RS 225 - Obstructions on levees, waterways, and rights-of-way therefor; removal at expense of person responsible; destroying markers prohibited
A. No person shall:
(1)(a) Except as provided by Item (b)(i) of this Paragraph, place or cause to be placed upon or within fifteen feet of any part of the levees fronting any waterway subject to the control or surveillance of police juries, levee boards, municipal corporations, or other authorized boards or departments, any object, material, or matter of any kind or character which obstructs or interferes with the safety of the levees or is an obstacle to the inspection, construction, maintenance, or repair of any levee; or place or cause to be placed any object, structure, material, or matter of any kind or character upon any part of any land which the state or any agency or subdivision thereof may own or acquire by deed, lease, servitude, charge, or otherwise, and through its authorized representative, may donate, grant, or otherwise convey to the United States rights-of-way, easements, or other servitudes for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any flood-control structures or natural or other waterway, which may obstruct or interfere with the improvement or maintenance of such waterway or use of the land for flood-control purposes.
(b)(i) Place or cause to be placed upon or within six feet of any part of a levee fronting the 17th Street, Orleans Avenue, or London Avenue outfall drainage canals located in Orleans Parish that is not used for commercial navigation, and is subject to the control or surveillance of police juries, levee boards, municipal corporations, or other authorized boards or departments, any object, material, or matter of any kind or character which obstructs or interferes with the safety of the levees, or is an obstacle to the inspection, construction, maintenance, or repair of any levee; or place or cause to be placed any object, structure, material, or matter of any kind or character upon any part of any land which the state or any agency or subdivision thereof may own or acquire by deed, lease, servitude, charge, or otherwise, and through its authorized representative, may donate, grant, or otherwise convey to the United States rights-of-way, easements, or other servitudes for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any flood-control structures, or natural or other waterway, which may obstruct or interfere with the improvement or maintenance of such waterway, or use of the land for flood-control purposes.
(ii) Item (i) of this Subparagraph shall not be applied if the federal government, including but not limited to the United States Army Corps of Engineers or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, requires, by law or regulation, the prohibition in Item (i) of this Subparagraph to be greater than six feet. In that event, the prohibition in Subparagraph (1)(a) of this Subsection shall apply to any part of a levee fronting the 17th Street, Orleans Avenue, or London Avenue outfall drainage canals located in Orleans Parish.
(c) None of the provisions of this Paragraph shall apply to any structures or objects placed upon the land needed for flood control or waterway improvement or maintenance by the owner thereof, or by his lessee or licensee, or by any person, firm, or corporation with approval of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the levee board or other necessary governmental authority, except that no new objects, works, or structures shall be placed upon riparian land burdened with the levee servitude and on which a flood control levee or flood control structure is located, without first obtaining a permit or letter of no objection from the levee district in which the land is located or from the appropriate governing authority where no levee district exists.
(2)(a)(i) Tie or moor logs, rafts, boats, watercraft, or floating objects of any description to the levees, or, when the water is against the levees, tie or moor any floating objects to mooring posts, revetments, trees, or other objects within one hundred eighty feet from the crown of any federally authorized and funded levees or levees designated by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority or the Department of Transportation and Development;
(ii) When the water is against the levees, drive or push any logs, rafts, boats, watercraft, or floating objects of any description onto or against any levees;
(b) Nothing herein shall prohibit the mooring or berthing of floating vessels at such locations as have been permitted for this purpose by the United States Coast Guard Captain of the Port, United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the jurisdictional levee district or flood protection authority, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, or any other permitting authority;
(3) Portage boats, water-craft, logs, driftwood or other floating objects over the levees or dykes anywhere, under any circumstances, during the time the water is against the levees, or at any other time except at ramps or properly prepared crossings, under permits issued by the levee district for the purpose in cases where the objects are very heavy;
(4) Ply the river or other leveed waterways with any power driven vessels, during flood stages at speeds inimical to the safety and integrity of the levee system or greater than necessary for steerage purposes and "slow bell" progress;
(5) Use explosives to produce heavy detonations in exploring for so called salt domes or for any other purpose, within two miles of the levees or the banks of the rivers or leveed waterways during the time the water is actually against the levees or approaching more than bank full stage or, within one-half mile thereof during low water stages;
(6) Drill, drive, jet, or otherwise sink oil, gas, or deep water wells within two hundred fifty feet of the levees;
(7) Excavate wells, pumps, reservoirs, fish ponds, drainage canals or ditches, other than small seepage ditches, borrow pits, or pits for cesspools or privies, or for any other purpose, nearer the levee than thirty feet from its riverside toe and one hundred feet from its land side toe;
(8) Scrape or wear away the surface of the levee or its surfacing of sod by tobogganing, dip-netting, or any other form of abuse; or
(9) Break off, disturb, remove, or destroy engineers' or surveyors' marker stakes, reference points or bench marks placed on or near the levees.
(10) Drive or otherwise sink piles within two hundred fifty feet of the levee unless he has first received a permit or a letter of no objection from the levee district.
B. If after forty-eight hours' notice by any district commissioner, levee inspector, or authorized representative of the state, agency or subdivision thereof, the object or objects, structures or other obstructions have not been removed, said objects can be removed or the menace abated and any damage repaired by the state, its agency or subdivision at interest at the expense of the owner, agent or person responsible therefor. The objects, structures or other obstructions may be attached and may be removed from said levee or land at the risk and expense of the owners or persons responsible therefor to remove the menace to said levee or the obstacle to the improvement or maintenance of such waterway.
C. This Section shall not apply to movable property placed upon the wharves and landings in New Orleans or in any other legally constituted port areas.
D. Whoever violates this Section shall be subject to the following penalties:
(1) Not more than one hundred dollars for each violation or, in the case of willful and wanton violations, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
(2)(a) Within the parishes of Jefferson and Orleans, a civil fine of not more than ten thousand dollars for each violation or, in the case of willful and wanton violations, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Second and any subsequent violations shall be subject to a civil fine of up to twenty thousand dollars for each violation or, in the case of willful and wanton violations, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
(b) The provisions of this Paragraph shall remain in effect until such time as the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority promulgates regulations that will provide levee districts, within the coastal area, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, with the authority to enforce the necessary prohibitions related to Subparagraph (2)(a) of this Section as determined or approved by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
E. The governing authority that has jurisdiction of a levee, may bring a civil action for damages and/or injunctive relief, including but not limited to the issuance of a mandatory injunction. In any suit for the issuance of an injunction, proof of irreparable harm shall not be necessary.
F. Nothing in this Section shall interfere with the ability of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority or the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board to carry out its responsibilities as the local sponsor for all flood control projects, in its jurisdiction, pursuant to R.S. 49:214.1(F).
Amended by Acts 1966, No. 244, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1456, §1; Acts 2011, No. 371, §1; Acts 2015, No. 287, §1; Acts 2016, No. 430, §4.