As mentioned in our last post, HB535 – the bill to create a nearshore exclusion zone along the Louisiana coast – was sent to a conference committee to work out differences between the amended bill passed by the Senate and the version passed by the House. With just a few hours to go in the 2021 legislative session, the committee failed to reach a concurrence.
Despite very strong support for an exclusion zone in both the House and Senate chambers, the bill was “played out” by the Senate Natural Resources Committee Chairman such that it never got a chance for final passage. The fight to create a nearshore buffer zone on the Louisiana coast is far from over. Public sentiment and science are on our side. What steps next remains to be seen.
