§2195.9. Financial responsibility
A. The financial responsibility requirements for taking response actions and third-party judgments by motor fuel underground storage tank owners who are eligible participants
in the Tank Trust Account are hereby established as follows:
(1) Ten thousand dollars per occurrence for cleanup and an additional ten thousand
dollars per occurrence for third-party judgments for the period following July 15, 1988
through the year 1989.
(2) Fifteen thousand dollars per occurrence for cleanup and an additional fifteen
thousand dollars per occurrence for third-party judgments for the period from January 1,
1990 through July 14, 1992.
(3) For the period from July 15, 1992 through June 15, 1995:
(a) Five thousand dollars per occurrence for cleanup and an additional five thousand
dollars for third-party judgments for owners with one to twelve tanks in Louisiana.
(b) Ten thousand dollars per occurrence for cleanup and an additional ten thousand
dollars for third-party judgments for owners with thirteen to ninety-nine tanks in Louisiana.
(c) Fifteen thousand dollars per occurrence for cleanup and an additional fifteen
thousand dollars for third-party judgments for owners with one hundred or more tanks in
Louisiana.
(4) Five thousand dollars per occurrence for cleanup and an additional five thousand
dollars per occurrence for third-party judgments, beginning on June 16, 1995, and continuing
through December 31, 2001.
(5) Thereafter the advisory board shall review the financial responsibility
requirements on an annual basis and may recommend to the secretary adjusting the
requirements. The secretary shall determine and set the financial responsibility requirements
annually.
(6) A lien filed by the department with the same ranking and privilege as that
authorized by R.S. 30:2195(F)(2) may be substituted for the financial responsibility
requirement of this Section, but in no case shall the lien be substituted on behalf of an owner
or operator who continues to operate the system. The department shall promulgate
regulations to provide for the use of this lien that ensures the fiscal stability of the account.
Such regulations shall provide that the use of the funds in the Tank Trust Account in any
fiscal year on sites for which the lien authorized by this Section has been used to substitute
for the financial responsibility amount shall not exceed twenty percent of the amounts
collected in the previous fiscal year. The secretary is authorized to exceed the twenty percent
limitation contained in this Paragraph upon recommendation of the Motor Fuels
Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Advisory Board. Upon recommendation of the board
to exceed the twenty percent limitation as provided for in this Paragraph, the secretary shall
send written notice to the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality and the House
Committee on Natural Resources and Environment listing the project name, project location,
and the amount of the project that exceeds the twenty percent limitation.
B. Financial responsibility required by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency may be established by any one or combination of the following: insurance,
participation in the Tank Trust Account, guarantee, surety bond, letter of credit, or
qualification as a self-insurer. A person may qualify as a self-insurer by showing tangible
net worth in the amount established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Acts 1988, No. 767, §2, eff. July 15, 1988; Acts 1995, No. 336, §1, eff. June 16,
1995; Acts 2001, No. 550, §1; Acts 2004, No. 692, §1, eff. July 6, 2004; Acts 2006, No. 447,
§1; Acts 2008, No. 580, §2; Acts 2016, No. 521, §1; Acts 2021, No. 114, §18, eff. July 1,
2022.