BATON ROUGE – A legacy lawsuit compromise reform bill announced last week has passed the Senate.
It didn't take long for SB555, sponsored by Senator Robert Adley, R–Benton, to easily make its way through a Senate that was unyielding to reform throughout the first three-quarters of the legislative session.
The measure passed in a 30-0 unanimous vote on the Senate floor and will now move on to the House.
SB555 will provide oversight of environmental lawsuits that will allow for the Department of Natural Resources to develop plans, including cost projections, for the cleanup of polluted former oil drilling sites that will be admissible as evidence in court. In addition to the DNR, the Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Agriculture will also get a chance to sign off any environmental remediation plan that is developed.
Industry backers have said the bill must be passed quickly to beat the June 4 end of session deadline.
Legacy lawsuit reform compromise passes Senate
ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY