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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana House Bill 899 creates the Noncoal Surface Mining Law, setting new state permitting, reclamation standards, and fees
Last action · March 9, 2026: Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.Sponsor: Robert Carter
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 899 establishes the Louisiana Noncoal Surface Mining Law, granting the Department of Conservation and Energy exclusive statewide jurisdiction to regulate noncoal mining, require five-year plans, and levy a 3-cent-per-ton fee on mined minerals. Commercial and government operators must obtain a permit, submit annual status reports, and restore affected land within thirty-six months of grading completion. Unpermitted operations are classified as misdemeanors subject to daily fines and civil penalties.
Commercial noncoal mining operators and landowners in Louisiana face new mandatory state permitting fees of $1,000 every five years, a severance fee of three cents per ton on mined minerals, and strict environmental restoration timelines enforceable by civil penalties up to $1,000 per day.
- House Bill 899 was introduced during the 2026 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature by Representative Robby Carter. context
- The Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy oversees state energy, mining, and conservation guidelines. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Noncoal surface mining operators
Operators must obtain state permits, submit five-year reclamation plans, file annual status reports, pay a $1,000 five-year permit fee, and pay a 3-cent-per-ton mineral sales fee.
Mineral owners and severers
Owners of mined minerals must pay the 3-cent-per-ton reclamation fee at the time of sale, which is withheld and remitted by the severer.
Local governing authorities and political subdivisions
Local governments are preempted from enacting local laws, ordinances, or special regulations concerning noncoal surface mine reclamation and conservation.
Department of Conservation and Energy
The department is granted exclusive statewide jurisdiction to administer permits, conduct inspections, enforce penalties, and promulgate rules under the law.
Key Facts
- House Bill 899 establishes the Louisiana Noncoal Surface Mining Law, giving the Department of Conservation and Energy exclusive statewide jurisdiction over noncoal surface mine reclamation and barring local governments from enacting conflicting local laws or ordinances.
- Commercial operators and government entities engaged in surface mining of minerals such as sand, gravel, dirt, clay, shale, and limestone must obtain a permit from the department before operating.
- Initial permit applications must be accompanied by a five-year plan of reclamation detailing proposed land use, grading, revegetation, and completion schedules, along with a $1,000 fee payable every five years.
- A reclamation fee of three cents per ton is levied on the sale of minerals surface mined in Louisiana, collected by the severer and backed by a lien on taxpayer property.
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- Operators must begin grading within one year after mining affected land is completed and fully restore the land to support its intended post-mining use within thirty-six months from the completion of grading.
- Post-mining land uses permitted under the law include forestry, pastureland, recreation, developed water resources, fish and wildlife habitat, cropland, residential, and industrial or commercial uses.
- Operators must submit annual status reports detailing mine locations, affected acreage, and reclamation progress by section, township, range, and parish.
- Unpermitted mining operations constitute a misdemeanor punishable by fines ranging from $50 to $1,000 per day of violation.
- The secretary may assess civil penalties up to $1,000 per day for permit violations after notice and an opportunity for a public hearing.
- Any interested person may petition the secretary to designate an area as unsuitable for noncoal surface mining, triggering a public notice and potential hearing.
- Exemptions from the law are provided for political subdivisions engaged in noncommercial activities, landowners performing on-site construction or access road maintenance for noncommercial use, and government-financed public works borrow pit excavations with contractual reclamation requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who must obtain a permit under the new Noncoal Surface Mining Law?
What fees are associated with the mining permits and mineral sales?
What is the timeline required for land reclamation after mining is completed?
Can local city or parish governments pass their own rules regulating noncoal mining?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
- Feb 27, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 27, 2026HouseCommitteeUnder the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
- Feb 27, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Consolidation of State Jurisdiction Over Noncoal Mining
The legislation shifts regulatory authority entirely to the state Department of Conservation and Energy, expressly stripping local political subdivisions of the power to enact local mining and reclamation ordinances.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy50Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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