§ 30:2063 — Prevention of accidental releases

§2063. Prevention of accidental releases
A. As used in this Section:
(1) The term "accidental release" means an unanticipated emission of
a regulated substance into the ambient air from a stationary source.
(2) The term "regulated substance" means a substance listed under
Subsection E of this Section.
(3) The term "stationary source" means any buildings, structures,
equipment, installations, or substance emitting stationary activities:
(a) Which belong to the same industrial group.
(b) Which are located on one or more of contiguous properties.
(c) Which are under the control of the same person, or persons under
common control.
(d) From which an accidental release may occur.
B.(1) In addition to such other regulations, authorized or required by
this Chapter, it shall be the objective of the regulations and programs
authorized under this Section to prevent the accidental release to the air and to
minimize the consequences of any such release of any regulated substance
listed pursuant to Subsection E of this Section which in the case of an
accidental release is known to cause or may reasonably be anticipated to cause
death, injury, or serious adverse effects to human health or to the environment.
(2) It is the intent of the legislature that the regulations adopted
pursuant to this Section shall be as consistent as possible with the requirements
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accident prevention regulations
which are proposed or adopted pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act.
C. The owners and operators of stationary sources producing,
processing, handling, or storing such substances have a general duty in the
same manner and to the same extent as 29 U.S.C. 654 to identify hazards
which may result from such releases using appropriate hazard assessment
techniques, to design and maintain a safe facility and to minimize the
consequences of accidental releases which do occur. For the purposes of this
Subsection, the provisions of R.S. 30:2026 shall not be available to any person
or otherwise be construed to be applicable to this Subsection. Nothing in this
Section shall be interpreted, construed, implied, or applied to create any
liability or basis for suit for compensation for bodily injury or any other injury
or property damages to any person which may result from accidental releases
of such substances.
D. In exercising any authority under this Section, the secretary shall not
be deemed to be exercising statutory authority to prescribe or enforce
standards or regulations affecting occupational safety and health. Nothing in
this Section shall be deemed to grant to the secretary any jurisdiction or
authority to make any rule, regulation, recommendations, or determination, to
enter any order with respect to air conditions existing solely within the
property boundaries of commercial and industrial plants, works, or shops, or
to affect relations between employers and employees with respect to or arising
out of any air condition.
E. The secretary shall establish by rule, and may periodically revise, a
list of regulated substances. The list may contain but is not limited to any
substance listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
pursuant to Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.A. 7412(r), provided
that the secretary shall not include any air pollutant for which a national
primary ambient air quality standard has been established pursuant to Section
109 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7409, on such list. No substance, practice,
process, or activity regulated under Subchapter VI of 42 U.S.C. Chapter 85,
or that is subject to Section 112(q)(2) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
7412(q)(2), shall be subject to regulations under this Section. In listing
substances, the secretary shall consider each of the following criteria:
(1) The toxicity, reactivity, volatility, dispersibility, combustibility,
explosivity, or flammability of the substance.
(2) The severity of any acute adverse health effects associated with
accidental releases of the substance.
(3) The likelihood of accidental releases of the substance.
(4) The potential magnitude of human exposure to accidental releases
of the substance.
F.(1) At the time any substance is listed pursuant to Subsection E of
this Section, the secretary shall establish a threshold quantity for the substance,
considering the toxicity, reactivity, volatility, dispersibility, combustibility, or
flammability of the substance and the amount of the substance which, as a
result of an accidental release, is known to cause or may reasonably be
anticipated to cause death, injury, or serious adverse effects to human health
or to the environment. If a threshold quantity is established or proposed by the
U.S. EPA pursuant to Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412(r),
the threshold quantity adopted by the secretary shall be not less than the U.S.
EPA threshold quantity. The secretary is authorized to establish a greater
threshold quantity for, or to exempt entirely, any substance or any facility
including but is not limited to any substance that is a nutrient used in
agriculture when held by a farmer.
(2) Regulations establishing the list and the threshold quantities shall
include an explanation of the basis for establishing the list and the threshold
quantities. The regulations shall also identify and explain any additional
requirements imposed that are not specifically required by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency accident prevention regulations which are
