Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2198 – Hazardous Waste Protection Fund
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2198
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- 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. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2173
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Hazardous waste: means any waste, or combination of wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, physical, or chemical characteristics may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness, or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2173
- Person: means any individual, municipality, public or private corporation, partnership, firm, the United States Government, and any agent or subdivision thereof or any other juridical person, which shall include, but not be limited to, trusts, joint stock companies, associations, the state of Louisiana, political subdivisions of the state of Louisiana, commissions, and interstate bodies. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2004
- Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2004
- Violation: means a failure to comply with the requirements of this Subtitle, the rules issued under this Subtitle, and conditions of permits under this Subtitle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2004
- Waste: means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, or agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2173
A. There is hereby established a Hazardous Waste Protection Fund, hereinafter referred to as the “Protection Fund”, to which shall be deposited all bonds forfeited to the state under this Chapter and all hazardous waste protection payments under Section 2192(B)(4) of this Chapter, after being deposited into the state treasury and credited to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, as provided by laws of this state and the constitution. After a sufficient amount is allocated from the Bond Security and Redemption Fund to pay all obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state which become due and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay into the Protection Fund an amount equal to the total amount of the bonds forfeited to the state under this Chapter and all the payments made as hazardous waste protection payments, under Section 2192(B)(4) of this Chapter. The Protection Fund shall additionally consist of sums appropriated specifically to it by the legislature for maintenance and custody of closed sites, for emergencies caused by closed sites, and to assure financial responsibility for damages caused by closed sites.
B. Any grants or allocations made to the state of Louisiana from the United States government for the purposes of protecting the public from hazards associated with closed sites shall be paid by the treasurer directly into the Hazardous Waste Protection Fund.
C. The secretary shall provide by rule or regulations for the Protection Fund to consist of sums sufficient to assure financial responsibility for closed hazardous waste facilities, and shall provide for the procedures for assessing said payments to the protection fund.
D. The secretary shall administer the Protection Fund and shall make disbursements from the protection fund for all necessary and appropriate expenditures. Disbursements shall be made upon sufficient proof of services rendered and materials or equipment used or expended.
E. The monies in the Protection Fund shall be used only in cases where the site has been permitted under this Subtitle and has been closed in accordance with the rules and regulations of the secretary pertaining to closure of hazardous waste facilities, for the following purposes:
(1) Emergency responses to hazardous waste accidents;
(2) The maintenance and custody of hazardous wastes and hazardous waste facilities;
(3) To assure financial responsibility in the event of damages resulting from accidents and negligence; and
(4) To provide money or services as the state share of matching funds for federal grants.
F. Interest earned through investments of the fund capital may be utilized to finance research concerning hazardous waste management, disposal, and resource recovery from hazardous waste.
G. In any case where monies in the Hazardous Waste Protection Fund are expended because of damages resulting from a violation of this Subtitle, the secretary shall institute a civil action under Section 2025(B) of this Subtitle to recover from the responsible person as damages, all such monies expended from the Protection Fund.
Acts 1979, No. 449, §1, eff. June 1, 1980. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 194, §15; Acts 1983, No. 97, §1, eff. Feb. 1, 1984.