Streamlined Permitting, Stronger Enforcement: Louisiana’s Energy Regulator Gets Overhaul

Louisiana’s energy regulator has undergone its most sweeping overhaul in decades, with the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources restructured and renamed the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (C&E). Officials say the changes, enacted through multiple legislative sessions and an executive order by Gov. Jeff Landry, will modernize the agency and enhance transparency as it balances economic growth with environmental stewardship.

Secretary Dustin Davidson, who took office this month, emphasized that the reorganization reflects long overdue updates.

“In many ways, this agency has still been doing things the way it did when first created as DNR nearly 50 years ago. Technology, industry and environmental best practices have changed a great deal over those decades, and it’s time this agency caught up,” Davidson said.

Key Changes

• Streamlined Permitting: Oil, gas, and coastal management permitting has been consolidated under a new Office of Permitting and Compliance, reducing red tape for projects.

• Stronger Enforcement: A separate Office of Enforcement will focus on inspections and regulatory compliance for wells, pipelines, underground injection, and carbon capture projects. Davidson has called enforcement the department’s “biggest tool to win over the public trust.”

• Expanded Structure: The reorganization increases the number of offices from four to six, including divisions dedicated to administration, resources, and energy.

• Consolidated Authority: The historical Office of Conservation, once Louisiana’s chief oil-and-gas regulator, has been folded into the new structure. Act 458, carried by Sen. Bob Hensgens, transferred powers from the conservation commissioner to the new C&E secretary.

• New Safeguards: The Legislature also created the Natural Resources Trust Authority to ensure financial security for plugging abandoned wells, and a Natural Resources Commission to coordinate statewide flood protection and groundwater management.

  
  

Industry and Advocacy Response

Louisiana’s oil and gas associations welcomed the changes, praising the streamlined permitting process and clearer accountability.

Tommy Faucheux, president of LMOGA, said the new structure is “essential for the state to prosper.”

“It’s important that our state’s regulatory structure can challenge industry to improve while working productively to foster the economic opportunities in oil and gas that will keep our kids here in Louisiana,” he said.

Mike Moncla, president of LOGA, likewise voiced optimism, citing Davidson’s policy expertise and past collaboration with the industry.

Environmental advocates remain skeptical. Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade criticized the reorganization, calling it “designed by the oil industry for its own benefit.”

Looking Ahead

With jurisdiction over oil and gas, pipelines, renewables, groundwater, carbon capture, and coastal management, the Department of Conservation and Energy wields an increasingly central role in shaping Louisiana’s future. Davidson, speaking recently at LSU, highlighted the separation of permitting and enforcement as a critical reform to bolster credibility.

“Sometimes you had folks that were having those relationships with the applicants that then had to turn around and enforce actions against those applicants. That can be difficult. We saw that as something that needed to change significantly,” Davidson said.

As Louisiana continues to balance its legacy as an energy powerhouse with growing demands for environmental accountability, the new C&E will be at the heart of some of the state’s most consequential decisions.