Proposes amendments to Louisiana law (specifically enacting R.S. 30:1104(G) and 1104.3) to grant parish governing authorities and citizens the ability to determine whether Class VI carbon dioxide injection wells (used for carbon sequestration) may be permitted within their parish.

1. Local Control Over Class VI Wells:

• Parishes can prohibit Class VI injection wells despite the Department of Energy and Natural Resources' statewide permitting authority (R.S. 30:1104(G)).
• This local control is exercised through resolutions, ordinances, or parish-wide elections (R.S. 30:1104.3).

1. Parish Governing Authority Action (Subsection B):

• A parish governing authority may independently pass a resolution or ordinance to allow or prohibit Class VI wells within its jurisdiction.
• The authority must notify the Department of Energy and Natural Resources of any such decision.

1. Local Option Elections (Subsection C):

• Initiation: An election can be called by the parish governing authority on its own or must be called if a petition signed by at least 15% of qualified electors (certified by the parish registrar of voters) requests it.
• Process: Elections follow the Louisiana Election Code for proposition/question elections.
• Outcome:
• If a majority votes "yes," Class VI wells may be permitted as per state law.
• If a majority votes "no," no permits will be issued, and such wells are prohibited in the parish.
• Frequency Limit: Elections on this issue can occur only once every five years.
• Notification: Results must be promulgated by the parish governing authority via resolution or ordinance and reported to the department.

1. Conflict Resolution (Subsection D):

• If a parish governing authority’s resolution/ordinance conflicts with an election result, the election outcome prevails.
• The election result cannot be overridden by the governing authority for five years from the election date.

1. Effective Date (Section 2):

• The Act takes effect upon the governor’s signature, or if unsigned, upon the constitutional deadline for bills to become law without a signature. If vetoed and overridden, it becomes effective the day after legislative approval.

HB4 shifts some control over Class VI injection well permitting from the state (Department of Energy and Natural Resources) to individual parishes, allowing local governments and citizens to decide based on local preferences. It balances this autonomy with procedural safeguards like election frequency limits and clear conflict resolution rules.

Given the new USGS find of potentially 35.8 TRILLION cubic feet of natural gas in Louisiana, this bill is now a VITAL must pass. We cannot trap this BOON to Louisiana's economy under a carbon capture waste disposal green new deal boondoggle. https://kpel965.com/usgs-oil-gas-louisiana-acadiana-impact/

HOUSE committee amendment [LINK] ensures that non-consenting mineral owners in a CO₂ storage unit are paid no less per acre than the average paid to others. It also allows mineral owners to drill through the storage unit if they follow state safety rules, and requires the storage operator to either compensate them for lost minerals or cover any extra drilling costs.

Amends rules for compensating landowners in geologic storage projects. All owners must receive fair and equal benefits, with no one paid less per acre than others in the same unit. The state can consider various technical and financial factors when deciding compensation but cannot change existing contracts. Owners can still challenge the fairness or necessity of the project in court, and courts can request needed information and hold jury trials if asked. The bill aims to guarantee fair pay and improve legal oversight.

Proposes removing the authority to use eminent domain for carbon dioxide sequestration projects in Louisiana. Specifically, the bill seeks to eliminate the ability of companies to expropriate property for injecting or transporting carbon dioxide for geologic sequestration. Additionally, it aims to repeal the current legal declaration that deems geologic storage of carbon dioxide as serving a public interest and purpose.

TALKERS on this:

HB380 Talking points

• Carbon storage involves injecting concentrated carbon dioxide deep underground, creating serious safety risks. Any leaks can displace breathable air at ground level, causing suffocation and death, as has tragically occurred elsewhere.
• Carbon dioxide injection threatens Louisiana's precious groundwater and aquifers. Leakage could permanently contaminate drinking water sources, harming communities and ecosystems.
• CCS projects are extraordinarily expensive, requiring significant taxpayer subsidies. These costly projects divert precious taxpayer dollars away from essential services, infrastructure improvements, agriculture, education, and flood protection.
• Unlike roads, hospitals, or schools, carbon storage provides no tangible product or meaningful improvement in the daily lives of Louisiana's citizens. Quite the contrary.
• Eminent domain, the government's power to take private land, legally requires the taken property to benefit the public directly. Carbon storage projects clearly fail this standard, as they provide no direct public benefit—only potential harm, risk, and expense to residents.
• Carbon storage facilities and pipelines unjustly infringe on property rights through eminent domain, forcing landowners to surrender their property for private, speculative ventures, funded by taxpayer money, offering them no genuine benefit.
• Given these clear dangers, expenses, the unjust use of eminent domain, and lack of genuine public benefit, Louisiana should strongly support House Bill 380, ending eminent domain for carbon dioxide storage, protecting citizens' safety, property rights, and financial interests.

