Panel advances bill that would bar local bans on sugarcane bagasse stored under approved BMPs

The Senate agriculture committee on April 14 reported Senate Bill 502 as amended, a measure sponsors said clarifies that sugarcane bagasse — the fibrous residue remaining after juice extraction — is an intermediate product and not a solid waste when stored in accordance with approved best management practices (BMPs).

Commissioner Strain told the committee the proposed statute would define bagasse and prohibit any parish or municipal governing authority from enacting or enforcing ordinances that bar storage of bagasse if it is stored in accordance with BMPs approved in writing by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and shared with the Department of Environmental Quality.

John Abare of the Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative testified that all mills in the state produce bagasse and that the ability to store excess bagasse during processing season is necessary to continue milling operations. "If there were ever a situation that would remove a mill's ability to store its bagasse on its land or land that it controls, the mill would not be able to produce bagasse. Therefore, it would not be able to mill sugarcane," Abare said, adding the industry is "a $4,000,000 industry" and that the issue is critical to continued production.

The committee adopted Amendment 2,065 to add that the bill shall become law on the governor's signature, and reported the bill as amended.

What happens next: the bill will proceed to the Senate calendar. The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the hearing transcript.