HB 851: ENVIRONMENT/LITTERING: Provides relative to intentional littering - Louisiana

HB851 Original → HB851 Act · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was formally enrolled and approved by the Governor, transitioning from a draft proposal to an enacted law. The list of sponsors was updated to include several new representatives, and the document was reorganized to include official signatures and page numbers required for an enrolled act.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope regarding balloon release penalties remains unchanged; the changes are procedural, reflecting the bill's final passage and approval.

ELIGIBILITY

The list of bill sponsors was updated to include additional representatives (Bayham, DeWitt, Freiberg, Geymann, Dana Henry, Travis Johnson, Jacob Landry, Mack, Orgeron, Riser, Sawyer, Schamerhorn, Schlegel, and Zeringue) who joined the original sponsors.

TECHNICAL

The document was reorganized from a draft version to an enrolled act, adding official signatures from the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and the Governor, and changing the header to reflect Act No. 196.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to the text, such as adding a reference to Paragraph (A)(2) in the penalties section and removing the legislative digest summary.

HB851 Enrolled → HB851 Original · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends Louisiana's littering laws to explicitly classify the intentional release of twelve or more balloons as a littering violation. It adds a new specific penalty provision for balloon releases while maintaining existing exemptions for scientific, educational, and hot air balloon activities. The change formalizes the enforcement of anti-balloon littering rules under the state's environmental protection statutes.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the littering statute (R.S. 30:2531) to include intentional balloon releases as a specific type of littering, whereas the previous version was an enrolled bill that likely did not include the explanatory digest or specific legislative text for this amendment.

REQUIREMENT

Added a specific provision classifying the intentional release of twelve or more balloons as a littering violation subject to existing penalties.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a new statutory subsection (R.S. 30:2531(A)(5)) to codify the prohibition on balloon releases alongside other littering offenses.

TECHNICAL

Changed the document header from 'ENROLLED' to 'ORIGINAL' and updated the sponsor list, indicating this is the original version of the bill rather than the final enrolled version.

Included a legislative digest explaining that the bill adds intentional balloon release to existing littering laws and amends R.S. 30:2531.

HB851 Reengrossed → HB851 Enrolled · 6 edits · May 6, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as an enrolled law, removing the House digest and adding signatures from the Speaker, Senate President, and Governor. The substantive policy changes define specific exceptions to the ban on releasing balloons, such as for scientific purposes, hot air balloons, and biodegradable materials, while clarifying that releasing multiple balloons at once counts as a single violation.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include specific exemptions for scientific releases, hot air balloons, and biodegradable materials, and the enforcement timeline was clarified to require citations within one year of the violation.

SCOPE

Added exemptions for releasing balloons indoors, for scientific or meteorological purposes, and for biodegradable or photobiodegradable materials.

Added an exemption for hot air balloons that are recovered after launch.

ENFORCEMENT

Clarified that releasing multiple balloons at a single event counts as a single violation rather than multiple violations.

Established a one-year statute of limitations for law enforcement to cite a violation from the date they knew or should have known about it.

TECHNICAL

Removed the House Legislative Services digest and abstract, which are informational and not part of the law.

Added official signatures and titles for the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and Governor, finalizing the bill as an enrolled law.

HB851 Engrossed → HB851 Reengrossed · 2 edits · May 5, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to update the list of sponsors, replacing several original representatives with new ones. Substantively, the text was reorganized to renumber exceptions for balloon releases, moving the exemption for indoor releases to a new position and shifting the exemption for biodegradable balloons to a later position in the list.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains unchanged; the renumbering of exceptions does not alter which activities are prohibited or allowed.

TECHNICAL

Updated the list of bill sponsors to reflect new representatives joining the legislation.

Reordered the list of exceptions to balloon release laws, moving the 'indoor release' exemption to item (iii) and the 'biodegradable material' exemption to item (iv).

ENVIRONMENT/LITTERING: Provides relative to intentional littering

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