§ 29:723 — Definitions

§723. Definitions
As used in this Chapter:
(1) "Abnormal economic disruption" means a disruption or anticipated disruption
to usual business conditions caused by a natural or man-made disaster or emergency resulting
from a terrorist attack, war, strike, civil disturbance, tornado, earthquake, fire, flood, or any
other natural disaster or man-made disaster.
(2) "Costs" includes any expense or expenditure directly or indirectly related to the
sale of a good or provision of a service or the operation of the person's business.
(3) "Designated emergency area" means the specific area, which shall be limited to
the actual affected local area or parish or parishes or such areas as designated in an executive
order or proclamation of the governor or parish president.
(4) "Disaster" means the result of a natural or man-made event which causes loss of
life, injury, and property damage, including but not limited to natural disasters such as
hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high winds, and other weather related events, forest and
marsh fires, and man-made disasters, including but not limited to nuclear power plant
incidents, hazardous materials incidents, oil spills, explosion, civil disturbances, public
calamity, acts of terrorism, hostile military action, and other events related thereto.
(5)(a) "Electrical lineman" means a person employed to install, maintain, or repair
electrical transmission and power distribution systems, and who, based solely on
employment as an electrical lineman, shall not be entitled to compensation, pension, or other
benefits paid by the state or a political subdivision of the state. Electrical linemen shall be
considered first responders only in instances involving weather emergencies as declared by
the governor pursuant to R.S. 29:721 et seq.
(b) Nothing in this Paragraph shall relieve an employer of its responsibilities
pursuant to Civil Code Article 2320.
(c) The term "first responder" may be displayed on the uniform of an electrical
lineman, but electrical linemen shall be considered private sector employees who are not
governed by the state or any local governmental subdivision of the state.
(6) "Emergency" means:
(a) The actual or threatened condition which has been or may be created by a
disaster; or
(b)(i) Any natural or man-made event which results in an interruption in the delivery
of utility services to any consumer of such services and which affects the safety, health, or
welfare of a Louisiana resident; or
(ii) Any instance in which a utility's property is damaged and such damage creates
a dangerous condition to the public.
(iii) Any national or state emergency, including acts of terrorism or a congressional
authorization or presidential declaration pursuant to the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C.
1541 et seq.).
(7) "Emergency preparedness" means the mitigation of, preparation for, response to,
and the recovery from emergencies or disasters. The term "emergency preparedness" shall
be synonymous with "civil defense", "emergency management", and other related programs
of similar name.
(8) "Essential workforce" or "critical workforce" means public safety officials,
disaster response personnel, and other such employees of federal, state, and local
governmental agencies, or contractors of such agencies and specific private sector
employees, possessing important skills and training in emergency mitigation, preparedness,
response, and recovery as designated by the parish homeland security and emergency
preparedness agency or in the absence of such designation by the parish homeland security
and emergency preparedness agency, such designation by the Governor's Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness. Businesses who deem private sector employees
essential or critical for mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery of private business
assets and resources shall identify such employees and obtain the necessary designation and
credentials for such employees to be classified essential or critical. In addition to identifying
personnel to the parish homeland security and emergency preparedness agency, or in the
absence thereof, to the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness, a licensed private security company shall submit a list of their employees and
their assignment to the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners for any
employee that the private security company wants to be designated and classified as essential
or critical workforce.
(9) "Evacuation" means an operation whereby all or part of a particular population
is temporarily relocated, whether individually or in an organized manner, from an area in
which a disaster or emergency has been declared and is considered dangerous for health or
safety of the public.
(a) "Voluntary evacuation" or "advisory evacuation" means an evacuation that may
be ordered when a disaster or emergency has been declared and evacuation is recommended
due to the potential for rapidly changing conditions to develop into a serious threat and all
persons in designated evacuation areas are recommended to consider relocating to safer
locations for their own safety.
(b)(i) "Mandatory evacuation" means an evacuation that may be ordered when a
