By Renee’ Savant | CO₂ Chronicles | October 2025
The Louisiana CO₂ Alliance and the citizens who closely followed SB 244, known at the Capitol as “the Governor’s bill,” knew from the beginning it was a bad bill for the people of Louisiana.
It started out as a simple reorganization measure, only 62 pages long when it passed through the Senate Natural Resources Committee. But when it reached the Senate floor, it had exploded to more than 270 pages.
If the full legal references and statutes that SB 244 amends had been printed in their entirety, the bill would have exceeded 1,200 pages. There was no way any legislator could have fully understood what they were voting on.
Grassroots organizations across the state opposed it, but State Representative Brett Geymann convinced many citizens that a “common carrier” amendment would protect landowners from eminent domain. We have since learned that was not true — the amendment offers no such protection.
In reality, SB 244 is SB 353 on steroids.
And yet, the majority of legislators voted for it simply because it was branded as the Governor’s bill. The result: Dustin Davidson is now the most powerful unelected man in Baton Rouge — no single individual in Louisiana’s history has ever held this much consolidated authority.
Fast-Track #1: Permitting for Companies
Where it appears: R.S. 30:4(C) and R.S. 36:354.1
SB 244 allows the Secretary to rewrite the state’s permitting process by rule — without another vote of the Legislature.
It grants authority to:
- Create or reorganize offices “as deemed necessary.”
- Issue rules changing how permits are handled, noticed, or appealed.
- Accelerate approvals for “strategic” projects such as CO₂ pipelines, injection wells, and hydrogen infrastructure.
In plain English:
A company can now apply for a permit under a “fast-track” review system that the Secretary alone designs and enforces. Public-notice windows can be shortened, internal sign-offs can replace outside review, and permits can move through the system at political speed.
“The secretary has authority to make … any reasonable rules, regulations, and orders … necessary in the proper administration of this Chapter.” — R.S. 30:4(C)
That single sentence opened the door for a regulatory fast lane benefiting industry — not the public.
Fast-Track #2: Remediation for Disputes
Where it appears: R.S. 30:30 – 30.4
The second “fast-track” system targets landowners.
Environmental contamination cases are now removed from the courts and decided inside the department.
When a landowner discovers pollution, the company must notify the department, not a court. Within 15 days, a three-member review panel is formed:
- One chosen by the company,
- One by the landowner,
- A third chosen by the Secretary.
The panel reviews written evidence only and submits a cleanup plan for approval to the Secretary of Conservation & Energy and other agency heads. Appeals go to the Division of Administrative Law, and there is no suspensive appeal — meaning cleanup or damage orders take effect immediately, even if challenged.
The same department that permits a project now also decides whether it caused harm and what the remedy will be.
The Bigger Picture: A Blueprint for Control
SB 244 is marketed as “efficiency,” but it functions as a consolidation of power.
- The Secretary now controls water management, orphan-well restoration, mineral leasing, CO₂ injection, and pipeline routing — all under one roof.
- He can reorganize, merge, or abolish divisions at will.
- And through these two fast-track systems, he decides who gets a permit, how fast, and who pays when something goes wrong.
This collapses Louisiana’s traditional checks and balances into a single administrative hierarchy answerable only to the Governor.
Why It Matters
SB 244’s twin “fast-tracks” mean:
- Companies get expedited approvals with less oversight.
- Citizens must challenge pollution inside the same agency that approved it.
- Courts and public hearings lose authority.
The result is a closed loop of control — where the regulator becomes permitter, enforcer, and judge all in one.
The Takeaway
SB 244 didn’t merely reorganize a department — it rewired Louisiana’s entire environmental accountability system.
When one unelected official can approve, enforce, and adjudicate, citizens lose transparency, legislators lose leverage, and industry gains a political express lane.
Both “fast-track” systems are written directly into SB 244.
All final authority rests with the Secretary of the Department of Conservation & Energy.
CO₂ Chronicles will continue to investigate how SB 244 is being used — from accelerated CO₂ storage approvals to permit exemptions quietly granted under new “strategic project” rules.
Stay informed, share this report, and demand legislative oversight and public transparency before Louisiana’s land, water, and communities are signed away in the name of “efficiency.”
