areas. The environmental protection plan required by R.S. 34:3113 shall constitute the management guidelines for this special area and shall continue to be administered and enforced by the Offshore Terminal Authority or its successor in accordance with the policies and objectives of the state program.

            D. The secretary shall have the authority to set priorities, consistent with this Subpart, for funding available under Section 308 of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (PL 92-583 as amended by PL 94-370).

            E. The secretary is authorized to assist approved local programs and state and local agencies carrying out projects consistent with the guidelines, related to the management, development, preservation, or restoration of specific sites in the coastal zone or to the development of greater use and enjoyment of the resources of the coastal zone by financial, technical, or other means, including aid in obtaining federal funds.

            F. Notwithstanding any law, order, or regulation to the contrary, the secretary shall prepare a freshwater diversion plan for the state in order to reserve or offset land loss and salt water encroachment in Louisiana's coastal wetlands. As part of this plan the secretary shall prepare specific recommendations as to those locations which are most in need of freshwater diverted from the Mississippi River and other water bodies of the state, and he shall include the projected costs thereof and the order of priority.

            G. The secretary shall develop an indexing system whereby those wetland, coastline, and barrier island areas which are undergoing rapid change or are otherwise considered critical shall be identified; and the secretary shall also undertake a pilot program to create one or more artificial barrier islands in order to determine the effectiveness of such islands in controlling shoreline erosion.

            H. The governor may, upon recommendation by the secretary and after consultation with the attorney general as to any adverse impact on the coastline, enter into agreements with the United States regarding the construction, maintenance, and operation of projects along the coastline and in the Gulf of America. The agreements may provide that such projects shall not affect the location of the shoreline or boundaries of the state.

            Acts 1978, No. 361, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1979. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 777, §1; Acts 1979, No. 561, §1; Acts 1979, No. 574, §1; Acts 1979, No. 613, §1, eff. July 18, 1979; Acts 1983, No. 591, §2, eff. July 14, 1983; Acts 1984, No. 408, §1, eff. July 6, 1984; Acts 2025, No. 105, §3, eff. June 8, 2025; Acts 2025, No. 458, §9, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.

{{NOTE: SEE ACTS 1989, 2D EX. SESS., NO. 6, §7.}}