Boustany bill takes aim at venue-shopping oil and gas legacy lawsuits

Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) on Tuesday would prevent lawyers from venue shopping in legacy lawsuits that allege that oil and gas operations polluted or contaminated property.

The Ending Legacy Lawsuit Abuse Act, H.R. 6169, would require that any action filed in a state court that involves a claim of environmental contamination impacting water be heard in the district in which the civil action is pending.

“The oil and gas industry is suffering from difficult market conditions and regulatory overreach by the administration,” Boustany said. “Many Louisiana workers have lost their jobs. Endless litigation is not the answer.”

Under current law, legacy lawsuit litigation often names every oil and gas operator that has worked on a site for decades, and some plaintiff lawyers engage in “venue shopping” and file claims in districts that are more likely to rule in their favor.

Gifford Briggs, the vice president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, said that Boustany’s bill would recognize the original intent of the Coastal Management Act of 1972.

“One of Congress’ stated purposes for passing the CZMA was to promote our nation’s energy independence through responsible domestic energy production while balancing the nation’s interest in protecting our country’s wetlands,” Briggs said. “Both of these national interests are jeopardized by state and local lawsuits prosecuted in local venues under the guise of state and local coastal management programs. Our federal court system was created in large part to insure that the interests of our nation are not discarded in favor of local politics and financial gains at the expense of our national resources.”