§109.3. Levy of mooring fees in the Atchafalaya Delta WMA; Atchafalaya Delta WMA Mooring Account; deposit of fees to the account; uses of the monies in the account

            A. The department shall establish a mooring program for vessels in the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area. The department shall locate mooring pilings where appropriate within the Atchafalaya Delta WMA and lease such pilings through a mooring program that includes assignment of such mooring sites through a lottery system administered by the department and through a bid process for premium mooring sites as designated by the department. All costs, including but not limited to materials, professional services, and construction, shall be reported to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment by the first of May in any year in which such costs are incurred. A maximum of forty percent of the sites, the "premium" sites, shall be available through a bidding process and the remainder of the mooring sites shall be available through the lottery system. The fees for such "premium" sites shall not be less than one hundred ten percent of the fees of those sites available through the lottery system. Mooring fees for sites acquired through the lottery system shall be three hundred dollars for two pilings or five hundred dollars for three or more pilings. All annual fees collected pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be deposited to the Atchafalaya Delta WMA Mooring Account created in this Section. The proceeds from such fees shall be reported annually to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.

            B. There is hereby created, as a special account in the Conservation Fund, the Atchafalaya Delta WMA Mooring Account.

            C. After compliance with the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all of the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state, which become due and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay into the Atchafalaya Delta WMA Mooring Account an amount equal to the monies received by the department from the avails of the Atchafalaya Delta WMA mooring fees authorized in this Section. The monies in the account shall be used solely as provided in Subsection D of this Section and only in the amounts appropriated by the legislature. All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the account at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the account. The monies in the account shall be invested by the state treasurer in the same manner as monies in the state general fund.

            D. Subject to annual appropriation by the legislature, the monies in the Atchafalaya Delta WMA Mooring Account shall be used solely for the development, construction, maintenance, and dredging of mooring sites in the Atchafalaya Delta WMA.

            E. The commission may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act for the implementation of the provisions of this Section.

            Acts 2013, No. 155, §1, eff. June 7, 2013.