LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto
A DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
A consortium of representatives from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, underground storage tank owners, and the product delivery industry developed the guidelines to implement the delivery prohibition provision in Section 9012 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), enacted by the Underground Storage Tank Compliance Act. The guidelines, issued August 7, 2006, established the minimum requirements a state’s delivery prohibition program must meet in order to comply with the delivery prohibition provision of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Following the issuance of these guidelines, LDEQ worked diligently to meet the implementation deadline of August 8, 2007. A collaborative effort from a work group made up of LDEQ and industry representatives resulted in the development of regulations which were adopted as Louisiana rule on September 20, 2007.
The rule establishes standards for the red tag/delivery prohibition of regulated substances for underground storage tanks. The rule defines the responsibilities of the tank owners/operators and product deliverers to ensure that product is not delivered, deposited, or accepted into an ineligible UST system. Furthermore, it defines those UST systems that are affected and the requirements that the owner/operator of the UST system must meet in order to continue to receive delivery of fuel, as well as situations when the department may prohibit the delivery of fuel. These regulations prohibit the delivery of regulated substances for UST systems that are discovered not to meet the required 1998 standards or are not compliant with spill prevention, overfill protection, release detection, corrosion protection, financial responsibility, or registration requirements in accordance with LAC 33:XI. Click here for more information regarding these regulations: LAC 33:XI.Chapter4.Sections 401 and 403
On March 14, 2008, LDEQ issued a Notice to all UST Owners and Fuel Distributors regarding Red Tagging of Fill Ports/ New UST Delivery Prohibition Process. This notice was sent to inform those persons that beginning April 15, 2008, the LDEQ UST Division will begin implementation of these Delivery Prohibition regulations. At this time certain USTs will be classified by the department as ineligible for delivery, deposit, or acceptance of product by means of "Red Tagging." At this time LDEQ will immediately "Red Tag" any tank/tank system that:
LDEQ will also "Red Tag" tanks/tank systems with other violations such as: no financial responsibility or deficiencies in the operation and maintenance of release detection, corrosion protection, or spill and overfill protection. For these violations, the facility must correct the deficiency/deficiencies within 30 days of being notified by LDEQ. If after that time the deficiency/deficiencies are not corrected, physical red tags will be tied around the affected tank fill ports. The facility will be allowed to sell the remaining fuel in the affected tank(s), but it will be unlawful to deliver fuel into the affected tank(s) until the tank/tank system has returned into compliance with the regulations (LAC 33:XI.403C).
If it is discovered that any fuel is delivered into a UST that has been "Red Tagged," LDEQ may take enforcement action against both the UST owner and the fuel distributor. These violations can result in penalties up to $32,500 per event. In order to provide adequate notice to product deliverers, LDEQ will publish a list of "Red Tagged" facilities on this website. This list will be updated whenever facilities are added and removed from the list. The red tagged facility list can be found at: LDEQ-Land web page under Helpful links.