A Pineville lawmaker’s effort to strip private companies of eminent domain authority over carbon capture projects is dead in the House following a contentious committee vote Tuesday, though two companion measures giving Rapides Parish and all Louisiana parishes a vote on carbon sequestration projects remain alive — and property rights advocates say the fight is moving to the Senate.

House Bill 7, the Louisiana Landowners Protection Act authored by House Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Johnson (R-Pineville), failed 12-7 in the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy after a nearly five-hour standing-room-only hearing packed with landowners and lobbyists. Crowd outbursts prompted the committee chairman to call for order multiple times.

HB 7 would have repealed a 2020 state law allowing private companies to use eminent domain to acquire easements over private property for carbon capture and CO2 pipeline infrastructure. Johnson, who voted for the 2020 law, said he now regrets that vote. “I didn’t ask enough questions. I didn’t ask any questions,” Johnson said. “Now that’s a contradiction against our U.S. and Louisiana constitutions we have to correct.”

Industry groups testified against the bill, with Louisiana Chemical Association President and CEO David Cresson warning that industrial projects tied to carbon capture in the state are valued at over $100 billion. “Louisiana’s competing directly with Texas, Mississippi and others for that capital,” Cresson said.

HB 7 is the first of more than 20 carbon capture bills filed this session to receive a committee hearing. Two companion bills by Johnson remain pending without a hearing date — HB 6, which would give Rapides Parish governing authorities a vote on whether CCS projects may proceed in the parish, and HB 5, which would extend that same authority statewide.

The 2026 legislative session continues through June 1.