No person may discharge air contaminants or noise pollution in violation of the secretary’s rules or permit terms, and no person may intentionally disperse chemicals into the atmosphere to affect weather or sunlight, subject to stated exceptions.
§2057. Prohibitions; exceptions A. No person shall: (1) Discharge air contaminants or noise pollution into the air of this state in violation of regulations of the secretary or the terms of any permit, license, or variance issued hereunder. (2) Violate any rule or regulation adopted by the secretary under this Chapter. (3)(a) Intentionally inject, release, apply, or disperse, by any means, a chemical, chemical compound, substance, or apparatus into the atmosphere within the borders of this state for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, weather, climate, or intensity of sunlight. The provisions of this Paragraph shall not apply to the injection, release, or dispersal under one thousand feet above ground level of fire retardant or fire suppressant substances for purposes of extinguishing or suppressing fire, or to the aerial application under one thousand feet above ground level of seeds, fertilizers, or pesticides for agriculture or forestry purposes. (b) Any person who observes an activity which may be conducted in violation of this Subsection may report the observed activity to the department. (c) The department shall establish procedures for the intake of reports made pursuant to this Subsection, which shall allow for electronic submittal. The department may adopt any rules as necessary to implement this Subsection. (d) The department shall receive the reports for the purpose of data collection and shall make the reports publicly available through the department's website or the Electronic Document Management System. B. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply in the following instances: (1) To persons who burn agricultural by-products in the field in connection with the planting, harvesting, or processing of agricultural products. (2) To controlled burning of cotton gin agricultural wastes in connection with cotton gin operations. (3) To controlled burning in connection with timber stand management. (4) To controlled burning of pastureland or marshland in connection with trapping or livestock production. (5)(a) To the burning of trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter in any parish having a population of ninety thousand or less provided the location of the burning is not within the territorial limits of a city or town or is not adjacent to a city or town in such proximity that the ambient air of the city or town will be affected by smoke from the burning. (b) The provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph notwithstanding, the governing authority of any municipality having a population of five thousand or less may burn trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter on property that it owns or leases within the corporate limits of such municipality, provided that all of the following occur: (i) The burning does not occur within five hundred feet of an occupied house or residence. (ii) The municipality enacts an ordinance to prohibit burning of trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter within its corporate limits. (iii) The municipality enacts an ordinance to provide for the collection and burning of trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter at a controlled site. (c) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section or any other law to the contrary, in a parish having a population of ninety thousand persons or fewer according to the most recent federal decennial census, an ordinance may prohibit any person from burning trees, brush, grass, or other vegetable matter and otherwise regulate burning of flammable material when the fire danger rating for the area is high, as defined by rules adopted by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry as required by R.S. 33:1236(31)(b)(iii), or is predicted to be at such level, and for a reasonable time period thereafter. An ordinance adopted pursuant to this Subparagraph shall not apply to prescribed burns by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, by those trained and certified by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, or by those who conduct prescribed burning as a "generally accepted agriculture practice" as defined by the Louisiana Right to Farm Law (R.S. 3:3601 et seq.). (6) To the burning of trees, branches, limbs, or other wood as a bonfire that is specifically authorized by ordinance in the parishes of St. James, St. John the Baptist, or St. Charles. C.(1) Nothing in this Subtitle or in the rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall prohibit a private property owner from burning yard waste on his own property, for noncommercial purposes, in parishes with a population of three hundred thousand or less, provided that the property owner attends the burning of yard waste at all times. The provisions of this Subsection shall not apply in the parish of East Baton Rouge. (2) "Yard waste" as used in this Subsection means leaves, grass, twigs, branches, and vines. (3) The provisions of this Subsection shall not prohibit a political subdivision from enacting ordinances or rules prohibiting or otherwise regulating the burning of yard waste. Acts 1979, No. 449, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980; Acts 1983, No. 34, §1; Acts 1983, No. 97, §1, eff. Feb. 1, 1984; Acts 1984, No. 254, §1; Acts 1984, No. 316, §1, eff. July 2, 1984; Acts 1997, No. 276, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1275, §2; Acts 2001, No. 525, §1; Acts 2006, No. 376, §2, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2025, No. 95, §1.