Lawsuits Brought by Local Agencies: S.B. 469 (2014)

| November 22, 2016

Prohibits any governmental entity, other than those that currently have

Prohibits any governmental entity, other than those that currently have the authority under the Coastal Zone Management Act, from filing suit based on any uses in the coastal zone, including actions against oil and gas companies. The bill was filed to kill the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East’s lawsuit seeking to get 97 oil, gas and pipeline companies to pay a portion of the cost of restoring marshland desecrated in five parishes around New Orleans by drilling activity. S.B. 469 provides that no state or local governmental entity, except the Department of Natural Resources, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority may bring any action for violation or a claim for damages for violation of a coastal use permit. Under this legislation, any monies received by the state for violation of a coastal use permit shall be deposited in the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund. S.B. 469 also provides that for litigation filed prior the effective date of the act shall be dismissed if the secretary of DNR, the executive director of CPRA, or the attorney general fail to intervene in the litigation.