CHAPTER 12. FILL SAND AND FILL MATERIAL

§2011. License to dredge; royalties; exemptions

            A. No fill sand nor fill material shall be dredged from the water bottoms of this state without a license issued by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The license fee shall be set by the commission and shall not exceed one hundred dollars. The department shall act on the license application either favorably or unfavorably within a period of thirty working days.

            B.(1) There shall be five classes of license as follows:

            (a) Class A shall be applicable to commercial dredging or initial acquisition of fill sand or fill material with the specific intent to offer such fill for resale.

            (b) Class B shall be applicable to dredging of fill sand or fill material for commercial purposes other than the specific intent to offer such fill for resale. Such commercial purposes shall include operations related to mineral activities.

            (c) Class C shall be applicable to a person dredging or contracting for dredging of fill sand or fill material for private, noncommercial purposes.

            (d) Class D shall be applicable to dredging of fill sand or fill material for an activity that has a public benefit, such as but not limited to a coastal conservation or restoration activity, navigation purpose, removal of sediment buildup, or recreational activity.

            (e) Class E shall be applicable to all other dredging of fill sand or fill material.

            (2) The license shall be valid for one year beginning January first and ending December thirty-first of that same calendar year. The license may be purchased at any time during the year for the current license year and beginning November fifteenth for the immediately following license year. No person with an outstanding violation of this Chapter may purchase a license. At all times, the original license shall be available at the dredge site for inspection by a duly authorized agent of the department.

            C. A royalty payment, based on cubic yards or equivalent thereof as determined by the commission of material dredged, shall be made to the department as follows:

            (1) Holders of a Class A license shall pay a royalty of twenty-nine cents per cubic yard of material dredged.

            (2) Holders of a Class B license shall pay a royalty of twenty-five cents per cubic yard of material dredged.

            (3) Holders of a Class C license shall pay a royalty of fifteen cents per cubic yard of material dredged.

            (4) Except those exempted under the provisions of Subsection E of this Section, holders of a Class D license shall pay a royalty of five cents per cubic yard of material dredged.

            (5) Holders of a Class E license shall pay a royalty of twenty-five cents per cubic yard of material dredged.

            D. Only holders of Class A licenses shall be authorized to sell fill sand or fill material dredged. Holders of Class B, C, D, or E licenses shall not sell fill sand or fill material which was dredged or caused to be dredged under authority of those licenses.

            E. Any private landowner, state agency, political subdivision, or associated consultant or contractor engaged in a coastal protection, conservation, or restoration activity consistent with an annual plan or the comprehensive master plan established pursuant to R.S. 49:214.5.3 or engaged in an activity to remove sediment buildup to preserve or restore the natural habitat of a water body of the state or to enhance navigation and recreation activities on a water body of the state shall be exempt from payment of the royalties and bond requirements of this Section. However, the private landowner, state agency, political subdivision, or associated consultant or contractor shall be required to apply for and receive the appropriate license required by this Section. To be eligible for exemption from the royalty payment and bond requirements of this Section, a private landowner shall obtain a letter of no-objection from either the governing authority of the political subdivision within which the activity will occur or the local coastal management program under which the activity is authorized and the approval, in writing, of the secretary of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development, and the executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

            F. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, dredging by or on behalf of a port authority or port, harbor, and terminal district shall be exempt from the provisions of this Chapter. However, any port authority or port, harbor, and terminal district or any person engaged on its behalf to perform dredging in its respective jurisdiction shall possess the appropriate federal and state permits which authorize the dredging, and a copy of such permits shall be available at the dredge site for inspection by a duly authorized agent of the department.

            G. Any person holding a dredging permit from the department on May 1, 2007, shall be granted a license under the provisions of this Section, with such license to authorize the same activities authorized under the existing permit.

            H. The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Section. Such rules and regulations shall include but not be limited to bond requirements, royalty payment deadlines, royalty auditing procedures, and location of dredging operations and placement of fill sand or fill material.

            Acts 1986, No. 845, §1; Acts 1989, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 6, §5, eff. July 14, 1989; Acts 2005, No. 203, §1; Acts 2007, No. 454, §1; Acts 2016, No. 430, §7; Acts 2023, No. 150, §22, eff. Jan. 10, 2024.