§2004. Definitions
The following terms as used in this Subtitle, unless the context otherwise requires or
unless redefined by a particular Chapter of this Subtitle, shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Abandoned site fund" shall mean the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Fund as
created by R.S. 30:2205 and formerly known as the Abandoned Hazardous Waste Site Fund.
(2) "Adjudication" means formal or informal proceedings for the formulation of a
decision or order.
(3) "Aggrieved person" means a natural or juridical person who has a real and actual
interest that is or may be adversely affected by a final action under this Subtitle.
(4) "Assistant secretary" means the assistant secretary to whom a given function or
responsibility has been allocated by this Subtitle or delegated by the secretary.
(5) "Compliance order" means an order issued by the secretary or an assistant
secretary requiring a respondent to comply with specified provisions of this Subtitle, a rule,
or a permit within a specified period of time.
(6) "Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality.
(7) "Discharge" means the placing, releasing, spilling, percolating, draining,
pumping, leaking, seeping, emitting, or other escaping of pollutants into the air, waters,
subsurface water, or ground as the result of a prior act or omission; or the placing of
pollutants into pits, drums, barrels, or similar containers under conditions and circumstances
that leaking, seeping, draining, or escaping of the pollutants can be reasonably anticipated.
(8) "Facility" means a pollution source or any public or private property or facility
where an activity is conducted which is required to be regulated under this Subtitle and
which does or has the potential to do any of the following:
(a) Emit air contaminants into the atmosphere.
(b) Discharge pollutants into waters of the state.
(c) Use or control radioactive materials and waste.
(d) Transport, process, or dispose of solid wastes.
(e) Generate, transport, treat, store, or dispose of hazardous wastes.
(9) "Implementation plan" means any pollution control or other environmental
regulatory plan prepared by a state agency in compliance with the terms of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.),
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act(42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), or other federal
environmental legislation.
(10) "Natural resources committees" means the Natural Resources and Environment
Committee of the House of Representatives and the Environmental Quality Committee of
the Senate of the Louisiana Legislature.
(11) "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.
(12) "Pollutant" means those elements or compounds defined or identified as
hazardous, toxic, or noxious, or as hazardous, solid, or radioactive wastes under this Subtitle
and regulations, or by the secretary, consistent with applicable laws and regulations. For the
purposes of the Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, as defined in R.S.
30:2073, "pollutant" means dredged spoil; solid waste; incinerator residue; filter backwash;
sewage; garbage; sewage sludge; munitions; chemical wastes; biological materials;
radioactive materials, except those regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42
U.S.C. 2011 et seq., as amended; heat; wrecked or discarded equipment; rock; sand; cellar
dirt; and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. For the
purposes of the Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, as defined in R.S.
30:2073, "pollutant" does not mean:
(a) Water, gas, waste, or other material which is injected into a well for disposal in
accordance with a permit approved by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources or
the Department of Environmental Quality.
(b) Water, gas, or other material which is injected into a well to facilitate production
of oil or gas, or water derived in association with oil and gas production and disposed of in
a well, if the well used either to facilitate production or for disposal purposes is approved by
authority of the state in which the well is located, and if the state determines that the injection
or disposal will not result in the degradation of ground or surface water resources.
(13) "Pollution source" means the immediate site or location of a discharge or
potential discharge, including such surrounding property necessary to secure or quarantine
the area from access by the general public.
(14) "Respondent" means the person against whom an enforcement action is
directed.
(15) "Response account" means the Environmental Trust Dedicated Fund Account
created in R.S. 30:2015.
(16) "Secretary" means the secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality.
(17) "Small refinery" means a refinery for which the average aggregate daily crude
oil throughput for a calendar year, as determined by dividing the aggregate throughput for
the calendar year by the number of days in the calendar year, does not exceed seventy-five
thousand barrels.
(18) "Variance" means a special authorization granted to a person for a limited
period of time which allows that person a specified date for compliance with a requirement
pursuant to the provisions of this Subtitle.
(19) "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.
Acts 1979, No. 449, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 194, §1; Acts
1981, No. 198, §1; Acts 1982, No. 655, §1; Acts 1983, No. 97, §1, eff. Feb. 1, 1984; Acts
1983, No. 467, §1, eff. July 6, 1983; Acts 1984, No. 116, §1, eff. June 22, 1984; Acts 1989,
No. 392, §1, eff. June 30, 1989; Acts 1991, No. 21, §1, eff. June 14, 1991; Acts 1995, No.
708, §1; Acts 1995, No. 947, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1996; Acts 1997, No. 26, §1; Acts 2008, No.
580, §2; Acts 2018, No. 612, §9, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2019, No. 404, §1, eff. July 1, 2020;
Acts 2022, No. 72, §1; Acts 2023, No. 150, §5, eff. Jan. 10, 2024.