Legislation

Act 5 – Risk Charge Statute.
Act 5 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature amends the state’s “risk charge statute,” which is found in Louisiana Revised Statute 30:10. The risk charge statute applies in the context of drilling units created by the Louisiana Office of Conservation. Acts 2022 No. 5 amends the risk charge statute by giving the operator the option to require that any non-operator lessee electing to participate in a proposed operation must pay its proportionate share of the estimated costs of an operation at the time the lessee submits its election to participate. If the non-operator lessee fails to submit payment with its election to participate, the lessee is treated as if it chose not to participate.

Act 5 also amends the risk charge statute to place a condition on the operator’s obligation to pay non-participating lessees an amount sufficient to cover the non-participating lessee’s lease royalty and overriding royalty obligations. As amended, the risk charge does not require the operator to make such payments unless the non-participating lessee has provided certain information to the operator, including a true and complete, or redacted, copy of the lease or other agreement that creates the royalty obligation. Act 5 also makes various other changes to the Risk Charge Statute.

Act 10 – Oilfield Site Restoration Law.
Act 10 of the Louisiana Legislature’s 2022 Regular Session amends the Louisiana Oilfield Site Restoration Law, which is found at Revised Statute 30:80 et seq. Act 10 authorizes the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to hire an executive director, who will hold an unclassified position, to oversee Louisiana’s oilfield site restoration activities. Act 10 also authorizes, “upon a finding of economic justification,” the Department of Natural Resources to use package together as projects the closure and restoration of multiple nonpriority orphaned oilfield sites. However, Act 10 generally limits the amount to be spent on nonpriority orphaned oilfield sites to 20% of the amount expended from the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund in any fiscal year. Act 10 also includes a variety of other changes to the Louisiana Oilfield Site Restoration Law.

Act 163 – Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act.
The Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act, which was originally enacted in 2009, is found at Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:1101 to 30:1111.  The Act includes in La. Rev. Stat. 30:1108 an authorization for storage operators to who acquire a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Office of Conservation to use eminent domain to acquire surface rights that they need, as well as subsurface storage rights that they may need.

Prior to Acts 2022, No. 163, the statute expressly provided that the acquisition of carbon dioxide storage rights by eminent domain would not prevent an owner of mineral rights from drilling through a subsurface storage facility “in such manner as shall comply with the rules of the commissioner issued for the purpose of protecting the storage facility against pollution or invasion and against the escape or migration of carbon dioxide.”  Acts 2022, No. 163 authorizes the use of eminent domain in Caldwell Parish to acquire storage rights that would preclude others from drilling through the storage formation, provided that certain circumstances are satisfied.  If an operator acquires a prohibition on drilling through the storage formation by eminent domain, the prohibition terminates if the storage operator abandons all reasonable efforts to use or cause others to use the subsurface for storage.

Act 275 – Louisiana Renewable Energy Development Act.
The Louisiana Renewable Energy Development Act is found at Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:3061 to 51:3063. This Act, which was originally enacted in 2003, sought to promote net metering in the electricity sphere. Acts 2022, No. 275 amends the Act to provide that the production of energy from various specified forms of biomass may be considered carbon neutral, and that if such production is pair with carbon capture and storge, the process may be considered carbon negative.

Act 512 – Preemption of Local Laws That Would Prohibit or Restrict Ability to Use Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
Act 512 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature enacts Revised Statute 33:1377, which preempts any local laws that would prohibit or restrict a person’s ability to use the services of a liquefied petroleum gas provider that is authorized and capable of providing service at the person’s property.

Act 555 – Financial Assurance for Decommissioning of Solar Power Generation Facilities.
Act No. 555 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature amended Revised Statute 30:1154 to require the Department of Natural Resources to promulgate regulations that generally will require operators of solar power generation facilities to provide a bond or other financial assurance to ensure proper decommissioning of the solar facilities at the end of the facilities’ life. The legislation includes certain exceptions, including one for electric utilities regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission or the city council of New Orleans, and which operate a facility on land owned by the electric utility.

Act 578 – Road Usage Fee for Hybrids and Electric Vehicles.
Act 578 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature enacts Revised Statute 32:461 to require the Louisiana Department of Revenue to promulgate rules to impose an annual fee not to exceed $110 for electric vehicles and $60 for hybrid vehicles.  The legislation is intended to address the fact that Louisiana (like many other states) obtains a substantial portion of the funding for roads comes from gasoline taxes.  Electric vehicles use the roads, but do not use gasoline and thus the drivers of these vehicles escape the highway “user fees” that are charged in the form of gasoline taxes.

