2014 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 30 - Minerals, Oil, and Gas and Environmental Quality
RS 30:2417 - Used oil; collection; recycling and reuse; disposal

§2417. Used oil; collection; recycling and reuse; disposal

A. It is the intent of the legislature to reduce the amount of illegally disposed used oil by providing incentives to increase the number of used oil collection facilities for used oil recovery, and consequently recover more of this valuable natural resource and concurrently enhance the state's environment. On or before January 1, 1992, the secretary shall promulgate regulations and guidelines for a used oil recycling program to promote and encourage the proper collection and reuse of used oil. The regulations and guidelines shall provide for but not be limited to:

(1) Awarding grants, subsidies, and loans to municipalities, parishes, and other political subdivisions to establish and provide continuous operation of collecting services and facilities for used oil.

(2) Establishing and maintaining a used oil information program.

(3) Maintaining an "800+" telephone information program to inform the public of used oil collection locations.

(4) Encouraging the voluntary establishment of used oil collection and recycling programs by public interest groups, automotive service facilities, and others, and providing technical assistance to such program organizers.

(5) Regulating mixtures of used oil and hazardous waste as used oil if the hazardous waste contained in the mixture is so classified solely due to the waste's characteristic of ignitability, such as mineral spirits, provided that the mixture does not exhibit the characteristic of ignitability pursuant to such rules and regulations.

(6), (7) Repealed by Acts 2006, No. 829, §2.

B, C. Repealed by Acts 2012, No. 834, §13, eff. July 1, 2012.

D. The secretary shall develop guidelines to award grants, subsidies, and low interest loans to local government to encourage the establishment and maintenance of programs and facilities to reduce the improper disposal of used oil, which may include the following in the order of priority to be supported:

(1) Establishing publicly operated used oil collection facilities at landfills and other public places.

(2) Curbside pickup of used oil containers by a local government or its designee.

(3) Retrofitting solid waste equipment to promote curbside pickup or disposal of used oil at designated collection facilities.

(4) Providing containers and other materials and supplies that the public can use to store in an environmentally safe manner used oil for pickup or delivery to a collection facility.

E. The following activities are prohibited:

(1) No person may knowingly collect, transport, store, recycle, use, or dispose of used oil in any manner which endangers the public health or welfare.

(2) No person may knowingly discharge or cause to be discharged used oil into sewers, drainage systems, septic tanks, or any waters or lands of the state.

(3) After July 1, 1991, no person may knowingly mix or commingle used oil with solid waste that is to be disposed of in landfills or directly knowingly dispose of used oil in solid waste landfills within the state of Louisiana unless specifically approved by the department.

(4) Repealed by Acts 2006, No. 829, §2.

(5) Used oil shall not be used for road oiling, dust control, weed abatement, or other similar uses that have the potential to release used oil into the environment.

F. The department shall develop incentives for the reuse, recycling, and marketing of used oil. Such incentives may include a program to encourage individuals who change their own oil to return used oil to a used oil collection facility.

G. As of July 1, 1992, no person shall knowingly dispose of used oil in any manner other than at a permitted used oil collection facility, unless specifically approved by the department. Exempt from this requirement are entities which only burn used oil generated by the burner, provided such burning is done in compliance with applicable rules of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

H. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the collection, transportation, or disposal of used oil mixed or commingled with solid waste by any person engaged in the collection, transportation, and/or disposal of solid waste, unless it can be demonstrated that such person knew that such used oil had been mixed or commingled with the solid waste collected, transported, or disposed of and unless it can be demonstrated that it is economically and environmentally feasible to remove and recover such used oil from the solid waste collected, transported, or disposed of.

I. When purchasing lubricating oils, every person acting as purchasing agent for any agency, board, commission, or department of the state shall give preference to rerefined oil which meets manufacturer's warranty, provided the cost of rerefined oil does not exceed by more than five percent the cost of other oils, and so long as the product contains at least twenty-five percent rerefined oil.

J. For the purposes of this Section, the owner or operator of a used oil collection facility which accepts used oil from the public may presume that a quantity of no more than five gallons of used oil accepted from any member of the public is not mixed with a hazardous substance, provided that such owner or operator acts in good faith and provided that the recycled or used oil:

(1) Has been removed from the engine of a light duty motor vehicle, farm equipment, or a household appliance by the owner of such vehicle, equipment, or appliance.

(2) Is presented by such owner to the dealer for collection, accumulation, and delivery to an oil recycling facility.

(3) The owner or operator is not knowingly accepting used oil which has been mixed with any listed or characteristic hazardous waste or hazardous substance.

K. No person, including the state of Louisiana or any political subdivision thereof, may recover under R.S. 30:2276 from a permitted used oil collection facility for any response costs or damages resulting from a release or threatened release of any collected used oil if such used oil:

(1) Is not knowingly mixed with any other hazardous substance.

(2) Is stored, treated, transported, or otherwise managed in compliance with:

(a) The regulatory standards established by the secretary hereunder.

(b) The terms and conditions of the collection facility's permit.

L. The limitation of liability provided for in Subsection K of this Section shall not relieve a permitted used oil collection facility from the responsibility of responding to and taking appropriate remedial action in response to a discharge at the used oil collection facility.

M. No person shall dispose of used refined motor oil by discharge into municipal sewers, municipal drainage systems, surface or groundwaters, watercourses, or marine waters.

N. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the regulations and guidelines promulgated pursuant to this Section shall require all used oil collection centers, transfer facilities, and transporters as defined in LAC 33:V.4001, which are or will be located in a parish with a population of between nine thousand eight hundred seventy and nine thousand eight hundred ninety people based on the 1990 federal census, to obtain licenses or permits authorizing such centers, facilities, and transporters to handle used oil in compliance with this Section, if any such centers, facilities, and transporters are also conducting processing as defined in LAC 33:V.4001. Such processing includes but is not limited to physical separation of water from the used oil. Nothing in this Subsection shall apply to businesses that primarily engage in oil changes. Further, nothing in this Subsection shall apply to any center, facility, or transporter that is validly permitted or licensed and that began operations prior to January 1, 1999.

Acts 1989, No. 185, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; Acts 1991, No. 964, §1; Acts 1992, No. 537, §1; Acts 1997, No. 658, §2; Acts 1999, No. 1296, §1, eff. July 12, 1999; Acts 2006, No. 829, §1, 2; Acts 2012, No. 834, §13, eff. July 1, 2012.