Provides relative to nonconsenting mineral interest owners within a carbon dioxide storage unit (OR SEE FISC NOTE GF RV)

This bill amends Louisiana's carbon dioxide storage unit statute to establish two separate compensation mechanisms for nonconsenting mineral interest owners. Where an operator prevents a nonconsenting owner from drilling through the storage unit to explore for or produce minerals, the operator must compensate that owner for the full value of the minerals beneath the unit that cannot be accessed. Alternatively, where a nonconsenting owner is permitted to drill through the unit, the operator must reimburse only the additional material costs incurred in complying with Department of Conservation and Energy drilling requirements. The amendment modifies R.S. 30:1104.2(I) by replacing a reference to "commissioner" with "secretary" and adding these two new compensation provisions as subsections (2) and (3), while retaining the existing language permitting drilling through storage units when compliant with departmental rules.

Mineral interest owners who do not consent to carbon dioxide storage unit formation are the primary beneficiaries of this legislation. Nonconsenting owners currently unable to develop their mineral rights due to the presence of a storage unit will gain the right to claim compensation from the unit operator for the value of stranded minerals. Those permitted to drill through the unit will recover incremental costs beyond standard drilling expenses that result from compliance with protective departmental regulations. Unit operators and companies engaged in carbon dioxide capture and storage will face new financial obligations, including potential valuation disputes over stranded mineral values and mandatory cost reimbursements for any approved drilling activities by nonconsenting owners.

This amendment operates within Louisiana's existing framework for carbon dioxide sequestration regulation established in R.S. 30:1104.2, which governs the formation and operation of storage units. The statute preserves the Department of Conservation and Energy's authority to establish rules protecting storage units from pollution and preventing carbon dioxide migration, and it maintains the existing exception in R.S. 30:1108(B)(2). The compensation requirements create new property rights protections for mineral interest owners whose mineral development is impaired by storage unit operations, functioning as a takings mitigation mechanism within the state's energy development regulatory scheme.