A bill that would require environmental air monitoring systems at high-emission industrial facilities has been left in limbo and faces steep odds of moving forward, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
The air monitors called for in Senate Bill 356, authored by Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, would have provided early warning to members of the community in the event of a toxic pollution release.
Members of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality on Tuesday took no action after Duplessis presented his legislation. The only Democrat on the eight-person committee, Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales, wasn’t in the room when the bill came up for consideration.
SB356 would have applied to 117 industrial facilities in Louisiana considered to pose the “highest risk” to the public. The measure did not call for the systems to be used for regulatory enforcement, only for purposes of community safety.
The cost of the monitoring systems would have fallen on the industrial companies to cover.
