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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana Bill Prohibits Private Expropriation for Carbon Dioxide Pipelines and Storage
Last action · March 31, 2026: Involuntarily deferred in committee.Sponsors: Mike Johnson and 7 others
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 7 prohibits private entities from using or eminent domain for transporting carbon dioxide by pipeline or for its . The measure also removes the authority of the secretary of the Department of Energy and Conservation to issue or order unit operations for carbon dioxide storage.
Property owners retain full control over their land against private takings for carbon dioxide projects, as private companies lose the legal authority to force land acquisition for pipelines and sequestration sites.
- The expansion of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects across southern states has led to significant debates regarding the use of eminent domain for interstate and intrastate carbon dioxide pipelines. context
- Expropriation refers to the legal power of the state or authorized entities to take private property for public use upon payment of just compensation. 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.
private property owners
carbon dioxide pipeline operators
Private pipeline operators lose the legal authority to use eminent domain to secure rights-of-way for carbon dioxide transport.
storage operators
Geologic storage operators lose expropriation powers and the ability to obtain unitization orders or certificates of public convenience and necessity from the secretary.
Key Facts
- Enacts the Louisiana Landowners Protection Act under House Bill 7.
- Prohibits expropriation by private entities for transporting carbon dioxide by pipeline or for geologic storage.
- Defines private entities to include any juridical person other than the state, its political subdivisions, the United States, or its agencies.
- Removes statutory authority for the secretary of the Department of Energy and Conservation to issue certificates of public convenience and necessity for carbon dioxide storage facilities and certain pipelines.
Show all 8 facts
- Repeals secretary authority to order unit operation for carbon dioxide storage facilities.
- Adds protecting the state's natural resources and safeguarding individual constitutional rights to the state's primary responsibilities alongside complying with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
- Repeals R.S. 19:2(10) and (11), R.S. 30:4(C)(17)(b), 1104.2, and 1108 in their entirety.
- Stipulates that no order, permit, or certificate issued prior to the effective date shall confer any right of eminent domain or expropriating authority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this bill stop private companies from using eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines?
What authority is removed from the Department of Energy and Conservation?
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
5 actions- Mar 31, 2026HouseInvoluntarily deferred in committee.
- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
- Jan 23, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 1/23/2026.
- Jan 12, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Jan 12, 2026HouseCommitteeUnder the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
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.
Reversal of Private Expropriation for Carbon Sequestration
The bill shifts state policy by repealing provisions that previously allowed private pipeline and storage companies to use eminent domain for carbon dioxide projects.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
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