The bill with a funny name

One bill that is considered to be environment related is titled “File Lis Pendens for Certain Erosion Actions”. (There are two bills, HB 789 and SB 586). But does anyone know what “lis pendens” means?

Yes, lis pendens is one of those Latin terms that lawyers like to use. Literally, it means “suit pending”. The term is used to means the filing of notice on property records that a law suit is pending against the property. If the property is being sold, the lis pendens notice will warn potential purchasers that a suit is pending against the property and that the suit may affect them.

This bill, if passed, will require the filling of notice of pending litigation that seeks injunctive relief regards sedimentation and erosion control for certain land-disturbing activities. The purpose is to ensure that potential new buyers are aware of a pending action and that they may be forced to fix certain violations.

The bill is supported by environmental organizations, and passed both the House and Senate, with only one opposing vote in the House and two opposing votes in the Senate. Since they were different, but identical bills, it will be only a formality for either the House or the Senate to pass the bill that came from the other chamber and send it to the Governor for signature.