Act 762 – Electric Vehicle Charging Networks.
Act 762 of the 2022 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature enacted the Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Network Act, which is codified at Revised Statute 45:1621 through 1623. The Act states that it is in the best interest of the state to promote development of a statewide electric vehicle charging network. The Act urges the Louisiana Public Service Commission to establish an electric vehicle charging rate structure and to consider excluding persons who operate electric charging stations from the definition of “public utility” furnish electricity exclusively for charging electric utility batteries and the persons do not otherwise operate as a public utility.

Act 246 – Right to Know Law.
Amends the Hazardous Materials Information Development, Preparedness, and Response Act, also called the “Right to Know Law,” to apply it to natural gas pipelines.

Act 326 – Subsurface Storage of Fluids.
Expands the existing authority of the Louisiana Office of Conservation under La. R.S. 30:23 to regulate the subsurface storage of certain fluids—namely, liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide—to also include the authority to regulate the subsurface storage of hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, compressed air, and noble gases. Act 326 also amends the Louisiana Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide by revising La. R.S. 30:1103 to include a definition of “confidential business information.” The purpose of adding this definition is to facilitate protection of certain information by preventing it from being subject to public records requests. Finally, Act 326 amends La. R.S. 30:1110 to authorize the Commissioner of Conservation to contract for professional services to assist with carbon sequestration permit reviews.

Act 61 – Louisiana Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act Amendments.
Amends the Louisiana Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act in several ways. One of the amendments authorizes the Office of Conservation to approve the conversion of hydrocarbon-bearing formations and depleted oil formations, as well as formations being used for enhanced recovery, to geologic storage. Before, the provision only authorized the Commission to approve conversion of formations being used for enhanced recovery. Act 61 also expands the Commissioner’s authority to approve the use of formations for carbon sequestration. Prior to Act 61, if a formation was capable of producing oil or natural gas in paying quantities, the Commissioner could not approve the use of that formation for carbon sequestration unless all owners in the formation agreed. That restriction has been eased somewhat by Act 61, so that the Commission can approve use of a formation for CO₂ storage, even if the formation is capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities, provided that the Commission finds that the formation has greater utility for use in CO₂ storage than for purposes of producing the oil or gas in the formation.

Act 76 – Remedies Available to Owners of Production Payments.
Amends Louisiana Mineral Code article 212.21 (La. R.S. 31:212.21) to clarify that “production payment,” as used in Mineral Code articles 212.21 through 212.23, refers to an interest carved out of a mineral lessee’s interest. Thus, the owner of an unleased mineral interest in a unit formed by the Louisiana Office of Conservation is not the owner of a “production payment.”

Act 242 – Commission of Conservation’s Authority Relating to Entering Orphan Well Contracts.
This act, which was Senate Bill No. 447 by Senator Bret Allain, amends La. R.S. 30:4, 30:83, and 30:92, as well as 37:2157. The amendments authorize the Office of Conservation to enter cooperative endeavor agreements with companies that will assist with plugging orphan wells, authorize the Oilfield Site Restoration Commission to approve a cooperative endeavor agreement between the Office of Conservation and a company that will assist with the plugging of orphan wells, eliminate a provision stating that a contract for site assessment or remediation must require a cash bond, and provide that companies bidding for certain site restoration work need not comply with certain requirements that otherwise apply to contractors under La. R.S. Title 37.

Act 150 – Additional Reclamation Fee for Coal and Lignite Mines.
Amends La. R.S. 30:906.1 to impose on all persons holding a permit under the Surface Mining & Reclamation Act an annual reclamation fee of six dollars for each acre of land included within the approved mine permit area. The revenue is to be used for enforcing the Louisiana Surface Mining & Reclamation Act. This annual fee is in addition to the existing fee under La. R.S. 30:906.1 of eight cents per ton of coal and lignite produced.

Act 193 – Use of Oilfield Site Restoration Fund for Responding to Emergencies.
Amends La. R.S. 30:86 to authorize use of money from the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund to respond to emergencies declared by the Commissioner of Conservation pursuant to La. R.S. 30:6.1. Act 193 also amends La. R.S. 30:93.1 to provide that, if money from the Fund is used to respond to an emergency, the Commissioner must seek recovery of those funds from any party that has operated or held a working interest in the site where the emergency occurs.

