§214.8.4. Powers and duties

A. The director, in consultation with the board as desired, shall:

(1) Develop, implement, and manage a comprehensive state master plan for the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project.

(2) Present the annual basin plan as a part of the state integrated coastal protection plan to the board each year for its review and approval.

(3) Coordinate state implementation of congressional mandates concerning the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project.

(4) Serve as primary liaison on behalf of the state with the United States Army Corps of Engineers on the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project, including representation of the state in state and federal partnerships, cost and share agreements, and other public and private cooperative endeavors.

(5) Represent the policy and consensus viewpoint of the state at the federal, regional, state, and local levels with respect to the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project.

(6) Enter into partnerships, memoranda of understanding, and cooperative endeavors with state agencies and departments to implement the basin master plan or annual basin plan, including:

(a) Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: to operate and maintain wildlife management areas created by the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project, and to plan and monitor projects to improve water quality and fish and wildlife production.

(b) Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism: to operate and maintain tourist information centers and state parks funded by the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project.

(c) Department of Agriculture and Forestry: to monitor environmental easements as required by the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project.

(d) State land office: to monitor and enforce timber harvesting and campsite development on state-owned lands in the basin as required by the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project.

(e) Department of Transportation and Development, Department of Environmental Quality, and Louisiana Department of Health: to advise the program on departmental operations relating to the Atchafalaya Basin.

(7) Provide recommendations to the board, legislature, and congress with respect to the implementation, management, and funding of the basin master plan.

(8) Monitor and seek available federal and private funds and property consistent with the purposes of this Subpart, including funds from matching sources.

(9) Enter into agreements and cooperative endeavors consistent with the purposes of this Subpart.

(10) Conduct meetings, hold hearings, and promulgate rules as necessary and consistent with the purposes of this Subpart.

(11) Appoint advisory committees.

(12) Expend funds consistent with the purposes of this Subpart.

(13) Enter into memoranda of understanding and cooperative endeavors with state, local, and federal public entities consistent with the purposes of this Subpart.

(14) Utilize the services and personnel of state, local, and federal public entities upon mutually agreeable terms and conditions consistent with the purposes of this Subpart.

(15) Seek, accept, and use, in accordance with law, gifts, grants, bequests, and endowments, including immovable property, for purposes consistent with the powers and duties in this Subpart and take such actions as are necessary to comply with any conditions required for such acceptance.

(16) Administer and enforce the provisions of this Subpart relating to duties and activities of the program.

(17) Perform such other acts and duties as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Subpart.

(18) Develop an annual basin plan as provided in R.S. 49:214.8.6 and present the annual basin plan to the board.

(19) Develop and adopt criteria which must be met prior to a project being included in an annual basin plan.

(20) Hold public hearings on the annual basin plan prior to adoption. The director shall hold a minimum of two public hearings on the annual basin plan each year with at least one hearing to be held at a location on the west side of the Atchafalaya Basin and at least one hearing to be held at a location on the east side of the Atchafalaya Basin. The director shall advertise in the official journal of the state the date, time, and location of the public hearings at least seven days prior to the hearings.

(21) Promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act in order to carry out its duties and shall conduct its meetings in accordance with R.S. 42:11 et seq., the Open Meetings Law.

B. The director is authorized to:

(1) Acquire one thousand five hundred acres of land in the Atchafalaya Basin for recreation purposes, and to construct new recreation areas, facilities, and water management features.

(2) Conduct environmental easement monitoring.

(3) Operate and maintain public access features.

(4) Enter into cooperative endeavors or other agreements with federal, basin, or local departments or agencies to implement the basin master plan or annual basin plan.

(5) Enter into cooperative endeavors or agreements with the United States Army Corps of Engineers for projects covering public access, environmental easements, water management, and recreation as provided in the basin master plan and in the congressional authorization contained in Public Laws 99-88 of 1985 and 99-662 of 1986, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1991, Public Law 101-514, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1997, Public Law 104-206, the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, Public Law 106-541, and the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, Public Law 110-114.

(6) Use any federal funds that are, or that may become, available as matching funds or on any other basis for any of the projects contained in the annual basin plan or any other projects authorized for purposes of this Subpart, including federal funds from the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project, Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) funds, and Section 204, Section 206, Section 235, and Section 1135 funds.

(7) Expend funds to implement the basin annual plan.

(8) In addition to funds appropriated for the program, use any other funds, goods, lands, or services donated or otherwise made available, including federal funds made available to the program.

(9) Enter into cooperative endeavors or agreements with designated local sponsors for the operation and maintenance of capital improvements under the recreation feature of the program.

(10) Negotiate and execute, on behalf of the state, project-specific or programmatic project cooperation agreements or similar agreements with the federal government for those projects that are part of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project. The director shall also be authorized to negotiate and execute such agreements.

Acts 2018, No. 570, §3, eff. July 1, 2018.