disaster or emergency has been declared and danger is imminent, conditions exist that
seriously imperil or endanger the lives of those in a defined area, and government officials
strongly urge and order all persons in designated evacuation areas to relocate to safer
locations for their own safety. Personal discretion is not to be considered a deciding factor.
(ii) A mandatory evacuation order applies to the public in general. All nonessential
persons are ordered to immediately leave the area via the described evacuation routes.
Exceptions to a mandatory evacuation order are those persons designated as essential
workforce or critical workforce. However, persons designated as essential workforce or
critical workforce are expected to eventually seek adequate shelter prior to the onset of
emergency conditions.
(c)(i) "Forced evacuation" means an evacuation that may be ordered as a last resort
when a disaster or emergency has been declared and danger of loss of life is imminent, and
conditions exist that critically imperil or endanger the lives of those in a defined area.
During a forced evacuation, government officials may direct and compel all persons in
designated evacuation areas to relocate to safer locations for their own safety.
(ii) A forced evacuation order shall apply to the public in general and may include
personnel designated as essential workforce or critical workforce. Forced evacuations are
designed for small geographic areas affected by a local emergency or disaster. When a parish
president determines that the size of the population or geographic area to be evacuated during
a forced evacuation exceeds the local government's resources and capabilities to enforce the
evacuation, he may request the governor to issue a state-forced evacuation order. The
governor may utilize the national guard, state police, public safety agencies, or available
federal agencies to enforce the evacuation order.
(iii) No person who refuses to evacuate an evacuation area after a forced evacuation
order has been issued shall have a cause of action for damages, death, or injury against the
state or any political subdivision thereof, or other agencies, or the agents, employees, or
representatives of any of them.
(10) "First responders" means the first arriving organized responders with the
capability and mission to contain, mitigate, and resolve the emergency at hand, including but
not limited to state agency essential workers.
(11) "Homeland" means the state of Louisiana, and where the context requires,
means the parishes of the state of Louisiana, "the United States".
(12) "Interoperability" means the ability of two or more systems or their components
to exchange information and to use the information exchanged.
(13) "Interoperability for public safety" means the ability for emergency services and
public safety agencies to talk to one another via communications systems and share
information with one another accurately, on demand, in real time, when needed, and when
authorized, regardless of the device used.
(14) "Local governmental subdivision" means a parish of the state of Louisiana.
(15) "Necessary designation and credentials" means appropriate credentials obtained
from the parish homeland security and emergency preparedness agency or any regional
cooperative of parish homeland security and emergency preparedness agencies. In the
absence of any plan by a parish homeland security and emergency preparedness agency or
regional cooperative, necessary designation and credentials means appropriate credentials
obtained in accordance with the State of Louisiana Standard Operating Procedure Statewide
Credentialing/Access Program.
(16) "Parish president" means the president of any parish, mayor-president, mayor
of New Orleans (Orleans Parish), or police jury president.
(17) "State Unified Command Group" or "UCG" means the group which is
established by executive order of the governor to bring senior officials within the governor's
office and cabinet secretaries or their designees together with a common objective of
effectively managing an incident and ensuring that regardless of the number of agencies or
jurisdictions involved, all decisions will be based upon mutually agreed upon objectives with
the governor as the unified commander.
(18) "Statewide communications interoperability plan for first responders" means a
statewide shared communications system for first responders with the ability to transport and
receive voice, data, image, and video information adopted by the interoperability
subcommittee.
(19) "Statewide interoperability plan" means short-term and long-term statewide
plans for interoperability for communications and information sharing needed during an
emergency and adopted by the state Unified Command Group.
(20) "Terrorism" or "acts of terrorism" shall have the same meaning as provided in
R.S. 14:128.1.

Legislative History

Acts 1993, No. 800, §1, eff. June 22, 1993; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 57, §1, eff. April 29, 1998; Acts 2001, No. 8, 2nd Ex. Sess., §1, eff. Oct. 16, 2001; Acts 2003, No. 40, §2, eff. May 23, 2003; Acts 2008, No. 214, §1, eff. June 16, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 797, §1; Acts 2009, No. 512, §1; Acts 2020, No. 323, §1; Acts 2021, No. 184, §2; Acts 2025, No. 53, §2, eff. June 4, 2025.