Authorizes a person to install an individual sewer treatment system in certain circumstances

LOUISIANA HOUSE BILL 235 (2026 Regular Session) Legal Analysis Prepared for SessionSource

STATUTORY CONTEXT:

House Bill 235 enacts a single new provision, R.S. 40:1281.27, within Title 40 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, which governs Public Health and Safety. The bill is placed within the statutory framework that regulates sewerage systems in Louisiana, a domain that has historically been administered through a combination of state public health law, local governmental authority, and sanitary code regulations enforced by the Louisiana Department of Health. No existing provision within Title 40 is amended or repealed by this bill; rather, a freestanding new section is added to the existing statutory structure.

Under current Louisiana law, property owners and developers are frequently required by local ordinance, sanitary codes, or utility regulatory frameworks to connect to an available community sewerage system when one is within a reasonable proximity or when the development density makes individual systems impractical or prohibited. These connection mandates have historically been enforced by both municipal governments and private sewer utilities, including investor-owned utilities regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission under Title 45. The bill does not identify or amend any specific existing mandatory connection statute, which raises the interpretive question of whether this new provision is intended to operate as a general override of all such connection mandates or only as a gap-filling authorization where no specific statutory mandate currently exists.

SCOPE AND NATURE OF THE CHANGE:

The operative provision of the newly enacted R.S. 40:1281.27 is contained in Subsection A, which declares in categorical terms that a person may install and operate an individual sewerage system and is not required to connect to a community sewerage system unless that community sewerage system is owned by a city, parish, or other municipality of this state. The legal effect of this language is twofold. First, it creates an affirmative authorization for any person to install and operate an individual sewerage system. Second, and more consequentially, it negates any legal obligation to connect to a community sewerage system, subject to one express exception.

The exception is the critical limiting principle of the bill. The right to opt for an individual system and refuse connection is available only when the community sewerage system in question is not owned by a city, parish, or other municipality. Where the system is municipally owned, the traditional authority of that governmental body to compel connection appears to be preserved. The practical consequence of this carve-out is that the authorization to avoid mandatory connection applies primarily — and perhaps exclusively — in circumstances where the available community sewerage system is privately owned or owned by a special district, utility cooperative, or similar non-municipal entity.

Subsection B supplies two definitions operative within the section. A community sewerage system is defined as any sewerage system serving multiple connections, which may consist of systems to collect, transport, and treat sewerage. An individual sewerage system is defined as a collection of systems to collect, transport, and treat sewerage located on the property where the sewerage originates. These definitions are workmanlike but notably broad. The definition of community sewerage system encompasses any multi-connection system regardless of ownership form, regulatory status, or capacity, which means the authorization in Subsection A operates against privately owned systems of any scale — including investor-owned utilities, homeowners association systems, water and sewer districts organized under Title 33, and similar entities — so long as they are not municipally owned in the strict sense.

PURPOSE AND LEGISLATIVE INTENT:

The apparent legislative purpose of HB 235 is to limit the authority of non-governmental sewer system operators to compel connection as a condition of property development or use. Louisiana has seen significant growth in privately operated and special-district-operated sewer utilities, particularly in suburban and exurban areas of the state, and disputes over mandatory connection requirements, tap fees, and the quality of service provided by these systems have been a recurring source of controversy. Property owners and developers have at times argued that being forced to connect to a private or quasi-private sewer system imposes costs and dependencies that could be avoided with modern individual treatment technology.

The bill addresses this tension by creating a statutory right to choose an individual system over a private community system. The preservation of the mandatory connection authority for municipally owned systems reflects a legislative judgment that the democratic accountability of municipal governments — and the public investment represented by municipal sewer infrastructure — justifies retention of the compulsory connection power in that context. The implicit policy judgment is that private sewer system operators do not carry the same public interest justification for compelling connection that a municipality does.

PRACTICAL IMPACT AND AFFECTED PARTIES:

The parties most directly affected by this legislation fall into several categories. Property owners and developers who are currently subject to mandatory connection requirements imposed by private sewer utilities, homeowners associations, or special sewer districts gain a statutory right to install individual sewerage systems in lieu of connecting. This could significantly alter the economics of certain residential and commercial developments, particularly in areas where private sewer systems charge substantial connection fees or recurring service charges.

Private and quasi-private sewer system operators face a material reduction in their ability to compel connection and build the customer base necessary to support debt service and operational costs. Many such systems are financed with the expectation of capturing all properties within a defined service area, and a statutory right of opt-out could undermine both financial projections and the rationale for rate structures spread across a mandatory customer pool. This concern is particularly acute for investor-owned utilities regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, which approves rate structures based on projected customer counts and infrastructure investment.

Special purpose sewer districts created under Title 33 of the Revised Statutes, which may be organized as political subdivisions but not necessarily as cities, parishes, or other municipalities in the traditional sense, may find themselves in an uncertain legal position depending on whether courts interpret the municipal ownership exception broadly or narrowly. The definition of municipality in Louisiana law has been addressed in various statutory and constitutional contexts, and whether a sewer district constitutes a municipality for purposes of this new section may require judicial resolution.

Louisiana Department of Health regulations governing individual sewerage systems — including septic systems and aerobic treatment units — remain applicable to any individual system installed under this new authorization. The bill does not relax or supersede any sanitary code, permitting requirement, or setback regulation governing individual systems. Property owners exercising the new right must still obtain applicable permits and comply with soil suitability standards and treatment performance requirements.

A significant constitutional and preemption question lurks at the intersection of this bill and federal Clean Water Act regulatory frameworks. The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality have authority over water quality and point-source discharges that may bear on how individual systems may be sited and operated, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas. Nothing in HB 235 addresses this federal regulatory overlay, and the new authorization cannot be read to waive any federal or state environmental permit obligation.

The bill also raises a potential conflict with local zoning and land use ordinances, as well as with the development agreements and subdivision regulations under which many private community sewer systems were originally installed and made part of recorded plats or restrictive covenants. A statutory right to install an individual system does not necessarily extinguish a private contractual obligation embedded in a deed restriction or a recorded development covenant, and Louisiana's civil law framework would treat such private obligations as matters of contract and real rights rather than mere regulatory requirements subject to legislative override.

CURRENT STATUS:

Based on the status indicator associated with this bill, HB 235 appears to be in the early stages of the 2026 Regular Session legislative process and has not yet advanced through committee consideration or floor action. The bill carries the designation of an original filing and reflects the introductory posture typical of a newly introduced House measure pending assignment and hearing.