By Amy Wold, LWF Policy Director
A draft report that outlines a reorganization framework for natural resource management in the state, including changes to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), was approved by the Natural Resources Steering Commission (NRSC) Friday morning.
The set of recommendations, described as a framework, set out to consolidate and reorganize natural resource management in the state through both internal changes within the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR), and externally through some changes with CPRA and the creation of a non-coastal agency that will address flood risk for the rest of the state.
So the big question is what will be the outcome of all these changes. The answer, in many areas, remains unclear.
The draft report from the commission was released late Friday, Sept. 13 with public comments due before midnight Thursday, Sept. 19. A public meeting was held the following day in Baton Rouge where a number of “clarifications” were made to the original report and subsequently approved without comment by the NRSC made up of the following members:
- Benjamin Bienvenu, Commissioner of Conservation DENR
- Gordon Dove, Governor’s Executive Assistant for Coastal Activities and Chairman of the CPRA board
- Kelisha Garrett, Louisiana Chamber of Commerce
- Tyler Gray, Secretary DENR
- Timothy Hardy, Chair of Louisiana Community and Technical College System
While the clarifications did help clear up whether CPRA would be allowed to remain an independent agency (it will), there are a number of details that won’t be clarified until DENR receives the approved recommendations back from the governor and writes up a more detailed report, according to information provided at the NRSC meeting on Friday, September 20.
These details include staffing of a recommended Upland Resources Management Authority (URMA) that will take on non-coastal flood control for the state and be modeled on the operation of CPRA. Another change will be the renaming of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activity to Upland Planning, which will provide oversite to URMA and coordination with CPRA. Exactly how that coordination will be organized is something to be included in the more detailed report to be developed by DENR, according to J. Clay Parker, Special Counsel who is the contact for the NRSC.
Parker said the timeline for that more detailed report is unclear although the recommendation document, along with the clarifications presented Friday, is due to the Governor October 15. For now, it’s a matter of waiting and seeing what the more detailed report from DENR outlines, what the organizational chart will look like, and where responsibilities will fall. However, since it is anticipated that a number of the recommendations will require legislative action, that could dictate how quickly that more detailed report is produced.
LWF did provide comments to this report in the short time allowed. You can read those comments HERE. As this process moves forward, LWF is calling for more public input in this process with more time to respond to the anticipated proposals and recommendations.
Read the initial draft report here: https://coastal.la.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NRSC-Rpt.-DRAFT.pdf
Read the NRSC’s clarifications of their report at their September 20, 2024 meeting HERE.