(The Center Square) − Louisiana will complete a sweeping reorganization of its natural resources agency next week, formally transitioning the Department of Energy and Natural Resources into the newly named Department of Conservation and Energy.
The change, effective Oct. 1, comes after nearly two years of legislative work, public stakeholder input, and internal planning triggered by an executive order from Gov. Jeff Landry and a 227 page law passed in June.
The law establishing the new department, Act 458 of the 2025 Regular Session, not only renamed the department but overhauled its structure, powers and permitting processes.
Former Deputy Secretary Dustin Davidson, who worked closely on the reorganization, took over as secretary earlier this month following the resignation of Tyler Gray. Davidson said the agency’s new structure is designed to modernize operations and bring it in line with today’s industry and environmental needs.
“Throughout this effort, we have worked to craft an approach that is guided by the core principles of transparency, balance between economic growth and environmental stewardship, and technology-driven solutions,” Davidson said. “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.”
The reorganization replaces the department’s four-office structure with six divisions that separate strategic management, administrative services, permitting, enforcement, resource leasing, and energy planning into distinct functions.
Davidson said the new framework is meant to break down information silos and eliminate duplicative processes by creating a single permitting system for coastal and noncoastal areas and establishing a centralized enforcement arm to handle inspections and compliance.
Act 458 also expands the secretary’s authority to issue rules, require financial security for plugging orphan wells, and create expedited permitting programs with defined review timelines
Davidson said there will be “an adjustment period for some time to come – for our staff, as we break decades worth of old habits and workflows that were inefficient but familiar; for the regulated community, who we hope to see embracing the changes we are making to create understandable and predictable processes; and to the people we serve, as we make the changes needed to set and maintain modern standards for environmental protection and resource management.”
The law reorganizing the department functioned as a container for several policy changes, including provisions on expedited permitting, groundwater protections, financial security for well plugging, and expanded rulemaking authority over pipelines, enforcement, and waste disposal.
