Act 458 of the 2025 Louisiana legislative session (“Act 458” or the “the Act”), recently signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry, introduced changes to the regulation of oil and gas operations in Louisiana. In addition to enacting changes to the laws regarding oilfield legacy suits (summarized in this recent post), Act 458 also changed the structure of the government offices charged with managing the state’s energy resources. Governor Landry signed the Act into law on June 24, 2025.
Act 458 reorganizes the Department of Energy and Natural Resources (“LDENR”), renaming it as the Department of Conservation and Energy (“Department”).[1] This reorganization and rebranding will formally take effect on October 1, 2025.[2] “All natural resources of the state not within the jurisdiction of other state departments or agencies are within the jurisdiction of the department.”[3] The Act also creates three new offices within the Department: an Office of Permitting and Compliance, an Office of Enforcement, and an Office of State Resources.[4] The Office of State Resources is given a broad mandate to “oversee all portions of state law within the jurisdiction of the department which relate to management of the state’s natural resources, included but not limited to mineral and energy leasing.”[5]
The Department will be led by a Secretary, appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate.[6] This Secretary will assume all duties and functions of the former Commissioner of Conservation.[7] In addition, the Secretary shall have the power to “[i]ssue directives . . . that establish immediate agency policy effective upon issuance,”[8] and to “[e]stablish a formal certification process to recognize academic and research institutions within the state who possess specialized expertise in areas such as energy technologies, natural resources management, environmental stewardship, resource economics, and other strategically significant fields of research and development related to the mission of the department.”[9] The Secretary also has broad power to “[r]eorganize, consolidate, create, merge or abolish” units within the Department in order to streamline operations and provide flexibility to respond to changing conditions.[10]
The Secretary will be assisted by a Deputy Secretary, appointed by the Secretary with the consent of the Senate.[11] The Department will also include an Undersecretary, appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, who shall direct the Office of Administration and the Louisiana Natural Resources Trust Authority (“Trust Authority”).[12] The Undersecretary will oversee the Department’s finances and report to the Secretary, and will have contracting authority to hire third parties to assist in this role. The Trust Authority’s powers include “[b]onding, financing, or otherwise acting as a State Energy Financing Institution pursuant to federal law, to fund or assist in funding a plant or facility demonstrating technological advances of new methods and procedures and prototype application for the exploration, development, production, transportation, conversion, and use of energy resources.”[13]
Act 458 reestablishes the former Natural Resources Commission (“Commission”) within the Department, but the Commission will not have its traditional authority to grant or deny permits or take enforcement actions.[14] Instead, the Commission will “[s]erve as primary coordination body for water management planning, statewide flood protection, and develop a process for its centralization striving for uniformity.”[15] The Commission will develop processes to help government agencies coordinate their responses to floods and other major events. The Commission is directed to meet quarterly.[16] Also, the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District will be moved under the supervision of the Department.[17]
Act 458 then defines eight offices within the Department, and their functions, including the three offices created earlier in the Act.
The Executive Office of the Secretary “shall be responsible for assisting the secretary in the exercise of the functions and duties established in law of the secretary.”[18]
The Office of the Natural Resources Commission will support that Commission in its duties as a coordination body and will provide “intergovernmental affairs and communications support to the commission and the department.”[19]
The Office of Legal Services will provide legal support and will administer the Saltwater and Oil Assessment Process once that process is established in law.[20]
The Office of Administration “shall be responsible for accounting and budget control, procurement and contract management, data processing, management and program analysis, information technology and geographic information systems, strategic planning, and personnel management for the department and all of its offices.”[21]
The Office of Permitting and Compliance will handle all permitting and regulatory compliance functions within the Department.[22]
The Office of State Resources will “[p]erform the functions of the state relating to the lease of or other contracts for the use of lands and water bottoms of the state” for energy purposes (including oil and gas production), work with the Center for Energy Studies to maintain geological surveys of the state, and provide for the administration of state water bottoms, including drilling therein and the management of groundwater, surface water, and other water resources.[23]
The Office of Enforcement will enforce regulations within the Department’s jurisdiction.[24]
Finally, the Office of Energy will “organize, plan, supervise, direct, administer, execute, and be responsible for the functions and programs relating to the deployment and operation of alternative energy infrastructure in this state in a manner that results in affordable and reliable energy.”[25]
In conclusion, Act 458 substantially reorganizes the regulatory structure for the oil and gas industry in Louisiana. Tyler Gray, the current Secretary of LDENR, stated that the reorganization is intended to make the Department “more effective and efficient in its role of balancing the needs of supporting energy and sustaining our shared environment.”[26]
[1] 2025 Regular Session, Act 458 (available here), p. 7, lines 8–9.
[2] Id., p. 227, line 3.
[3] Id., p. 7, lines 15–17.
[4] Id., pp. 7–8.
[5] Id., p. 7, line 30 – p. 8, line 3.
[6] Id., p. 184, lines 18–20.
[7] Id., p. 184, lines 28–30.
[8] Id., p. 187, lines 22–24.
[9] Id., p. 188, lines 2–6.
[10] Id., p. 188, lines 17–25.
[11] Id., p. 190, lines 1–3.
[12] Id., p. 190, 27–30.
[13] Id., p. 192, lines 23–27.
[14] Id., p. 182, lines 5–9.
[15] Id., p. 183, lines 4–6.
[16] Id., p. 183, lines 16–17.
[17] Id.,p. 198, lines 21–24.
[18] Id., p. 194, lines 13–14.
[19] Id., p. 194, lines 18–21.
[20] Id., p. 194, lines 22–25.
[21] Id., p. 195, lines 7–11.
[22] Id., p. 195, lines 13–16.
[23] Id., p. 195, line 18 – p. 196, line 15.
[24] Id., p. 196, lines 16–19.
[25] Id., p. 196, lines 20–23.
[26] DENR Reorg Bill SB244 Signed Into Law | Department of Energy and Natural Resources | State of Louisiana