Louisiana creates new position for environmental resilience policy chief

Photo caption: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks at a press conference in the state capitol after the close of the 2023 legislative session on June 8, 2023. Photo courtesy Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed legislation to create a state chief resilience officer, a position that will coordinate policy response to environmental hazards.

The position was created by House Bill 526, which Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, R-Houma, authored. It will be housed in the office of the governor.

“This is an urgent need not just for our coastal region but for the entire state, which feels the effects of hurricanes, storms and land loss on a yearly basis,” Edwards said in a press release.

Zeringue said in the release that he filed the bill to make state government more efficient.

“What we learned while working on coastal issues is that you can be much more effective when you are competing for funding when you speak with a single voice and with the authority of the governor’s office, something crucially important with the unprecedented levels of federal funding for resilience projects available today,” Zeringue said.

The chief resiliency officer will be responsible for coordinating across all state agencies and seeking public input to develop and implement a resiliency plan and participate in multiple planning efforts, including the Coastal Master Plan, State Hazard Mitigation Plan and the watershed plan. They will also produce an annual report outlining the state’s major resilience priorities.

In addition to the chief resilience officer, the law mandates that each department head  in the executive branch, the speaker of the Louisiana House, the president of the Senate and the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court appoint a resilience officer to coordinate with the governor’s chief resilience officer and to serve on the Interagency Resilience Coordination Team.

The law also creates the Louisiana Resilience Task Force, which will meet quarterly to make strategic recommendations to the chief resilience officer. The task force will be chaired by the chief officer and be made up of the following members:

• The director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness or designee.
• The Governor’s Executive Assistant for Coastal Activities or designee
• The commissioner of the division of administration or designee
• The commissioner of insurance or designee
• The secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or designee
• The executive director of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, Inc. or designee
• The executive director of the Parish Presidents of Louisiana Association or designee
• The speaker of the House of Representatives or designee
• The president of the Senate or designee
• The executive director or his designee of Louisiana Municipal
• A member from the Public Service Commission.
• The commissioner of higher education or designee
• The secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services or designee

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