House Bill No. by Representative Owen seeks to amend existing laws regarding the expropriation of property for carbon dioxide storage. The bill specifically prohibits private companies from requesting or exercising expropriation for geologic storage of carbon dioxide. It introduces new provisions that require the Department of Conservation and Energy to appoint an acquisition agent responsible for managing and facilitating the expropriation process. This agent can either be a department employee or a contracted private entity, and they must not have any financial interest in the outcome of the negotiations or proceedings.

Additionally, the bill mandates that the expropriating authority reimburse the Department for the acquisition agent's wages and any related expenses incurred during the completion of the expropriation process. The existing law is amended to clarify that eminent domain authority must follow the procedures outlined in R.S. 19:2, while also establishing that all pre-petition procedures must be performed by the appointed acquisition agent. This legislative change aims to ensure a more regulated and transparent process for carbon dioxide storage-related expropriations.

Statutes affected:
HB671 Original: 30:1108(C)(1)