§3198.1. Duties of governmental entities; contaminated property
A. Whenever a state or local law enforcement agency becomes aware that residential
real property or vacant residential property has been contaminated by its use as a clandestine
methamphetamine drug lab, the agency shall report the contamination to the Department of
Environmental Quality, referred to in this Section as the "department", and to the local
sheriff's office.
B. The department shall maintain a listing of residential real property or vacant
residential property that has been reported as contaminated, and the list shall be made
available to the public through a website.
C. If property that is listed as contaminated on the department's website is
subsequently seized and sold at a sheriff's sale, the sheriff shall provide notice to all bidders
present at the time the sheriff's sale is conducted.
D. The department may promulgate rules and regulations in order to adopt standards
for remediating properties contaminated by clandestine methamphetamine drug labs.
E. Upon confirmation by the department that property has been properly remediated
to its established standards, the department shall remove the property from the list required
in Subsection B of this Section. The department shall provide written notification to the
local sheriff and the property owner of record when the documentation shows that the
property has been properly remediated.
F. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, once the property has
been removed from the list required in Subsection B of this Section, the property owner is
not required to report or otherwise disclose the past contamination as required in R.S.
9:3198(A)(2)(b).
G. Failure to comply with the provisions of this Section shall not create a cause of
action against a governmental entity or the property owner, the owner's agent, the mortgagee,
or other person with an interest in the property.
Acts 2008, No. 681, §1; Acts 2026, No. 708, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2027.