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C&E hosts first meeting of Natural Resources Commission

Contact: Patrick Courreges, 225-342-0510

Commission part of administration’s approach to better coordinate efforts of agencies with energy and environmental roles

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s Natural Resources Commission (NRC) held its first meeting today following its creation during the 2025 legislative session, as part of the overarching re-organization of the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy contained in Act 458.

The re-organization was the result of nearly two years of work, involving legislative actions, input from public stakeholders and intra-agency research and planning, spurred by Gov. Jeff Landry’s executive order, JML 24-13, to then-DENR Secretary Tyler Gray and the Departmental Review for Innovation and Visionary Enhancement (DRIVE) Initiative Gray carried out as a result of that order.

“This represents the next step in the process as we modernize our approach to natural resource management, with a focus on greater collaboration and coordination between agencies,” said C&E Secretary Dustin Davidson. “Nowhere is their greater need for this than in the balancing of needs in managing water, between keeping floodwaters at bay and ensuring drinking water supplies are clean and sustainable.”

Membership in the NRC is set in law, with six agencies having permanent seats and one chosen from a secondary group by the sitting governor –

• Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Energy (C&E)
• Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development (LED)
• Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
• Secretary of the Department of Revenue (LDR)
• Secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)
• Executive secretary of the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC)
• Member appointed by the governor from list of entities related to flood control concerns, currently represented by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD)

As described in law, one of the NRC’s primary roles is to serve as the coordination body for water management planning and coordination of statewide flood protection, seeking to centralize these efforts. It is intended to operate as a high-level advisory entity, with its primary function to guide strategic decision-making.

Though water management is one of the primary focuses of the Commission’s first meeting, the NRC’s governance structure aims to streamline decision-making, reduce redundancies and enhance interagency collaboration across other subject matters, such as emergency response.

“Every one of these agencies and their leaders have a role to play in water management, whether it be in supply, quality, cost of delivery, protection from flooding, or the myriad other ways water concerns intersect with our people,” said C&E Deputy Secretary Stephen Swiber, whose staff acts as support for the NRC.

That connection between agencies was the keynote topic of the meeting, as C&E Director of Water Administration Monique Edwards made a presentation on the different roles each plays in helping to manage and control the single resource that is water.

As part of her presentation, Edwards recommended the NRC agencies consider making their role in water management more clear and accessible to the public, particularly in their online presence, so that citizens can better understand which agency is most appropriate to approach with particular concerns.

The meeting also addressed concerns of emergency response, as C&E Office of Enforcement Executive Director Manny Acosta opened a discussion on how to help the public better understand the roles of the agencies during and after a response.

He noted that there is often confusion on the part of the public of which agency actually has jurisdiction over a particular type of emergency, which can lead to confusion and anger in the public.

Acosta suggested that NRC member agencies consider ways to get information out on what their role is in a response, and the difference between the initial response to control an emergency situation, and the enforcement response that follows to determine if there was any violation of law or regulation that should be pursued.

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