§86. Oilfield Site Restoration Fund

            A.(1) There is hereby established a fund in the custody of the state treasurer to be known as the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund, hereafter referred to as the "fund", into which the state treasurer shall, each fiscal year, deposit the revenues received from the collection of the monies enumerated in Subsection D of this Section, after those revenues have been deposited in the Bond Security and Redemption Fund.

            (2) Out of the funds remaining in the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state that become due and payable within each fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay into the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund an amount equal to the revenues generated from collection of the fees provided for in Subsection D of this Section. Such funds shall constitute a special custodial trust fund which shall be administered by the Natural Resources Trust Authority, which shall make disbursements from the fund solely in accordance with the purposes and uses authorized by this Part.

            B. The funds received shall be placed in the special trust fund in the custody of the state treasurer to be used only in accordance with this Part and shall not be placed in the general fund. The funds provided to the trust authority pursuant to this Section shall at all times be and remain the property of the trust authority. The funds shall be used only for the purposes set forth in this Part and for no other governmental purposes. Except for the pledge of the revenues provided in R.S. 30:83.1, it is the intent of the legislature that this fund and its increments shall remain intact and inviolate. Any interest or earnings of the fund shall be credited only to the fund.

            C. Repealed by Acts 2024, 3^rd Ex. Sess., No. 16, §2, eff. July 1, 2025.

            D. The following monies shall be placed into the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund:

            (1) Those fees and penalties collected pursuant to R.S. 30:87.

            (2) Private contributions.

            (3) Interest earned on the funds deposited in the fund.

            (4) Civil penalties or costs recovered from responsible parties for oilfield site restoration pursuant to R.S. 30:93 and 94.

            (5) Any grants, donations, and sums allocated from any source, public or private, for the purposes of this Part.

            (6) Site-specific trust accounts; however, the monies of such accounts shall not be used for any oilfield site other than that specified for each respective account.

            (7) Fifty percent of any annual assessment paid by an operator who chooses not to plug a well classified as inactive with the remainder being deposited into the Oil and Gas Regulatory Dedicated Fund Account.

            (8) Any sums collected from financial security instruments required by rules and regulations adopted by the secretary pursuant to R.S. 30:4(R) and 4.3. However, the monies collected from each financial security instrument tied to a specific well or wells shall not be used for any oilfield sites other than those for which the financial security was provided.

            (9) Monies paid to the department pursuant to a site restoration contribution agreement entered into pursuant to R.S. 30:93(C).

            (10) Any other source of funding for which restoring orphan oilfield sites is an allowable use, as determined by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

            (11) Repealed by Acts 2025, No. 458, §11, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.

            E. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the monies in the fund may be disbursed and expended pursuant to the authority and direction of the secretary or the Natural Resources Trust Authority for the following purposes and uses:

            (1) Any oilfield site assessment or restoration conducted by the Department of Conservation and Energy pursuant to this Part, and the payment of the principal, interest, and legal fees, credit enhancement fees, trustee fees, and other related costs of issuance or ongoing expenses in connection with issuance of bonds or other debt obligations on behalf of the trust authority pursuant to R.S. 30:83.1 for the purpose of financing the costs of the oilfield site assessments and restorations.

            (2) Upon approval of the trust authority, the administration of this Part by the department in an amount not to exceed the department's federal approved indirect cost rate or, if no such rate exists, the de minimis rate of fifteen percent of all direct costs, each fiscal year. Amounts expended pursuant to Paragraph (4) of this Subsection shall not count towards the administrative expenditure limitation.

            (3) The payment of fees and costs associated with the administration of the fund, site-specific accounts, and any contract with a private legal entity pursuant to this Section.

            (4) Any costs and fees associated with the recovery of site restoration costs and penalties pursuant to R.S. 30:93 and 94.

            (5) Any costs associated with response to any emergency as provided in R.S. 30:6.1 unless directed by the trust authority not to expend monies in the fund pursuant to Subsection G of this Section. The department shall seek to recover from the responsible party any monies disbursed and spent from the fund for any emergency as defined in R.S. 30:6.1 within six months of the initial expenditure for such emergency.

            (6) Upon approval of the trust authority, up to five hundred thousand dollars per fiscal year for the department to act alone, or in conjunction with the voluntarily participating parties, for the assessment and restoration of commercial oilfield waste disposal facilities used for the storage, treatment, or disposal of nonhazardous oilfield waste for a fee or other consideration, which were abandoned, leaving no financially responsible owner, operator, or bonding company, in accordance with the plan of closure as required in the permit, or if the permit did not provide a plan of closure, a plan approved by the trust authority; however, a responsible person shall not be released from his duty or liability, if any, imposed by this Section.

            (7) Upon approval of the trust authority, expenditures consistent with a site restoration contribution agreement entered into pursuant to R.S. 30:93(C).

            F. Repealed by Acts 2025, No. 458, §11, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.

            G. Upon declaration of an emergency as defined in R.S. 30:6.1, the secretary shall notify the trust authority and the State Mineral and Energy Board of the declared emergency. Upon notification, the trust authority, in consultation with the State Mineral and Energy Board, may direct that no monies in the fund be disbursed or spent for response activity related to the emergency declaration.

            H. At the direction of the secretary or the Natural Resources Trust Authority, monies from federal appropriations or any federal grant program established by the United States Congress for the purpose of restoring orphan oilfield sites shall be placed into the department's federal funds account instead of the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund. Except for administrative costs not exceeding federal limits as set by Congress or the administering federal agency, all such federal monies shall be used exclusively for orphan oilfield site assessment and restoration, including plugging of orphan wells.

            I. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, such monies from the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund may be expended by the secretary through contracts entered into under any competitive process authorized by Title 38 or 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

            J. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for any oilfield site restoration project funded in whole or in part with monies from the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund, federal funds, or a combination of such funds, and delivered using the construction management at risk method as authorized in R.S. 38:2225.2.4, the contractor selected under the construction management at risk process shall not be required to be included on any pre-approved list of contractors acceptable to conduct site assessment and site restoration.

            Acts 1993, No. 404, §2; Acts 1995, No. 297, §§1, 2, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 994, §1; Acts 1999, No. 618, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1097, §1, eff. July 9, 1999; Acts 2004, No. 768, §1, eff. July 1, 2004; Acts 2008, No. 384, §1; Acts 2016, No. 582, §1, eff. June 17, 2016; Acts 2016, No. 666, §1, eff. June 17, 2016; Acts 2018, No. 105, §; Acts 2019, No. 193, §1; Acts 2021, No. 114, §18, eff. July 1, 2022; Acts 2021, No. 298, §1, eff. June 15, 2021; Acts 2022, No. 10, §1, eff. May 13, 2022; Acts 2022, No. 251, §1, eff. June 3, 2022; Acts 2023, No. 150, §5, eff. Jan. 10, 2024; Acts 2025, No. 458, §§1, 11, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.