House Bill 252 amends Louisiana's Oilfield Site Restoration Fund statutes to establish a dedicated revenue stream from oil and gas severance taxes generated by certified stripper wells in the Caddo Pine Island Field. The bill creates a new deposit category, R.S. 30:86(D)(11), requiring the state treasurer to deposit one hundred percent of severance tax revenues from these specified stripper wells that would otherwise flow to the state general fund into the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund. Additionally, the bill modifies R.S. 30:83.1(A)(2) to exempt these newly deposited monies from being pledged as collateral for bond issuance under the existing bonding authority, and it establishes a separate use provision in R.S. 30:86(F) that restricts expenditure of these stripper well revenues exclusively to oilfield site restoration and orphan well plugging activities within the Caddo Pine Island Field.
The practical effect of this legislation is to redirect a portion of state oil and gas severance tax revenue that would normally be available for general appropriation into a specialized fund dedicated solely to environmental remediation in the Caddo Pine Island Field. Operators of certified stripper wells in this field will benefit from infrastructure restoration and orphan well management funded through this dedicated tax mechanism rather than competing for general appropriations. The Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Trust Authority gain explicit authority to expend these monies for site restoration and well plugging in the field, though the restricted use means these funds cannot support other departmental operations or general state services. Local governments and state taxpayers experience a reduction in available general fund revenue to the extent that severance taxes from these stripper wells previously contributed to the broader state budget.
This legislation operates within the constitutional framework established by Article VII, Section 10.6 of the Louisiana Constitution, which originally created the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund as a special fund in the state treasury. The bill builds upon existing statutory authority in R.S. 30:86, which already provided for multiple deposit categories and uses of fund monies, by adding another dedicated revenue category while maintaining the fund's constitutional status and purpose. The exemption from pledge provisions in R.S. 30:83.1(A)(2) ensures that revenue dedicated under this new provision cannot be used to secure bonds issued by the Natural Resources Trust Authority, distinguishing this revenue stream from other fund deposits that may be pledged for debt service. The effective date of July 1, 2026, allows time for administrative systems and accounting procedures to be established to track and allocate the stripper well severance taxes separately.
AI-Generated Summary — For Reference Only. This summary was generated by artificial intelligence and may contain errors, misstatements, omissions, inconsistencies, or inaccuracies. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as an authoritative interpretation of the bill or applicable law. Users should consult the official bill text, Louisiana Revised Statutes, and other primary legal authorities when forming any legal, regulatory, or policy conclusions. SessionSource assumes no liability for decisions made in reliance on AI-generated content.