Act 350 – Approval of Operations by Co-owners.
Amends Louisiana Mineral Code articles 164, 166, and 167 (La. R.S. 31:164, 31:166, and 31:167), which apply when land or a mineral servitude is co-owned. The articles previously required approval of owners collectively holding at least an 80% interest in the co-owned land or mineral servitude in order to authorize mineral operations; this legislation lowers that threshold to 75%.

Act 403 – Security Interest in State Leases.
Provides that the State Mineral & Energy Board may include, in state mineral leases issued after July 31, 2019, a clause that grants a security interest in minerals produced pursuant to the lease (or lands pooled therewith and attributable to the leased premises) to secure the lessee’s obligation to pay lease royalties or other sums due under the lease.

Act 47 – Compensatory Mitigation for Activities in Coastal Areas.
La. R.S. 49:214.41 is one of the statutes governing the Louisiana Coastal Zone Management Program. Under Louisiana laws governing this program, a state permit is required for certain activities in coastal areas. In some circumstances, particularly if the permitted will have some adverse impact on coastal wetlands, the recipient of the permit may be required to conduct some form of “compensatory mitigation.” Act 47 amends La. R.S. 49:214.41 to expressly provide that: “Compensatory mitigation may also include construction or implementation of an integrated coastal protection project consistent with the state’s mater plan for coastal protection and restoration within the same watershed as the permitted activity.”

Act 57 – Increased Penalty Caps for Violations of Pipeline Safety Regulations.
La. R.S. 30:544 provides for civil and criminal penalties for the violation of pipeline safety regulations. Act 57 amends La. R.S. 30:544 to increase the maximum civil penalty from $10,000 per day per violation to $200,000 per day per violation. The amendment also increases the statute’s cap on the overall size of a civil penalty from $500,000 to $2,000,0000.

Act 60 – Commissioner Authorized to Participate in Oversight of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines.
La. R.S. 30:551 deals with the authority of the Commissioner of Conservation to regulate pipeline safety. One of the provisions of the statute authorizes the Commissioner to certify to federal officials, as provided in federal law, that the Commissioner has regulatory jurisdiction over intrastate natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities not otherwise regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Act 60 amends La. R.S. 30:551 to authorize the Commissioner of Conservation to make a similar certification to federal officials regarding intrastate underground gas storage facilities. Act 60 also authorizes the Commissioner to enter an agreement with federal officials for Louisiana to participate in the oversight of interstate natural gas pipelines within the state.

Act 84 – Timeline for Paying Oilfield Site Restoration Fee.
La. R.S. 30:87 provides for an oilfield site restoration fee payable on each barrel of crude oil or condensate produced in the state. The purpose of the fee is to pay for restoration of oilfield sites for which a financially responsible party is not available. Act 84 amends La. R.S. 30:87 to provide that the fee is “payable upon the initial disposition of each barrel of oil and condensate.”

Act 105 – Administration of Funds Collected from Financial Security Instruments for Specific Wells.
La. R.S. 30:83 establishes and specifies the powers of the Oilfield Site Restoration Commission; one of the powers is to administer the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund. Act 105 amends La. R.S. 30:83 to provide that the Oilfield Site Restoration Commission also has the authority to administer funds collected from financial security instruments tied to a specific well. Act 105 also amends La. R.S. 30:86 to specify that the funds collected from financial security instruments tied to a specific well may only be used at the site of that well.

Act 106 – Expanded Extra Fees Allowed for an Expedited Review of Materials.
La. R.S. 30:4(Q) authorizes the Commissioner of Conservation to establish a program whereby applicants for permits or licenses can pay an extra fee for expedited review of the application. The amount of the extra fee is designed to pay for employees of the Office of Conservation to work overtime to process any permit or license application that is being expedited. Act 104 amends La. R.S. 30:4(Q) to allow a person to pay an additional fee for expedited “review” of a variety of types of materials that may be submitted to the Office of Conservation.

Act 191 – Limiting the Authority to Limit the Hours of Operation of an Injection Disposal Facility.
La. R.S. 30:4(B)(16) provides that the Louisiana Office of Conservation has the authority to regulate injection disposal wells used in the oil and gas industry. However, La. R.S. 30:4(B)(16)(c) provides that the Commission does not have authority to regulate the hours of “operation” of a disposal facility. Act 191 amends La. R.S. 30:4(B)(16)(c) to provide that Commission similarly does not have authority to regulate the hours of “receiving of … waste material.”