proposed or adopted pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act. The term
"threshold quantity" as used in this Section shall be applicable solely for the
purposes of the accident prevention regulations provided for in this Section.
G. In order to prevent accidental releases of regulated substances, the
secretary is authorized to adopt and promulgate regulations governing release
prevention, detection, and correction requirements.
H.(1) No later than November 20, 1993, the secretary shall propose
reasonable regulations to provide, to the greatest extent practicable, for the
prevention and detection of accidental releases of regulated substances and for
response to such releases by the owners or operators of the sources of such
releases. Where appropriate in the development of such regulations the
secretary shall review and consider any regulations under development and/or
promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section
112(r) of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act.
(2) In order to protect human health and the environment, the
regulations under this Subsection shall require the owner or operator of
stationary sources at which a regulated substance is present in more than a
threshold quantity to prepare and implement a risk management plan to detect
and prevent an accidental release of such substances from the stationary
source, to minimize any release, and to provide a prompt emergency response
to any such release which does occur.
(3) The owner or operator of each stationary source covered by
Paragraph (2) of this Subsection shall register the risk management plan
prepared pursuant to this Subsection with the secretary in accordance with
rules promulgated by the secretary. The risk management plans prepared
pursuant to this Subsection shall be available to the public, subject to the
confidentiality provisions of R.S. 30:2030. The emergency response portion
of the risk management plan shall also be submitted to the local agency or
entity having responsibility for planning for or responding to accidental
releases which may occur at such source and to any governmental agency
which requests the emergency response portion.
(4) The secretary shall establish by rule an auditing system to review
regularly and, if necessary, require revision in risk management plans to assure
that the plans comply with this Subsection. Each such plan shall be updated
periodically as required by the secretary by rule.
(5) Any regulations promulgated pursuant to this Subsection shall be,
to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with the recommendations and
standards established by commonly accepted and applicable engineering and
professional codes, including but not limited to the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI), or the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM).
(6) The secretary shall take into consideration the concerns of small
business in proposing regulations under this Subsection.
(7) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Chapter or of this
Subsection to the contrary, no stationary source shall be required to apply for,
or operate pursuant to, a permit issued under such Chapter solely because such
source is subject to regulations or requirements under this Subsection.
I. After the effective date of any regulation or requirement imposed,
authorized, or required by this Section, it shall be unlawful for any person to
operate any stationary source subject to such regulation or requirement in
violation of such regulation or requirement. Each regulation or requirement
under this Section shall be treated as a standard in effect for purposes of R.S.
30:2025 and other enforcement provisions of Subtitle II of Title 30.
J. The regulations authorized pursuant to this Section may provide for
the registration of each process covered by the regulations. In accordance with
the provisions of Article VII, Section 2.1 of the Constitution of Louisiana and
R.S. 30:2014, the department is authorized to increase fees to cover the
operating expenses of the department for the continued implementation of the
accidental release prevention program. The fee increase shall be implemented
by increasing, on an average of four and one-half percent, existing fees
assessed by the department pursuant to its fee schedules under the air quality
control program. The fee schedule shall be based on industrial groups that
reflect the degree that these are to be regulated under the accidental release
prevention program.
K.(1) Storers of liquefied petroleum gas whose facilities are permitted
through or inspected by the Louisiana Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission
of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall not be required to pay
any additional fees on liquefied petroleum gas pursuant to this Section.
(2) Storers of liquefied petroleum gas who use such gas as a fuel in an
agricultural process shall not be required to pay any additional fees on
liquefied petroleum gas pursuant to this Section.
(3) The Department of Environmental Quality shall not regulate the
storers of liquefied petroleum gas provided for in this Subsection, for purposes
of the chemical accident prevention program, at those facilities in which the
presence of liquefied petroleum gas is the sole reason for the inclusion of the
facility in the chemical accident prevention program.

Legislative History

Acts 1992, No. 1127, §1; Acts 1997, No. 885, §1; Acts 1999, No. 839, §1.