§92. Orphan site restoration

            A. The secretary is hereby authorized to expend sums from the fund and enter into contracts for the purpose of site restoration on any site declared to be an orphaned oilfield site. The assistant secretary may conduct site restoration, expend sums from the fund, and enter into contracts for the purpose of site restoration to respond to an emergency as provided in R.S. 30:6.1.

            B. Any contractor bidding for a contract to provide services for site restoration as provided in this Part shall take into account the salvage value of all equipment which shall be removed in the clean-up and restoration process and shall so stipulate and identify the value in his bid.

            C. A contract for site assessment or site restoration shall require a formal bid process. All contracts shall be exempt from the provisions of the Public Bid Law and the Louisiana Procurement Code; however, before this exemption from the Public Bid Law and the Louisiana Procurement Code can be effective, the assistant secretary shall promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to set forth the procedures, which, to the extent practicable, shall be in substantial compliance with the Public Bid Law and shall require a formal bid process. A project which the assistant secretary has declared in writing to be an emergency may employ a written and thoroughly documented informal bidding procedure in which bids are solicited from at least three bidders. All such contracts shall be reviewed prior to execution by the assistant secretary, and all informally bid contracts shall be reviewed by the secretary. Notwithstanding any other requirements in this Part, any monies deposited pursuant to R.S. 30:86(D)(9) or (10) may be expended by the secretary through a contract entered into under any competitive process authorized by Title 38 or 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

            Acts 1993, No. 404, §2; Acts 1995, No. 297, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 994, §1; Acts 2020, No. 242, §1; Acts 2022, No. 10, §1, eff. May 13, 2022.