The secretary can declare certain oilfield sites unusable or orphaned and can disburse trust-account funds for site restoration when the conditions in the section are met.
§89. Non-orphan site restoration A. After due notice and hearing and upon certification from the secretary that a responsible party has failed to undertake site restoration of an unusable oilfield site, the secretary is authorized to disburse such funds as are necessary for site restoration from the site-specific trust account. B. The secretary, upon notice and hearing, pursuant to rules adopted by the secretary in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, may declare an oilfield site to be an unusable oilfield site. Upon failure of a responsible party to undertake site restoration as ordered by the secretary, the secretary is authorized to disburse such funds as are necessary for site restoration from the site-specific trust account. C. For sites restored pursuant to Subsections A and B of this Section, after site restoration has been completed and approved by the secretary, funds from the site-specific trust account will be disbursed as follows: (1) The balance of the account existing in the site-specific trust account will be remitted to the responsible party. Such account shall thereafter be closed. (2) If the funds in the site-specific trust account are depleted prior to the payment of all site restoration costs, the department is authorized to collect the remainder of site restoration costs from the responsible party or ensure that the responsible party completes the site restoration to the satisfaction of the secretary. (3) If the funds in the site-specific trust account are depleted prior to the payment of all site restoration costs, and if the secretary subsequently declares that oilfield site to be an orphaned oilfield site and upon approval of the trust authority, the Oilfield Site Restoration Fund shall contribute the balance of the restoration costs for that orphaned oilfield site. D. If a responsible party fails or is unable to restore a site and there is no site-specific trust account, the secretary shall declare the site orphaned in accordance with R.S. 30:91(B). Acts 1993, No. 404, §2; Acts 1995, No. 297, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 994, §1; Acts 2022, No. 10, §1, eff. May 13, 2022; Acts 2024, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 16, §1, eff. July 1, 2025; Acts 2025, No. 458, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.