HLS 23RS-126 ENGROSSED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 267
BY REPRESENTATIVE WHEAT
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
ENVIRONMENT: Places a moratorium on carbon dioxide sequestration projects on Lake
Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area
1 AN ACT
2To enact R.S. 30:1112, relative to a moratorium on carbon dioxide sequestration; to provide
3 for a moratorium on carbon dioxide sequestration and transportation for
4 sequestration on Lake Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management
5 Area; and to provide for related matters.
6Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. Lake Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area are
8of particular value to the state for their scenic beauty, delicate estuary, and spawning grounds
9for aquatic species, as well as their use for recreation and commercial fisheries and the
10natural buffer the swamp can provide against hurricane winds and storm surge. The
11importance of the area to the state is underscored by the Coastal Protection and Restoration
12Authority plans to undertake a two hundred million dollar river reintroduction project to
13revitalize forty-five thousand acres of the Maurepas Swamp. Moreover, this area is
14prominent for hunting and trapping, fishing and boating, camping, birding, wildlife viewing,
15and hiking. As such, the protections of the public trust doctrine, Article IX, Section 1 of the
16Constitution of Louisiana, which is designed to preserve these very areas, should be honored
17and respected. The legislature hereby finds that Lake Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp
18Wildlife Management Area should be afforded such protection against interference from
19new and untested industries to ensure the success of the river reintroduction project and the
20survival of this natural resource and the ecosystem it supports.
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 23RS-126 ENGROSSED
HB NO. 267
1 Section 2. R.S. 30:1112 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
2 ยง1112. Moratorium; Lake Maurepas and Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management
3 Area
4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, there is hereby
5 declared a moratorium on the geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide and the
6 transportation of carbon dioxide through pipelines for geologic sequestration on or
7 beneath Lake Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area which
8 shall remain in effect for ten years from the effective date of this Section.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 267 Engrossed 2023 Regular Session Wheat
Abstract: Establishes a ten year moratorium on carbon dioxide sequestration wells and
pipelines on Lake Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area.
Proposed law prohibits geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, and the use of pipelines for
the same, on or beneath Lake Maurepas and the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management
Area for a period of 10 years.
(Adds R.S. 30:1112)
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.