2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 30:2195.9 — Financial responsibility

§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 Fund 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 fund. Such regulations shall provide that the use of the funds in the Tank Trust Fund 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 the Environment listing the project name, project location, and the amount of the project that exceeds the twenty percent limitation.

B.  Financial responsibility may be established by any one or combination of the following: insurance, 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.