Act 245 – Scope of Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act Expanded.
Amends the Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act (LOWLA) to remove a subsection of the statute that excluded from the definition of “operations” (thus excluding application of LOWLA) any activities involving “transporting, handling, processing, treating, or otherwise dealing” with “[s]alt water or another waste substance produced in association with hydrocarbons, after it is placed in a… .”

Act 329 – Mineral and Energy Operation Fund.
Act No. 329 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature amended Louisiana Revised Statute 30:136.3(B)(1) to provide for payment of certain amounts from non-judicial settlements of disputes arising from royalty audit findings into the Mineral and Energy Operation Fund.

Act. 411 – Oilfield Site Restoration Fees.
Act No. 411 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature made various amendments to Louisiana Revised Statute 30:87, which relates to fees imposed on oil and gas production, which fees are deposited into the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund.

Act 179 – Sale of Minerals by Mail Solicitation.
During its 2016 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legislature passed Act No. 179, the “Sale of Mineral Rights by Mail Solicitation Act,” which is codified as Louisiana Revised Statues 9:2991.1 through 9.2991.11. The Act applies to

the creation or transfer of a mineral servitude or a mineral royalty, or the granting of an option, right of first refusal, or contract to create or to transfer a mineral servitude or mineral royalty, that is contracted pursuant to an offer that is received by the transferor through the mail or by common carrier and is accompanied by any form of payment.

But the Act does not apply to mineral leases.

A transferor may rescind a transfer to which the Act applies within 60 days, provided that the offer was accompanied by a specified notice of the transferor’s right to rescind. In the absence of such a notice, the transferor may rescind the transfer within a 3-year preemptive period. As between the transferor and transferee, the transferor can rescind by providing written notice to the transferee, but to be effective against third persons the notice must be filed for registry. For the act of rescission to be effective against a third person who is obligated to make royalty or other production payments, a certified copy of the act must be provided to that third person. The legislation provides that any contractual provision that purports to waive the protections of this legislation will not be effective.

Act 277 – Fee for Disposal of Waste.
In its 2016 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted House Bill 465, which became Act No. 277. This Act provides for a monthly fee to dispose of waste that is generated by exploration and production activities. The law, which was signed by the Governor on May 27, 2016, requires a $0.02 per barrel fee to be paid to the Office of Conservation for exploration and production waste delivered to certain facilities: (i) any Office of Conservation permitted off-site commercial facilities, (ii) any transfer stations permitted by Conservation for waste transfer to an out-of-state treatment or disposal facility or (iii) any other legally-permitted Louisiana off-site waste storage, treatment or disposal facility approved by Conservation for the receipt of exploration and production waste. For purposes of the Act, “waste” does not include brine, produced water or salvageable hydrocarbons.

Act 524 – Risk Charge Statute.
In its 2016 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted Senate Bill No. 388, which became Act No. 524. This Act amends Louisiana’s “risk charge” or “risk fee” statute, which is codified at Louisiana Revised Statute 30:10(A)(2). The Act revises the statute’s language to make it clear that a unit operator can invoke the risk fee statute either before the start of drilling of a unit well, during the drilling process, or after the drilling is complete. Prior to this revision, some of the language in the statute could be read as allowing the operator to invoke the statute before drilling began, but not after (though other portions of the statute suggested that it could be invoked before or after drilling had started). Under the amended statute, as under the pre-amendment version of the statute, an interested party who consents to participate in an operation, but then fails to timely pay its share of the estimated costs of drilling will be deemed to have chosen not to participate. As amended, the statute provides that a payment is considered timely if the payment is made within 60 days of either the start of drilling or the party’s receipt of the notice required by the statute, whichever is later.

Act 634 – Financial Security.
In its 2016 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted House Bill No. 632, which became Act No. 634. This legislation, which is codified at Louisiana Revised Statute 30:4.3, imposes certain financial security requirements on applicants (i) applying for a permit to drill or (ii) seeking to amend a permit to drill because of a change of operator. For a permit to drill, an applicant shall provide financial security 30 days after the date of completion or 30 days from the date the operator is notified by Conservation that financial security is required. For an amendment, financial security must be paid in accordance with La. R.S. 30:4.3 or by establishing a site specific trust account prior to the change of operator. The amount of financial security generally is set by the Commissioner of Conservation and may be based on an individual-well or multiple-well basis and may depend on the well’s location, but the legislation provides that financial security for a well that is 3,000 feet or less in depth shall be $2.00 per foot. Financial security is not required for (i) orphaned wells or (ii) any well where an operator has an agreement with Conservation to plug a well that has been declared orphaned and the proposed well is similar in depth and location to the orphaned well.

