§214.8.7. Atchafalaya Basin Conservation Fund

A. There is hereby created, as a special fund in the state treasury, the Atchafalaya Basin Conservation Fund, hereinafter referred to as the "fund". The source of monies for the fund shall be appropriations, donations, grants, and other monies which may become available for the purposes of the fund.

B. The monies in the fund shall be subject to appropriation and may be used only as provided in Subsection C of this Section. The monies in the fund shall be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as monies in the state general fund, and interest earnings shall be deposited in and credited to the fund. All unexpended or unencumbered monies remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain to the credit of the fund.

C.(1) Monies appropriated from the fund shall be used exclusively by the authority to fund projects contained in the state or federal basin master plans, an annual basin plan, or to provide match for the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project. The monies in the fund shall not be used to pay salaries or operating costs of the program or authority.

(2) Of the monies received by the fund each year in accordance with the provisions of Article VII, Section 4(D)(4)(b) of the Constitution of Louisiana, a minimum of five percent shall be set aside until the total amount reaches ten million dollars. Such funds shall be used by the authority for the purchase of land, or rights, or servitudes, specifically including conservation servitudes pursuant to R.S. 9:1271 et seq., from willing sellers to improve water quality, access, or other projects consistent with the basin master plan. Annual set-asides shall continue to be used to replenish funds used to make qualifying purchases, with such set-asides not to exceed ten million dollars. Any land, or right, or servitude thereof proposed to be purchased pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be included in an annual basin plan presented to the legislature, and no proposed contract made pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be executed without such purchase having been included in an approved annual basin plan. Willing sellers shall be permitted to avail themselves of the applicable provisions of R.S. 31:149 and R.S. 9:2795, for the sale of property, or any right or servitude thereof, made pursuant to this Section, specifically including the sale or lease of other rights, to the exclusion of the general public, upon the same parcel of land; however, the authority shall not enter into an agreement pursuant to this Section unless such an agreement specifically provides that the assertion of such rights will not impact surface activities on such parcels, including integrated coastal protection projects constructed by or at the direction of the state. The director shall seek from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, or its successor, credit towards any voluntary or mandatory funding matching requirement for the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana Project equal to the value of the property, or right thereof, secured by any contract of sale executed pursuant to this Section.

D. Any credit provided toward the nonfederal share of the cost of a study or project authorized in an annual basin plan may be applied toward the nonfederal share of the cost of any other study or project included in an annual basin plan.

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