§4.1. Underground injection control
A. The following definitions shall apply where used in this Section:
(1) "Commercial operations" as defined in this Section pertains to those who dispose
of hazardous waste materials off the site where produced by others. "Hazardous Waste
materials" is defined as any material so identified or designated under La. R.S. 30:2173,
excluding drilling muds, produced waters and crude oil residues, for which no use or reuse
is intended and which is to be discarded.
(2) "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking,
or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such waste, or any
constituent thereof, may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into
any waters, including ground waters.
(3) "Hazardous waste" means any waste, or combination of wastes, which because
of its quantity, concentration, physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may (a) cause
or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or
incapacitating reversible illness or (b) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human
health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or
otherwise managed. Such definition shall be applied only to those wastes identified and
designated as such by the department under the provisions of La. R.S. 30:2173, consistent
with applicable federal laws and regulations.
(4) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership,
receiver, tutor, curator, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind,
including any governmental unit, whether federal, state, or local.
B. The secretary shall have authority to make, after notice and hearings as provided
in this Chapter, any reasonable rules, regulations, and orders that are necessary from time to
time in the proper administration and enforcement of this Section, including but not limited
to rules, regulations, or orders for the following purposes:
(1) To regulate, by rules, the drilling, casing, cementing, disposal interval,
monitoring, plugging, and permitting of disposal wells which are used to inject hazardous
waste products in the subsurface, and to regulate all surface and storage waste facilities
incidental to oil and gas exploration and production, in such a manner as to prevent the
escape of such hazardous waste product into a fresh groundwater aquifer or into oil or gas
strata; may require the plugging of each abandoned well or each well which is of no further
use and the closure of associated pits, the removal of equipment, structures, and trash, and
the general site cleanup of such abandoned or unused well sites; and may require reasonable
bond with security for the performance of the duty to plug each abandoned well or each well
which is of no further use and to perform the site cleanup required by this Section. Only an
owner as defined in R.S. 30:3 shall be held or deemed responsible for the performance of any
actions required by the secretary.
(2) To require by rule that before a permit to operate a new commercial operations'
hazardous waste disposal well may be granted, a public hearing shall be held on the
application for a permit, and shall fix the date, time, and place therefor. The operator or
owner, prior to such public hearing, shall give public notice on three separate days within a
period of thirty days prior to the public hearing, with at least five days between each
publication of the notice, both in the official state journal and in the official journal of the
parish in which the well is to be located, that application for a permit for a new commercial
operations' hazardous waste disposal well has been made and that a public hearing on the
matter will be held on the date and at the time and place which shall be stated in the public
notice. The secretary shall prescribe the form of the advertisement. In addition, the applicant
for a permit shall place an advertisement in the same newspapers, but not in the classified
advertisement or public notice section of the newspapers, in a form which shall be not less
than one-half page in size and printed in bold face type; which shall inform the public that
application for a permit has been made for a new commercial operations' hazardous waste
disposal well and that a public hearing, at which all interested persons are charged to be
present and to present their views and which shall state the date, time, and place at which the
meeting will be held. The content of both the public notice and the one-half page
announcement or advertisement also shall include the name of the owner or operator,
location of the proposed well, materials to be disposed in the well, and a statement that
comments may be sent to the secretary prior to the public meeting.
C.(1) No person shall inject, pump, dispose, or in any manner allow the escape of
any hazardous waste into any well or underground strata by way of an injection well without
obtaining a permit from the secretary or in violation of any permit issued by the secretary;
or violate any rule, regulation, or order of the secretary issued under the authority of this
Section.
(2) The secretary shall not issue any new permit for a previously unpermitted Class
I well for the disposal of hazardous waste as defined in the comprehensive state hazardous
waste control program, provided for in R.S. 30:2175, which previously produced or was
drilled for the purpose of producing oil or gas, whether oil or gas was actually produced
therein. Where a new permit has been issued for such a Class I well for disposal of hazardous
waste, the secretary shall immediately proceed to revoke such permit, giving notice and upon
request, an opportunity for the parties to be heard, and set a schedule for the abandonment
and closure of the well, in accordance with rules and regulations of the office of
conservation. No later than November 15, 1985, the secretary shall order the cessation of
injection and issue an order for closure which shall be completed within one hundred twenty
days of the order.
D. Whenever the secretary or an authorized representative of the secretary
determines that a violation of any requirement of this Section has occurred or is about to
occur, the secretary or the authorized representative of the secretary shall either issue an
order requiring compliance within a specified time period or shall commence a civil action
for appropriate relief, including a temporary or permanent injunction.
E. Requirements of compliance orders. Any order issued under this Section shall
state with reasonable specificity the nature of the violation and specify a time for compliance
and, in the event of noncompliance, assess a civil penalty, if any, which the secretary
determines is reasonable, taking into account the seriousness of the violation and any good
faith efforts to comply with the applicable requirements.
F. Penalties. (1) Except as otherwise provided by law, any person to whom a
compliance order or a cease and desist order is issued and who fails to take corrective action
within the time specified and said order or any person found by the secretary to be in
violation of any requirement of this Section, may be liable for a civil penalty, to be assessed
by the secretary or court, of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars for each day of the
continued noncompliance or violation. The secretary in order to enforce the provisions of this
Section may suspend or revoke any permit, compliance order, license, or variance which has
been issued to said person.
(2) No penalty shall be assessed until the person charged shall have been given
notice and an opportunity for a hearing on such charge. In determining whether or not a civil
penalty is to be assessed and in determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed
upon in compromise, the gravity of the violation and the demonstrated good faith of the
person charged in attempting to achieve rapid compliance, after notification of a violation,
shall be considered. In the event that the order with which the person failed to comply was
an emergency cease and desist order, no penalty shall be assessed if it appears, upon later
hearing, that said order was issued without reasonable cause.
G. Criminal penalties. Except as otherwise provided by law, any person who
willfully or knowingly discharges, emits, or disposes of any hazardous wastes in
contravention of any provisions of this Section or of the regulations, or permit or license
terms and conditions in pursuance thereof, shall be fined not more than twenty-five thousand
dollars per day of violation and costs of prosecution, or imprisoned for not more than one
year, or both and in such instances the prosecution may be instituted by the district attorney
having criminal jurisdiction. No district attorney nor the attorney general shall institute any
criminal prosecution for a violation of any provision of this Section against any person while
such person, with respect to the same violation, is: (1) under any order issued pursuant to this
Section to enforce any provision of this Chapter, or (2) a defendant in any civil suit brought
under the provisions of this Section, or (3) the subject of an action to assess and collect a
civil penalty.
H. Civil Actions. The attorney general shall have charge of and shall prosecute all
civil cases arising out of violation of any provision of this Section including the recovery of
penalties.
I. Settlement of suits. Except as otherwise provided herein, the secretary, with the
concurrence of the attorney general, may settle or resolve as he may deem advantageous to
the state any suits, disputes, or claims for any penalty under any provisions of this Section
or the regulations or permit license terms and conditions applicable thereto.
J. Application. The provisions of this Section shall only apply to the underground
injection of hazardous wastes as identified and designated under the provision of La. R.S.
30:1133.
K. The secretary shall not authorize or issue any permit which allows the use or
withdrawal of three million gallons or more of ground water per day from the Chicot aquifer
that shall be injected into the subsurface in a parish whose population is more than seventy
thousand and less than seventy-five thousand.