During the 2024 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, the Louisiana Natural Resources Trust Authority was created to address a longstanding problem involving abandoned or orphan wells. This Trust Authority will allow the State of Louisiana to revamp its approach to orphan well management and finance, with goals of responsible development and cost savings across the
Louisiana Legislature
Energy & Environmental Highlights of the 2024 Louisiana Legislative Session
The 2024 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature ended on June 3, 2024. The first regular session of the new term saw legislation on several hot-button issues, including criminal justice reform, reorganization of state governmental entities, insurance reform, education, public access to government records, public libraries, protection of the Louisiana seafood industry, and improvements to…
Louisiana Legislature Makes Substantial Changes to Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute Effective August 1, 2024
The Louisiana Legislature recently made substantial changes to the Louisiana Direct Action Statute, which is codified at Louisiana Revised Statute § 22:1269.
Effective August 1, 2024, and pursuant to Act 275 of the 2024 Regular Legislative Session, the new law substantially limits the right of an injured person to sue another party’s insurer and…
Latest Energy and Environmental Law Developments in the 2023 Louisiana Legislative Session
The 2023 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature wrapped on June 8, 2023. During this session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted a number of bills in the energy and environmental sector of the law. Below is a brief summary of all new relevant adopted provisions:
Energy
Act 150 (SB 103) changes the name of the Department…
Louisiana Tax Developments – The 2023 Regular Legislative Session
Because it was a fiscal session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted a number of key tax changes in the 2023 Regular Session that concluded on June 8, 2023. Below you will find the important substantive tax updates and their implications for taxpayers, which are addressed by tax type. A number of these changes represent welcome relief for…
Louisiana Legislature Provides Clarity on the Effects of the Death of a Member in a Single-Member LLC
Earlier this year, Governor John Bel Edwards signed into law House Bill No. 515, amending La. R.S. 12:1333 and enacting the new La. R.S. 12:1333.1 of the Louisiana Limited Liability Company Law (the “LLC Law”), which became effective on August 1, 2022. This legislation represents meaningful changes to the nature of membership interests in Louisiana…
Environmental Self-Audit Legislation Passes the House and Senate
The Louisiana Legislature has directed the Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) to promulgate regulations allowing for “voluntary environmental self-audits.” [1] The self-audit regulations are to include provisions protecting confidential information and providing incentives to facilities for conducting a self-audit.
Environmental self-audit programs are designed to allow a facility to identify compliance issues and address them…
Louisiana Legislature Calls Itself Into Second Extraordinary Session and Includes Certain Tax Issues
The Louisiana Legislature called itself into a second extraordinary session to address several issues confronting the state. The Second Extraordinary Session, which began on September 28th, was called by the legislature, and not the governor, and will focus primarily on addressing the continuing negative economic effects of the coronavirus on Louisiana and the…
Workers’ Compensation and COVID-19
The Louisiana Legislature is currently considering proposed legislation which would provide workers’ compensation coverage for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The proposed law states that every essential worker who is disabled because of the contraction of the COVID-19 disease is entitled to the same compensation as if that essential worker had received personal…
Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Rate Changes Cut the Additional Temporary Penny and Raise the Rate on Business Utilities – Effective July 1, 2018
The Louisiana Legislature has simplified the effective state tax rates for most taxable transactions, eliminating the previous five potential tax rates (as applicable to various exemptions) to two possible rates: either fully exempt from state tax or 4.45% for most purchases. Effective July 1, 2018, House Bill (“HB”) 10 of the 2018 Third Extraordinary Session…