In February 2020, a significant incident occurred in Satartia, Mississippi, involving a carbon dioxide (CO₂) pipeline rupture. The pipeline, owned by Denbury Resources, ruptured and released over 31,000 barrels of CO₂. This event led to the evacuation of more than 300 residents, and over 40 individuals were hospitalized with symptoms of CO₂ poisoning and oxygen deprivation.

While there were no fatalities reported in this incident, the health impacts on the affected individuals were significant. Exposure to high concentrations of CO₂ can displace oxygen in the air, leading to suffocation, loss of consciousness, and other serious health effects.

Historically, natural CO₂ seeps have been associated with fatalities. A study examining death records over a 50-year period identified 19 deaths likely caused by CO₂ leakage, particularly in regions with significant natural emissions, such as certain areas in Italy.

Seeks to make carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) illegal in Louisiana. The bill proposes adding Section 2.2 to Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, stating that "carbon capture and sequestration in Louisiana is illegal." This legislation would prohibit the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources and storing them underground.

Talking points

·       Carbon storage involves injecting concentrated carbon dioxide deep underground, creating serious safety risks. Any leaks can displace breathable air at ground level, causing suffocation and death, as has tragically occurred elsewhere.

·       Carbon dioxide injection threatens Louisiana's precious groundwater and aquifers. Leakage could permanently contaminate drinking water sources, harming communities and ecosystems.

·       CCS projects are extraordinarily expensive, requiring significant taxpayer subsidies. These costly projects divert precious taxpayer dollars away from essential services, infrastructure improvements, agriculture, education, and flood protection.

·       Unlike roads, hospitals, or schools, carbon storage provides no tangible product or meaningful improvement in the daily lives of Louisiana's citizens. Quite the contrary.

·       Carbon storage facilities and pipelines unjustly infringe on property rights through eminent domain, forcing landowners to surrender their property for private, speculative ventures, funded by taxpayer money, offering them no genuine benefit.

·       Given these clear dangers, expenses, the unjust use of eminent domain, and lack of genuine public benefit, Louisiana should strongly support House Bill 380, ending eminent domain for carbon dioxide storage, protecting citizens' safety, property rights, and financial interests.

Adding info on carbon leaks, injuries and deaths:

In February 2020, a significant incident occurred in Satartia, Mississippi, involving a carbon dioxide (CO₂) pipeline rupture. The pipeline, owned by Denbury Resources, ruptured and released over 31,000 barrels of CO₂. This event led to the evacuation of more than 300 residents, and over 40 individuals were hospitalized with symptoms of CO₂ poisoning and oxygen deprivation.

The health impacts on the affected individuals were significant. Exposure to high concentrations of CO₂ can displace oxygen in the air, leading to suffocation, loss of consciousness, and other serious health effects. The Satartia incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential dangers associated with CO₂ pipeline leaks, highlighting the need for stringent safety measures and regulations to protect communities near such infrastructure.

Historically, natural CO₂ seeps have been associated with fatalities. A study examining death records over a 50-year period identified 19 deaths likely caused by CO₂ leakage, particularly in regions with significant natural emissions, such as certain areas in Italy.

Places a temporary moratorium on carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration activities in Louisiana to allow time to study potential risks.

Key Provisions: 

- Bans geologic storage or sequestration of CO2. 

- Bans transportation of CO2 for the purpose of sequestration. 

- Suspends issuance of permits, certificates, or orders related to these activities. 

- Moratorium is in effect until July 1, 2026. 

- Becomes effective upon governor’s signature or as otherwise provided by law. 

- The law is repealed automatically on July 1, 2026.

Community Leaders and Local Officials 

-Local officials in parishes like Allen, Jefferson Davis, and Beauregard have raised safety and environmental concerns about nearby sequestration projects. They often cite a lack of community input and fear for local water sources and land use.

Physicians and Public Health Experts 

-Doctors such as Dr. Cade Burns in Allen Parish have warned about health risks from CO2 leaks, including respiratory issues, headaches, confusion, and in high doses, even death.