Act 253 – Cross Unit Wells.
Louisiana law generally prohibits a wellbore for a unit well from being drilled any closer than 330 feet to the unit boundary. But this rule can lead to waste in the form of unrecovered hydrocarbons in low permeability formations that require hydraulic fracturing for the economical drainage and production of hydrocarbons. In such formations, hydrocarbons generally will not be drained in any significant quantity from areas that are not hydraulically fractured. Further, hydraulic fractures generally do not propagate equally in all directions. Instead, fractures tend to all propagate in particular directions, depending on prevailing subsurface stresses. In such formations, to recover hydrocarbons from area near unit boundaries that are parallel to the direction that fractures propagate, it is necessary to drill wells up to and perhaps even across unit boundaries. Acts 2015, No. 253 enacts Louisiana Revised Statute 30:9.2. The new provision allows the Commissioner of Conservation to authorize wells with horizontal laterals that cross unit boundaries in certain circumstances.

Act 362 – Fees to the Office of Conservation.
Acts 2015 No. 362 amends Louisiana Revised Statute 30:4 to add a subsection “P” that authorizes the Commissioner of Conservation to develop a program whereby permit applicants may pay an extra fee for expedited processing of their application. Act 362 also amends Louisiana Revised Statute 30:21(B) to increase the ceiling on the statewide aggregate of certain fees that the Office of Conservation collects on “capable oil wells” and “capable gas wells,” Class I, II, and III wells, and certain other facilities. In addition, Act 362 amends Louisiana Revised Statute 30:21(d) to authorize certain fees and amends 30:136.1(D) to increase fees on state mineral leases.

Act 448 – Mediation of Legacy Disputes.
Acts 2015, No. 448 enacts Louisiana Revised Statute 30:29.2, which requires parties to legacy disputes to “meet and confer” within 60 days after the end of the automatic stay required by Louisiana Revised Statute 30:29 “in an effort to assess the dispute, narrow the issues, and reach agreements useful or convenient for the litigation of the action.” In addition, La. R.S. 30:29.2 establishes a procedure by which any party to a legacy lawsuit may compel mediation after the earlier of the close of discovery or approximately 18 months after the litigation is commenced. Responsibility for the cost of mediation will be based on the parties’ agreement or, in the absence of agreement, will be borne by the party compelling mediation.

Act 691 – Reimbursement of State and Political Subdivisions and Buyout of Landowners.
Act No. 691, which started as Senate Bill 209, provides for reimbursement of costs to the State or political subdivisions of the State for costs incurred in responding to or mitigating the collapse of a salt dome cavern or any violation of rules, regulations, or orders promulgated pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statute 30:4(M)(6), which gives the Office of Conservation the authority to regulate solution mining. The Act also provides for payment of the “replacement value” of noncommercial, residential immoveable property in an area under forced evacuation for more than 180 days because of a cavern collapse or disaster. The replacement value is to be based on the pre-disaster value of the property.

Act 766 – Solution Mining Permits for Sites in Iberia Parish.
Act No. 766, which started as Senate Bill 585, adds a new section (Sec. N) to La. R.S. 30:4. The new section prohibits the Louisiana Office of Conservation from issuing any permits to drill or operate a new solution-mined cavern in Iberia Parish, or to expand or convert any existing cavern in Iberia Parish, prior to a public hearing. The Act also provides that any public hearing which will serve as a prerequisite to such a permit cannot be held prior to August 15, 2015, and that no such permit can be granted prior to January 31, 2016. The Act also adds requirements relating to notice of the hearing, baseline testing of groundwater, and various other things.

Act 368 – Regulation of Solution Mining.
Acts 2013, No. 368 amends Louisiana Revised Statute 30:3 to add definitions of “solution mined cavern” and “solution mining injection well.” Act 368 also amends Louisiana Revised Statute 30:4 to direct that the Office of Conservation must promulgate rules to regulate solution mining.

