§ 30:2057 — Prohibitions; exceptions

Louisiana § 30:2057

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 30: Mortgages and Privileges

Text

§2057. Prohibitions; exceptions
A. No person shall:
(1) Discharge air contaminants or noise pollution into the air of this state in violation
of regulations of the secretary or the terms of any permit, license, or variance issued
hereunder.
(2) Violate any rule or regulation adopted by the secretary under this Chapter.
(3)(a) Intentionally inject, release, apply, or disperse, by any means, a chemical,
chemical compound, substance, or apparatus into the atmosphere within the borders of this
state for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, weather, climate, or intensity of
sunlight. The provisions of this Paragraph shall not apply to the injection, release, or
dispersal under one thousand feet above ground level of fire retardant or fire suppressant
substances for purposes of extinguishing or suppressing fire, or to the aerial application
under one thousand feet above ground level of seeds, fertilizers, or pesticides for agriculture
or forestry purposes.
(b) Any person who observes an activity which may be conducted in violation of this
Subsection may report the observed activity to the department.
(c) The department shall establish procedures for the intake of reports made pursuant
to this Subsection, which shall allow for electronic submittal. The department may adopt any
rules as necessary to implement this Subsection.
(d) The department shall receive the reports for the purpose of data collection and
shall make the reports publicly available through the department's website or the Electronic
Document Management System.
B. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply in the following instances:
(1) To persons who burn agricultural by-products in the field in connection with the
planting, harvesting, or processing of agricultural products.
(2) To controlled burning of cotton gin agricultural wastes in connection with cotton
gin operations.
(3) To controlled burning in connection with timber stand management.
(4) To controlled burning of pastureland or marshland in connection with trapping
or livestock production.
(5)(a) To the burning of trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter in any parish
having a population of ninety thousand or less provided the location of the burning is not
within the territorial limits of a city or town or is not adjacent to a city or town in such
proximity that the ambient air of the city or town will be affected by smoke from the burning.
(b) The provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph notwithstanding, the
governing authority of any municipality having a population of five thousand or less may
burn trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter on property that it owns or leases within
the corporate limits of such municipality, provided that all of the following occur:
(i) The burning does not occur within five hundred feet of an occupied house or
residence.
(ii) The municipality enacts an ordinance to prohibit burning of trees, brush, grass,
or other vegetable matter within its corporate limits.
(iii) The municipality enacts an ordinance to provide for the collection and burning
of trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter at a controlled site.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section or any other law to the contrary,
in a parish having a population of ninety thousand persons or fewer according to the most
recent federal decennial census, an ordinance may prohibit any person from burning trees,
brush, grass, or other vegetable matter and otherwise regulate burning of flammable material
when the fire danger rating for the area is high, as defined by rules adopted by the
Department of Agriculture and Forestry as required by R.S. 33:1236(31)(b)(iii), or is
predicted to be at such level, and for a reasonable time period thereafter. An ordinance
adopted pursuant to this Subparagraph shall not apply to prescribed burns by the Department
of Agriculture and Forestry, by those trained and certified by the Department of Agriculture
and Forestry, or by those who conduct prescribed burning as a "generally accepted agriculture
practice" as defined by the Louisiana Right to Farm Law (R.S. 3:3601 et seq.).
(6) To the burning of trees, branches, limbs, or other wood as a bonfire that is
specifically authorized by ordinance in the parishes of St. James, St. John the Baptist, or St.
Charles.
C.(1) Nothing in this Subtitle or in the rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto
shall prohibit a private property owner from burning yard waste on his own property, for
noncommercial purposes, in parishes with a population of three hundred thousand or less,
provided that the property owner attends the burning of yard waste at all times. The
provisions of this Subsection shall not apply in the parish of East Baton Rouge.
(2) "Yard waste" as used in this Subsection means leaves, grass, twigs, branches, and
vines.
(3) The provisions of this Subsection shall not prohibit a political subdivision from
enacting ordinances or rules prohibiting or otherwise regulating the burning of yard waste.

Legislative History

Acts 1979, No. 449, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980; Acts 1983, No. 34, §1; Acts 1983, No. 97, §1, eff. Feb. 1, 1984; Acts 1984, No. 254, §1; Acts 1984, No. 316, §1, eff. July 2, 1984; Acts 1997, No. 276, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1275, §2; Acts 2001, No. 525, §1; Acts 2006, No. 376, §2, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2025, No. 95, §1.