Requires tracking of carbon dioxide transported by pipeline (OR SEE FISC NOTE SD RV)

House Bill 820 enacts two new provisions of Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 30 to create a manifest tracking system for carbon dioxide transported by pipeline. The bill adds R.S. 30:4(C)(17)(c), which subjects carbon dioxide pipelines to the new tracking requirements in R.S. 30:1107.3, and enacts R.S. 30:1107.3 itself, which establishes the manifest system. Under the new law, all transporters of carbon dioxide must utilize manifests that track the gas from generation site through to the final site of use, storage, or disposal. Each manifest must minimally contain the identification and location of the generator, each transporter involved, the end user and destination site, and the volume of carbon dioxide transported. The Department of Natural Resources Secretary may establish additional manifest criteria as needed. When the destination site owner or operator differs from the transporter, that entity must receive a copy of the manifest.

The legislation directly affects carbon dioxide pipeline operators and transporters, as well as end users and owners or operators of carbon dioxide destination sites throughout Louisiana. These entities must now create, maintain, and produce manifests upon departmental request, with records retained for a minimum of ten years. Pipeline operators face potential enforcement action if they fail to create and maintain required manifests or if manifest records show the carbon dioxide is being used for purposes or end uses that differ from those specified in the certificate of public convenience and necessity originally issued by the Department of Natural Resources. Violations subject transporters and destination site operators to penalties under existing law, including potential permit revocation in cases of unauthorized end use.

This legislation builds upon the existing regulatory framework governing carbon dioxide pipelines in Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 30. Prior law authorized the Department of Natural Resources Secretary to issue rules and orders necessary for construction and operation of carbon dioxide pipelines and provided expropriation authority for enhanced oil recovery projects utilizing pipeline transport. The bill integrates a new manifest and tracking requirement into this existing regulatory structure by cross-referencing the new section within the Secretary's rulemaking authority. Violations are enforced through penalties established in R.S. 30:1106, which governs oil and gas exploration and production penalties. The manifest system serves as an accountability mechanism ensuring that carbon dioxide transported under issued certificates of public convenience and necessity is actually used for the purposes authorized by those certificates.