Act 369 – Duty of Sellers of Property to Make Disclosures Regarding Solution Mining.
Acts 2013, No. 369 enacts Louisiana Revised Statute 30:23.1 to require that the owner or operator of a solution mined cavern must record the survey plat of the well location for the solution mining injection well in the mortgage and conveyance records of the parish in which the cavern is located. Acts 369 also amends Louisiana Revised Statute 9:3198, a statute that requires the seller of residential property to make certain disclosures. The amendment provides that a seller must disclose “whether or not a cavity created [by solution mining] lies underneath the property” and whether the property is within one-half mile of a solution mining injection well.

Act 702 – Expropriation Procedures.
Revises the procedures for expropriation of property rights for the construction, maintenance, and operation of pipelines.

Act 743 — Ultra Deep Units.
Grants the Office of Conservation authority to create units up to 9000 acres in size for “structures” that are encountered at a minimum depth of 22,0000 feet.

Act 743 – Risk Fee Statute.
Amends the Risk Fee Statute to provide that the operator will generally have to pay a non-participating lessee’s lease royalty and overriding royalty obligations during the operator’s recovery of the risk fee.

Act 754 – Legacy Litigation.
Enacts certain reforms relating to “legacy litigation” in which plaintiffs allege that their land has been contaminated by past oil and gas activities. For example, Act 754 provides for the entry of case management orders to manage legacy litigation cases, and allows defendants to admit liability for the remediation or clean-up of property, without that admission being deemed an admission of liability for claims other than clean-up.

Act 779 – Legacy Litigation.
Enacts certain other reforms relating to legacy litigation. For example, the legislation provides that litigants may subpoena Department of Natural Resources employees who were involved in formulation of a “feasible plan.” The legislation also allows a defendant to request a hearing at which a plaintiff must present some prima facie evidence to support its claims, and, if a plaintiff fails to do so, the defendant is dismissed without prejudice.

Act 795 – Pre-Entry Notice to Surface Owners.
Provides that operators will generally be required to give a surface owner 30 days notice prior to the operator entering land for drilling activities, unless the surface owner has a contract with the operator.

Act 812 – Mandatory Disclosure of Fracturing Fluid Composition.
Directs the Office of Conservation to draft regulations requiring operators to disclose certain information about hydraulic fracturing fluids on a well-by-well basis. The information that generally must be disclosed includes the volume of fracturing fluid, the type of base fluid, and the identity of each additive, though operators need not disclose the identity of any compound that is a trade secret. The information that is disclosed is made available to the public.

Act 147 – Transportation of Offshore Oil Platform Workers.
Act No. 147 of the 2011 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature amended Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:1486.1 and 14826.2 to regulate the monitoring of and the promotion of safe transportation of oil and gas workers to offshore oil platforms.

Act 646 –Drilling Activities.
Enacts La. R.S. 30:28.1 relative to drilling activities. An owner or operator of a permitted oil and gas well shall construct and maintain the drilling activity area in such a manner as to avoid disturbing the use of any privately owned active water well existing at the time of the application for the permit to drill .

Act 658 – Oil Spill Relief Programs Integrity Act.
Enacts La. R.S. 39:2165 through 2165.12 relative to actions and qui tam actions concerning oil spill relief: to authorize actions and qui tam actions for certain matters related to oil spill relief programs; to provide definitions, terms, procedures, conditions, and requirements; and to provide relative to damages and awards.

Act 875 – State Mineral & Energy Board and Act 930 – State Mineral & Energy Board
Both amend La. R.S. 30:124 relative to the State Mineral & Energy Board. They authorize the State Mineral & Energy Board to lease state lands for the exploration, development, and production of energy from alternative energy resources.

Act 955 – Use of Surface Water.
Enacts Chapter 9–B of Title 30 of the La. R.S. of 1950, to be comprised of La. R.S. 30:961 through 963, relative to the use of surface water. It provides for cooperative endeavor agreements to withdraw running surface water and for payment to the state for fair market value for same. It is administered by the Department of Natural Resources. This Chapter is to have no effect on the rights provided for in Civil Code Articles 657 and 658 or any rights held by riparian owners. The act has a sunset provision for termination of its effectiveness as of December 31, 2012.

Act 994 – Rights of Riparian Owners to Assign Water Rights.
Enacts La. R.S. 9:1103 relative to the right of riparian owners. It provides for the assignment of rights to access the running waters of the state. In essence, it allows a riparian owner to assign water rights to the non-riparian owners for any agricultural or aquacultural purpose within the state of Louisiana.