Joint Rule No. 7.  Atchafalaya Basin Program Oversight Committee; membership; powers, functions, duties

A.(1)  The Atchafalaya Basin Program was established in 1998, pursuant to Chapter 17 of Subtitle I of Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to serve as the authority on behalf of the state to work in partnership with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and other public entities to coordinate state and local activities in developing and implementing the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System.

(2)  R.S. 30:2000.4 vests the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources with a variety of powers and duties relative to the Atchafalaya Basin Program, including managing the comprehensive state master plan for the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System; entering into partnerships, memoranda of understanding, and cooperative endeavors to implement the master plan; and representing the policy and consensus viewpoint of the state at all levels with respect to the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System.

(3)  It is vitally important that the Legislature of Louisiana ensure that the Atchafalaya Basin Program is being implemented and administered in accordance with its intent in establishing the program.  Therefore, it is necessary to create a special joint committee to provide for the appropriate oversight and study of the Atchafalaya Basin Program and its implementation and administration.

B.  A special joint committee to be called the Atchafalaya Basin Program Oversight Committee is hereby established.  The special joint committee shall monitor, review, and make recommendations relative to all aspects of the Atchafalaya Basin Program in the Department of Natural Resources.

C.(1)  The special joint committee shall be composed of all members of the House of Representatives and of the Senate who represent in whole or in part the parishes of Assumption, Avoyelles, Iberia, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Martin, and St. Mary.

(2)  The special joint committee shall select a chairman and a vice chairman from among its members.

(3)  The special joint committee shall receive staff support from the committee staff of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources.

D.  The special joint committee may call upon the staffs of any department, agency, or official of the state, particularly the Department of Natural Resources and its secretary for data and assistance, and all such departments, agencies, and officials shall cooperate with the special joint committee.  The special joint committee may request and utilize the assistance of any and all private sources.

E.  The special joint committee shall have the power and authority of a standing committee of either house to hold hearings, require the production of books and records, and do all other things necessary to discharge its duties.

F.  The special joint committee shall regularly conduct meetings to fulfill its functions and duties and, no later than thirty days prior to each regular session, shall report all of its activities and recommendations to the presiding officer of each house, the governor, the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources.

HCR 26, 2008, eff. June 19, 2008.