§2018. Environmental assessment hearings
A. The applicant for a new permit or a major modification of an existing permit as
defined in rules and regulations that would authorize the treatment, storage, or disposal of
hazardous wastes, the disposal of solid wastes, or the discharge of water pollutants or air
emissions in sufficient quantity or concentration to constitute a major source under the rules
of the department shall submit an environmental assessment statement as a part of the permit
application.
B. The environmental assessment statement provided for in this Section shall be used
to satisfy the public trustee requirements of Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution of
Louisiana and shall address the following issues regarding the proposed permit activity:
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§2018. Environmental assessment hearings
A. The applicant for a new permit or a major modification of an existing permit as
defined in rules and regulations that would authorize the treatment, storage, or disposal of
hazardous wastes, the disposal of solid wastes, or the discharge of water pollutants or air
emissions in sufficient quantity or concentration to constitute a major source under the rules
of the department shall submit an environmental assessment statement as a part of the permit
application.
B. The environmental assessment statement provided for in this Section shall be used
to satisfy the public trustee requirements of Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution of
Louisiana and shall address the following issues regarding the proposed permit activity:
(1) The potential and real adverse environmental effects of the proposed permit
activities.
(2) A cost-benefit analysis of the environmental impact costs of the proposed activity
balanced against the social and economic benefits of the activity which demonstrates that the
latter outweighs the former.
(3) The alternatives to the proposed activity which would offer more protection to
the environment without unduly curtailing non-environmental benefits.
C. The department may, and if requested shall conduct a public hearing on the
environmental assessment statement in the parish where the facility is located. Any public
hearing on the environmental assessment statement, whether requested or at the discretion
of the department, may be combined with a public hearing on the proposed permit. If the
facility is located in more than one parish, the department may conduct a single hearing to
serve all the affected parishes in the vicinity of a centrally located facility. Simultaneously
with the submission of the statement to the department, the applicant shall also submit copies
of the statement to the local governmental authority and designated public building where
the facility is located, at no cost to the local governmental authority or the designated public
building.
D. If public hearings are conducted pursuant to this Section, they shall be controlled
by R.S. 30:2017.
E. The following are not subject to this Section:
(1) An application for a minor modification, minor variance, or exemption from or
administrative amendment to a permit, license, registration, variance, or compliance schedule
authorized by this Subtitle.
(2) An application for a minor source of air emissions, hazardous wastes, or solid
wastes, or for a facility or activity which is not a major facility for water discharges.
(3) An application for authority to commence construction, a groundwater
certification, or any decision regarding remedial action, remediation, response, corrective
action, or cleanup of soil, groundwater, or surface water related to the facility or such
immovable property.
(4) An application for renewal or extension of existing permits, licenses,
registrations, exemptions, variances, or compliance schedules, unless said renewal or
extension encompasses changes that need to be addressed as major applications.
(5) Any rulemaking by the department.
F. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to permits applied for prior to
September 15, 1997.
G. The department shall rely on its applicable rules and regulations to determine
whether a source, facility, or modification is considered as major or minor for the purposes
of this Section.
H. Nothing in this Section shall relieve permit applicants or the department from the
public trustee requirements set forth in Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution of Louisiana
and by the Supreme Court of Louisiana in Save Ourselves v. Louisiana Environmental
Control Commission, 452 So.2d 1152 (La. 1984). Subsequent case law and laws interpreting
said decisions and the rules and regulations adopted by the department in accordance with
those decisions may be used to implement these requirements.