§ 30:2370 — Extraordinary circumstances; deputy secretary's discretion to permit alternative reporting procedures; residential and retail use; exemptions

A. The deputy secretary shall establish alternative reporting procedures for certain owners or operators. Such alternative reporting procedures shall only be established when the deputy secretary determines that the nature of the owner's or operator's enterprise is such that the collection or compilation of data under procedures required under R.S. 30:2369 would be difficult to report by the owner or operator and of marginal informational value to agencies or persons requesting or using the data. Alternative reporting procedures shall be available under the following circumstances:
(1) The nature of the owner's or operator's business is such that any hazardous material present at a facility would be present for a short period of time. Such businesses shall include but not be limited to building construction industries or wharf and dock facilities, where an inventory of any hazardous material would be present for only short periods of time; or
(2) Emergency response personnel are likely to be able to predict the nature and volume of hazardous materials present at the facilities without recourse to the information provided by the inventory form. Such facilities may include premises whose only structures are electrical transmission and distribution equipment or clearly marked storage tanks for liquified petroleum gas.
(3) The nature of the business is related to waste disposal and reclamation, in which the hazardous materials are collected in such a manner that the identity of each substance may not be individually identified under established reporting procedures.
(4) In the determination of the secretary, alternative reporting procedures would further the purposes of this Chapter.
B. Any alternate reporting requirement adopted pursuant to Subsection A of this Section shall define each of the following as precisely as possible:
(1) The nature of the activities which may be conducted at the facility.
(2) The identity of the hazardous materials which may be present at the facility.
(3) The maximum quantity of each such hazardous material which may be present at the facility.
C. The deputy secretary shall define and provide by rule for exemptions for "small quantities" of hazardous materials which need not be reported under this Chapter by certain categories of owners or operators. The definition of small quantities shall be based on the degree of hazard such quantities might potentially present in certain situations, either to emergency response personnel, the owner or operator, his personnel or property, or to the surrounding community. Such categories of owners or operators shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Residential users.
(2) Owners or operators of hotels, motels, restaurants, apartment buildings, or office buildings which use only small quantities of air conditioning and cleaning supplies and do not exceed the small quantities exemption for any other hazardous material.
(3) Owners or operators of retail sales establishments which sell consumer products or food stuffs packaged for distribution to, and intended for use by, the general public, and who have storage areas or storerooms in such establishments which are separated from shelf or display areas but maintained within the physical confines of such retail establishments.
D. The exemptions provided for in Subsection C shall not apply to hazardous materials placed in a separate warehouse. However, owners or operators maintaining such a warehouse facility shall be required to make only one report under this Chapter, regardless of the number of warehouses, storerooms, and storage areas retained by the owner or operator.
E. The following substances shall not be required to be reported for purposes of inventory reporting:
(1) Repealed by Acts 1997, No. 1046, §2.
(2) Any food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
(3) Any substance present as a solid in any manufactured item to the extent exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use.
(4) Any substance to the extent it is used for personal, family, or household purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for distribution and use by the general public.
(5) Any substance to the extent it is used in a research laboratory or a hospital or other medical facility under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual. This would not include substances stored in a separate warehouse or storage room.
(6) Any substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations or is fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer.
(7) Hazardous materials required to be reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by utilization facilities licensed under 10 C.F.R. 50 and R.S. 40:1299.100.
(8) Gasoline, all grades combined, that has been stored in tanks having a capacity of less than seventy-five thousand gallons, entirely underground, at a retail gas station that has been in compliance at all times during the preceding calendar year with all applicable underground storage tank requirements as provided in R.S. 30:2194. This exemption shall be effective March 1, 2001, for calendar year 2000 reporting. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, copies of any reports submitted by retail gas stations to the Department of Environmental Quality as required by this Chapter shall be provided by the Department of Environmental Quality to any local emergency planning committee and the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police.
(9) Diesel fuel, all grades combined, that has been stored in tanks with a capacity of less than one hundred thousand gallons, entirely underground, at a retail gas station that has been in compliance at all times during the preceding calendar year with all applicable underground storage tank requirements as provided in R.S. 30:2194. This exemption shall be effective March 1, 2001, for calendar year 2000 reporting. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, copies of any reports submitted by retail gas stations to the Department of Environmental Quality as required by this Chapter shall be provided by the Department of Environmental Quality to any local emergency planning committee and the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police.
F. Small businesses as defined under this Chapter shall be required to report inventories or releases of hazardous substances regulated under this Chapter with the exception being that they shall pay a reduced fee in accordance with R.S. 30:2374.
G. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to retail establishments as defined by R.S. 47:301(4)(b) and (11), cosmetology salons, and barber salons.
H. The following nonexclusive list of facilities shall qualify, when otherwise required to report under this Chapter, for the alternate reporting procedures established under this Section:
(1) Oil and gas exploration and production facilities.
(2) Natural gas, crude oil, and hydrocarbon product pipelines.
(3) Hydrocarbon storage facilities other than at petroleum refineries.
(4) Gasoline service stations.
(5) Electrical transmission and distribution equipment.
(6) Transportation related industries.

Legislative History

Acts 1985, No. 435, §1, eff. July 11, 1985; Acts 1987, No. 347, §1; Acts 1992, No. 566, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1046, §§1, 2; Acts 1999, No. 771, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1166, §1, eff. July 9, 1999.