(The Center Square) − Louisiana legislators have filed a series of bills this session aimed at curbing the carbon sequestration and storage industry’s reach, with a strong focus on landowner rights, public interest claims and regulatory authority.

House Bill 396, introduced by Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Caddo, criminalizes carbon sequestration entirely.

HB380 by Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Beauregard, would eliminate the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines and storage sites, and remove language in state law that defines carbon sequestration as serving a public purpose.

“We’ve already had almost 200,000 acres taken by eminent domain in Vernon Parish alone, going back to the creation of Fort Polk,” Schamerhorn said in an interview. “In Sabine Parish, 101,000 acres were taken in the ‘60s to create Toledo Bend Reservoir. People still remember what it did to their families.”

That history has fueled deep skepticism around the state’s role as a national hub for underground carbon storage. Schamerhorn said many of his constituents feel blindsided by the pace of industrial development — especially after initially supporting carbon capture in 2020.

“We kind of had the wool pulled over our eyes,” he said. “They kept saying, ‘Well, we’ve been injecting carbon for 50 years.’ Yeah, but that was for oil recovery. This is a totally different scenario.”

He pointed to one planned injection site in his district that sits less than two miles from a rural school, which he said has residents deeply alarmed. “The number one worry is the water aquifers,” he said. “But there’s also concern about proximity to schools and a lack of communication from the companies. They did not get out in front to educate the public.”

Schamerhorn said he ran a survey across his three-parish district and received more than 1,000 responses. “Eighty-five percent of people in my district said they don’t want carbon capture. And 82% said they don’t even want it in Louisiana.”

HB601 by Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Beauregard, adds more limits to the industry’s authority, requiring pipeline developers to secure consent from 95% of landowners before seeking state approval and barring foreign-owned companies from using expropriation.

It also strengthens requirements for public notice, alternative route analysis, and compensation for mineral rights owners.

“How do they acquire the lease or the right of way for the pipeline to transport the CO2 to the storage facility?,” Geymann told The Center Square.

Under current law, pipeline operators can use eminent domain — a provision Geymann says has sparked concern among many Louisianans.

“The argument is whether or not that fits the definition of what eminent domain was intended for,” Geymann said. “Is it a public use? Is it a public good? They’re worried about safety. They hear about contamination to groundwater. They know about the Mississippi pipeline that recently had a leak, and so they get concerned.”

“People want to know they’re safe. They want to know they don’t have to worry about the groundwater. They want to know that if there is a leak, it’s not too close to a school. They don’t want to be forced into giving up a right of way of their land if they don’t want to — and those are all valid and legitimate things that we need to discuss.”

Additional proposed changes would strip the commissioner of conservation’s authority over CO2 withdrawal, eliminate short-term storage from the legal definition of geologic storage and repeal confidentiality protections for permit applications.

Other bills would prioritize mineral development over CO2 storage and raise the consent threshold for unitization agreements, and increase emergency preparedness requirements for operators.

The bills reflect a growing pushback against carbon capture and storage projects, particularly in rural areas where landowners are voicing concerns over property rights, environmental risks, and the long-term implications of underground CO2 storage, as previously reported by The Center Square.

Healthy Gulf, a environmental nonprofit group, sued the state in February over a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline through the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area.