La. considers secret plant audits

Louisiana lawmakers are considering whether chemical and oil industry facilities should be allowed to conduct voluntary (and secret) pollution audits that would grant those plants some legal immunity for certain violations under those audits – but not criminal ones. Louisiana House Bill 510 authorizing industry audits cleared its Natural Resource and Environment Committee on May 1 by a vote of 13-3, and goes to the full House for consideration. The bill is backed by the chemical and oil industries, and mirrors similar legislation recently enacted by more than 20 other states, including Mississippi. The bill was opposed by environmentalists and legal scholars who called it a protection for industry wrong-doers. “Public health and environmental decisions need no secrecy,” said Oliver Houck, a Tulane University law professor told NOLA.com. Rules requiring public records of toxic releases have helped curb pollution and inform the public about health and safety risks, he noted. Louisiana has nearly 500 facilities regulated under the Clean Air Act, and many are concentrated along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. (Source: NOLA.com 05/01/19)