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March 4, 2024
Baton Rouge, LA — Louisiana lawmakers have introduced seven bills on carbon capture and storage (CCS), a controversial process involving the removal of carbon dioxide from an industrial waste stream, transport via pipeline, and underground disposal. Five of the bills aim to either establish restrictions on CCS or set protections that are more stringent than current laws and regulations.
The five bills, if enacted into law, would require the following:
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a moratorium on CCS below Lake Maurepas (HB 389) which would block a proposed CCS project by Air Products;
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a prohibition on permitting by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources of any permanent structure that protrudes above the surface of Lake Maurepas or Lake Pontchartrain (HB 280);
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a ban against a CCS operation within two miles of a municipality’s corporate limits, a home, a school, or a healthcare facility (HB 516);
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placing all CCS operations under the control of local zoning laws and enforcement (HB 276); and
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allowing parish governments to levy a tax on CCS operations on private property (HB 73).
“We are pleased to see our state lawmakers taking action to better protect communities from the risks of carbon waste injection,” said Monique Harden, Director of Law and Public Policy at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, a coalition member of Louisiana Against False Solutions. “Carbon dioxide is a hazardous waste that we should not be putting under land or water,” she said.
Before the introduction of the bills, the coalition recommended a group of witnesses who testified on the risks and safety implications of CCS at a two-day hearing before the House Committee on Natural Resources on February 26 and 27, 2024. One of these witnesses was Jerry Briggs, the fire and emergency coordinator, who responded to the carbon dioxide pipeline eruption in Satartia, Mississippi in February 2020.
The other legislative bills, HB 492 and HB 696, respectively, address subsurface rights for CCS relative to eminent domain and unitization orders issued by a Department of Energy and Natural Resources commissioner. These two bills seek to create more interest in CCS for industrial companies.
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Media Contact:
Eloise Reid, LAFS Manager
504-249-8748
eloisereid@gmail.com
Louisiana Against False Solutions (LAFS) is a coalition of more than 20 organizations leading in Louisiana and nationally for environmental, racial, and social justice. LAFS includes expertise across a range of disciplines: law, environmental science, geology, steel and materials scientists, traditional and Indigenous knowledge-holders, experienced campaigners, fisherfolk, and frontline communities. Learn more at https://www.lagainstfalsesolutions.org
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