Bill prefiling for the Missouri General Assembly session started yesterday.
Another bill, addressing a matter of great urgency for right wingnuts:
HB 1463
Establishes that nature or the ecosystem does not have standing to bring a civil action
Sponsor: Schnelting, Adam (104)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2022
LR Number: 3447H.01I
Last Action: 12/01/2021 – Prefiled (H)
Bill String: HB 1463
Next House Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: Bill currently not on a House calendar
The bill language:
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1463 [pdf]
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLYINTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SCHNELTING.
3447H.01I DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief ClerkAN ACT
To amend chapter 516, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to standing to bring
a civil action.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 516, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 516.101, to read as follows:
516.101. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Protection of Missouri Farms and Private Property Act”.
2. As used in this section the following terms mean:
(1) “Ecosystem”, a complex community of living organisms in conjunction with its physical environments, all interacting and linked together as a system through nutrient cycles and energy flows in a particular unit of space;
(2) “Nature”, the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants; animals; the landscape; other features and products of the earth; the natural environment or wilderness; and generally areas that are not human or human creations, have not been substantially altered by humans, or that persist despite human intervention.
3. Nature or any ecosystem shall not have standing to participate in or bring a civil action in any court of this state.
4. (1) No person on behalf of or representing nature or an ecosystem shall bring a civil action in any court of this state.
(2) No person on behalf of or representing nature or an ecosystem shall intervene in any manner, such as by filing a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party complaint, in any civil action brought in any court of this state.
(3) Any plaintiff bringing a civil action shall be human and shall not represent nonhuman entities.
5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the state or any agency of the state from enforcing the laws pertaining to environmental pollution, conservation, wild animals, or other natural communities or ecosystems.
This is not a good idea. Mother Nature knows Karma.
I’d be okay if they put the same restrictions on corporations though.