This section broadly prohibits discharging certain wastes and substances into state waters, including specific logging debris, hazardous waste into underground waters, and byproduct waste gypsum into the Mississippi River, with limited exceptions.
§2076. Prohibitions A.(1) No person shall discharge or allow to be discharged into any waters of the state: (a) Any waste or any other substance of any kind that will tend to cause water pollution in violation of any rule, order, or regulation; or (b) Any substance, the discharge of which violates any term, condition, or limit imposed by a permit. (2) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to any unintentional nonpoint-source discharge resulting from or in connection with the production of raw agricultural, horticultural, or aquacultural products. (3) No person shall violate any rule or regulation adopted under this Chapter or the terms of any permit or order issued under authority of this Subtitle. (4) No person shall cause or allow to be discharged within Louisiana any trash, garbage, sewage, or sewage sludge in contravention of any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto and authorized by R.S. 30:2074(B)(7). B. No person engaged in a logging operation shall discharge or leave, or allow to be discharged and left, in any of the navigable waters of the state any trees or treetop. For the purpose of this Subsection, the term "treetop" shall be defined as that topmost portion of a tree trunk, with limbs attached, measuring in excess of three inches at the base of the treetop stem. C. No person shall discharge brine from salt domes which are located on the coastline of Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico into any waters off said coastline and extending therefrom three miles or more into the Gulf of Mexico when it becomes evident to the department that said discharge is damaging or threatens to damage the aquatic life in the waters of the state. The department may require that any brine disposal be monitored in accordance with rules and regulations. D. Any person who discharges, emits, or disposes of any substance into the waters of the state in contravention of any provision of this Chapter or of the regulations or of the terms and conditions of a permit or license issued thereunder, upon learning of the discharge, emission, or disposal, shall immediately, or in accordance with regulations adopted under this Subtitle, notify the department as to the nature and amount of the discharge and the circumstances surrounding the discharge. The secretary shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations establishing procedures for making such notification. Any failure to make this notification or any attempt to conceal or actual concealment of the discharge, emission, or disposal shall be a violation of this Chapter. Each day of failure to give the notification required herein shall constitute a separate violation and shall be in addition to any other violations of this Subtitle. E. Repealed by Acts 1990, No. 988, §2. F. No person shall discharge into any underground waters of the state any hazardous waste as defined in R.S. 30:2173(2). The provisions of this Subsection are not intended to impair the implementation or administration of those programs authorized by R.S. 30:4(C)(16), R.S. 30:4.1, R.S. 30:2071, and R.S. 30:2180(A)(6), as long as permitted injections are conducted in strict adherence to the terms and conditions of a valid permit issued thereunder or under the rules and regulations adopted thereunder. G.(1) The legislature of Louisiana hereby finds that a significant portion of the phosphate fertilizer and wet-process phosphoric acid manufacturing industry is located in the state of Louisiana, that the manufacture of wet-process phosphoric acid results in the generation of byproduct waste gypsum, and heretofore such gypsum has been disposed of by impoundment on land or by discharge into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River is a valuable natural resource that must be protected against unnecessary degradation in order to protect and preserve the public health and welfare, drinking water quality, and major sectors of the economy including tourism and seafood industries, and the environment. (2) No person shall discharge byproduct waste gypsum from the production of phosphate fertilizer or wet-process phosphoric acid into the Mississippi River. This prohibition shall not apply to authorized discharges of wastewaters or rainfall runoff containing dissolved gypsum or suspended gypsum when such discharge is in compliance with state and federal permits and the discharge is not for the primary purpose of disposing of byproduct waste gypsum. Acts 1983, No. 97, §1, eff. Feb. 1, 1984; Acts 1984, No. 190, §1; Acts 1984, No. 317, §1, eff. July 2, 1984; Acts 1984, No. 824, §1, eff. July 13, 1984; Acts 1987, No. 833, §1; Acts 1987, No. 913, §1, eff. July 20, 1987; Acts 1990, No. 988, §2; Acts 1999, No. 303, §1, eff. June 14, 1999.