2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 34:3471 — Millennium port authority

CHAPTER 48.  MILLENNIUM PORT AUTHORITY

§3471.  Object; purpose of Chapter

A.  It is the object and purpose of this Chapter to provide for the creation of a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, possessing full corporate powers, known as the Millennium Port Authority, hereinafter referred to as the "authority", to promote, plan, finance, develop, construct, control, license, regulate, supervise, operate, manage, maintain, and modify offshore or onshore terminal facilities to be constructed within the jurisdiction of said authority after July 1, 1999, in order to promote the economic welfare of its citizens.  It is hereby declared to be in the public interest that this authority be created as a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, and it is hereby so created.

B.  It is further the object and purpose of this Chapter:

(1)  To promote the economic and industrial well-being of the state of Louisiana and international trade for the state of Louisiana, its subdivisions, and the area served by the Mississippi River and its tributaries and distributaries.

(2)  To promote the industrial, agricultural, and petrochemical base of the Mississippi Valley region of the United States by providing a port with terminal and intermodal facilities for the handling of containerized cargoes of deeper draft container vessels.

(3)  To promote, in addition to port operations, scientific and all other uses directly related to the offshore or onshore terminal facilities which shall be in the public interest.

(4)  To accommodate and plan for the technological innovations occurring in the worldwide and domestic shipping industry, including shipment by containers, and to increase efficiency and the flow of commerce through the offshore or onshore terminal facilities.

(5)  To protect environmental values and Louisiana's unique coastal marshland ecosystem through the adoption of an environmental protection plan.

(6)  To assert and protect Louisiana's economic, social and environmental interests in the development of any terminal facilities outside the state of Louisiana where such development may have an impact upon the state of Louisiana.

(7)  To create a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana to exercise the powers and functions granted hereby and to serve as a governmental body which will assist licensees, as hereinafter defined, in the financing of offshore or onshore terminal facilities.  The functions exercised by the board empowered herein shall be deemed to be governmental functions of the state of Louisiana performed on behalf of the state.

(8)  To assure that the authority shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments on any property acquired or used by it under the provisions of this Chapter or upon the income therefrom.  Any bonds issued hereunder shall be serviced from the income of such facilities and shall be exempt from taxation by the state of Louisiana, and by any municipal or political subdivision of the state.

Acts 1999, No. 1225, §1, eff. July 9, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 1023, §1, eff. June 27, 2001.