§4072. Drainage operations; city of New Orleans

            A. At the beginning of every quarter, the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, and representatives from the Jefferson Parish Department of Public Works, the Saint Bernard Parish Department of Public Works, and the Plaquemines Parish Engineering & Public Works Department shall meet with the executive director of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans and his team to develop a coordinated southeast Louisiana urban flood prevention plan. The purposes of the meetings shall be to identify areas that need to be addressed in order to allow for proper drainage, to model and predict storm drainage in the multiparish area, and to anticipate emergency response priorities. The plan shall be presented to the members of the New Orleans Delegation and the city council of New Orleans annually on May fifteenth, beginning May 15, 2025.

            B.(1) The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans shall be responsible for all drainage operations in the city of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans shall transfer all employees and equipment used for drainage maintenance to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans.

            (2) The city of New Orleans shall allocate on an annual basis to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans the same level of funding that the New Orleans Department of Public Works utilized in Fiscal Year 2023 for drainage operations. Any other increases in funding by the city of New Orleans to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans shall be subject to New Orleans City Council approval.

            C. The city of New Orleans, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority shall sign a cooperative endeavor agreement to assist in the coordination of the city of New Orleans award of one hundred forty-one million three hundred thousand dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development National Disaster Resilience Grant.

            D. The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development shall sign a cooperative endeavor agreement allowing the option to undertake contracting responsibilities, including procurement, quality assurance, and payments, of any special capital improvement projects over one hundred million dollars. In addition, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans and the Department of Transportation and Development shall create and update annually a capital improvement plan, including a cost-benefit analysis of future projects and a maintenance plan to ensure the longevity of the infrastructure of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans.

            Acts 2024, No. 763, §1, eff. June 19, 2024.