Landowners and Farmers 

-Property owners express fears about loss of land through eminent domain for pipelines, potential damage to their property, and liability if CO2 escapes underground storage from neighboring properties.

Risks and Dangers of Carbon Sequestration:

- Leakage: Stored CO2 could escape from underground, harming the environment and human health.

- Pipeline Ruptures: CO2 pipeline breaks can cause dangerous, oxygen-displacing gas clouds that may lead to suffocation.

- Water Contamination: CO2 could migrate into aquifers, potentially acidifying drinking water supplies.

- Induced Seismicity: Injecting CO2 underground may trigger small earthquakes, risking storage site integrity.

- Long-Term Costs: Sequestration sites need decades of monitoring; it's unclear who will be responsible over time.

- Regulatory Gaps: Critics say current laws don't adequately protect communities or hold companies accountable.

Carbon sequestration is risky with potential for catastrophic incidence of loss of life and contamination of Louisiana's underground water supplies.

Establishes a lien mechanism for victims of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline releases within a 25-mile radius of the incident. Grants victims priority claims for damages against the assets of pipeline owners and CO2 suppliers.

Key Provisions: 

- Defines "kill zone" as a 25-mile radius from the site of a CO2 pipeline release. 

- Grants any affected person or property within the kill zone a lien for damages on all assets of the pipeline owner and CO2 supplier, regardless of intent or liability. 

- Damages covered include healthcare costs, death, disability, property damage, and punitive damages. 

- Victims must file a financing statement to perfect the lien within 365 days of the release or 180 days of the last reported release by the same pipeline. 

- The lien is retroactively prioritized to the date of the initial release over any prior lien or security interest. 

- Financing statements remain effective until terminated; victims must file a termination statement if obligations are met or rights are relinquished. 

- If an owner enters bankruptcy or receivership, their assets must be held in trust for 365 days to allow victims time to file liens.

Prohibits the use of eminent domain or unitization for the purpose of constructing or operating pipelines that transport carbon dioxide.

Key Provisions:

- Removes existing legal authority allowing entities to expropriate property for the transport or underground storage of carbon dioxide via pipeline.

- Amends current law to prohibit storage operators from using eminent domain to build or operate CO₂ pipelines.

- Creates new statute (R.S. 30:1108.1) that:

 - Prohibits any person or entity from using eminent domain to acquire property for CO₂ pipeline projects.

 - Prohibits unitization of private property for CO₂ pipelines without the owner's consent.

HOUSE floor amendment [LINK] requires notifications prior to completion of permit and require the Department of Natural Resources to publish online notice of all Class V and Class VI permit applications related to carbon dioxide sequestration projects.

Prohibits carbon dioxide sequestration activities or permitting without advance notice to affected property owners. Expands and clarifies notice requirements for Class V and Class VI well permits.

Key Provisions: 

- Requires applicants for Class V and Class VI CO₂ well permits to provide advance written notice via certified mail. 

- Notice must be given to all of the following within the area of review (Class VI) or within 500 feet (Class V): 

 - The last operator of record for any oil or gas well 

 - All mineral interest owners (including mineral servitude owners, lessees, and their operators) 

 - All surface owners 

- Defines acceptable notice to surface owners as notice to individuals listed in the parish assessor’s rolls. 

- Prohibits the permitting or performance of CO₂ sequestration activities without this notice.

HOUSE committee amendment [LINK] removes "WHEREAS, nuclear energy has improved in both efficiency and technology within recent years, thereby..." technical (redundant)

Urges and requests the Department of Energy and Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission to research the legality and feasibility of utilizing nuclear energy in Louisiana. The resolution emphasizes the benefits of nuclear energy, including improved efficiency, technological advancements, and low-emission electricity. It instructs the agencies to consider economic and environmental impacts, workforce implications, safety criteria, and potential site characteristics for nuclear facilities.

Creates a task force to study and recommend policies supporting the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Louisiana. The task force will examine regulatory and zoning barriers, potential financial incentives, and workforce development needs. It will include representatives from Louisiana Economic Development, the Workforce Commission, the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Quality, engineering colleges at LSU, Southern, Louisiana Tech, and ULL, as well as the chairman of the Public Service Commission. Louisiana Economic Development will provide staff support. The task force must submit its report with findings and recommendations at least 30 days before the 2026 Regular Session to the House and Senate Commerce Committees and the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library. Members will serve without additional compensation.