An oil spill contingency fee is imposed on owners of crude oil received by a refinery, and the refinery operator must collect and remit it.
§2485. Oil spill contingency fee A. There is hereby imposed a fee of one-quarter of one cent per barrel on every person owning crude oil received by a refinery for storage or processing. The person charged with the fee shall be the last owner of the crude oil prior to its transfer to the refinery or storage facility. This fee shall be in addition to all taxes or other fees levied on crude oil and the monies collected shall be placed in the Oil Spill Contingency Fund as provided in R.S. 30:2483. B. The operator of the refinery shall collect the fee from the owner of the crude oil and remit the fee to the secretary. The fee shall be imposed only once on the same crude oil. The fee shall be paid quarterly by the last day of the month following the calendar quarter in which liability for the fee is incurred. For the expenses of collecting this fee, the operator of the refinery is authorized to withhold one and one-half percent of the fees due during each quarter provided that the amount due was not delinquent at the time of payment. C. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, the fee shall be levied at the rate of one-half cent per barrel if the coordinator certifies to the secretary of the Department of Revenue a written finding that the balance in the fund is less than five million dollars and that an unauthorized discharge of oil in excess of one hundred thousand gallons has occurred within the previous twelve months as certified by the coordinator. In addition, the fee shall be levied at the rate of one-half cent per barrel if the coordinator certifies in writing to the secretary of the Department of Revenue that the balance in the fund is less than five million dollars due to expenditures from the fund under the authority of R.S. 30:2484(A)(1) or (2) or (3) or (4) or (7) so long as the expenditures under the authority of R.S. 30:2484(A)(1) and (7) are for costs and contracts exclusive of administrative costs of the office of the coordinator. D. In the event of a certification to the secretary under Subsection C of this Section, the secretary shall collect the fee at the rate of one-half cent per barrel until the balance in the fund reaches seven million dollars. The state treasurer shall certify to the secretary the date on which the balance in the fund equals seven million dollars. Upon such certification to the secretary, the fee shall revert to the standard fee delineated in R.S. 30:2485(A). E. The fee levied by this Part shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 18 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. The coordinator in conjunction with the secretary shall adopt rules for the collection and administration of the fee provided for in this Section. Acts 1991, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 7, §1, eff. April 23, 1991; Acts 2013, No. 394, §1, eff. July 1, 2014. NOTE: Section 3 of Act No. 394 of the 2013 R.S. provides "Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the fee levied by the provisions of R.S. 30:2485 shall be levied at the rate of one-half cent per barrel until December 31, 2015." eff. 7/1/14