§2022. Permit applications and variance requests; notification

A.(1) Any person seeking a permit, license, registration, variance, or LPDES variance shall file a written application for such with the secretary. Excluding applications relative to medical and dental devices, the secretary shall promptly send a notice of the subject matter of each application to the governing authority of the parish affected by the application and any public interest group or individual within the affected parish who has requested notice in writing and provided a mailing address. The notice of a permit, license, or registration application shall be provided within thirty days after receipt of the application. The parish governing authority shall promptly notify each municipality within said parish affected by the application.

(2) The secretary shall promptly consider such application and take such action thereon as he deems appropriate in accordance with law. However, the failure by the secretary or the parish governing authority to give the notice required by this Section shall not affect the validity of the action taken on the application.

(3) For the purposes of this Subsection, "any public interest group within the affected parish" shall mean any association having not less than twenty-five members who reside in the parish in which the relevant facility is or will be located.

B. No later than April 20, 1991, the secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing procedures for the processing and review of permit applications for new facilities and applications for substantial permit modifications, including but not limited to administrative completeness reviews, checklists of required information, and maximum processing times, and which shall specify:

(1) Procedures for administrative completeness review to determine whether an application contains the information required to substantively review the application. The administrative completeness review procedure shall not extend beyond sixty days from the date the application is submitted, except where additional time is required to correct information or deficiencies in the application.

(2) The final decision shall not extend beyond three hundred days from the date the application is submitted, except where additional time is required for the applicant to revise or supplement technical information or deficiencies in the application, or for adjudicatory or judicial proceedings under R.S. 30:2024, or for required review by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or for consideration of comments received at a public hearing in the case of an extraordinary public response, however in no case shall the extension for consideration of comments exceed forty-five days.

(3) Applications undergoing technical review shall not be subject to rule changes which occur during the technical review unless such changes are made in accordance with R.S. 49:953(B)(1) or are required by federal law or regulation to be incorporated prior to permit issuance. However, such a rule change made prior to the issuance of the permit may constitute grounds for a modification of the final permit.

(4) The deadlines established by this Section may be extended upon mutual agreement of the secretary and the applicant.

C.(1)(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the secretary shall, after notification by the department to the applicant that the application is complete, grant or deny all applications for permits, licenses, registrations, variances, or compliance schedules relating to oil and gas wells and pipelines within sixty days. The notification of completeness shall be issued within fourteen days, exclusive of holidays, by the department. If the application is not complete, the department shall notify the applicant in writing of the deficiencies which cause the application not to be complete.

(b) If the secretary does not grant the application, he shall provide written reasons for his decision to deny, and copies of the decision shall be provided to all parties.

(c) The secretary may delegate the power to grant or deny permits, licenses, registrations, variances, or compliance schedules to the appropriate assistant secretary. The authority to execute minor permit actions and to issue registrations, certifications, notices of deficiency, and notification of inclusion under a general permit may be delegated by the secretary or the appropriate assistant secretary to an authorized representative, notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 30:2050.26.

(2) If the secretary does not grant or deny the application within the time period provided for herein, the applicant may file a rule as provided for in R.S. 49:962.1; however, the provisions of this Paragraph shall not apply to permit applications submitted under the Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (LPDES) program.

D.(1) For purposes of this Subsection, the following terms shall have the meanings hereinafter ascribed to them, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Database" means the department's Tools for Environmental Management and Protection Organizations (TEMPO) database system and any similar database system used by the department to generate permits.

(b) "Substantial permit modification" means a substantial permit modification as defined in LAC 33:I.1503.

(2) If requested by the permit applicant, the department shall provide the permit applicant a written summary of specific changes to the existing permit whenever the department prepares a draft database permit for the renewal, extension, or substantial permit modification of an existing hazardous waste permit, solid waste permit, LPDES permit, or air quality permit.

(3) If requested by the permit applicant, the department shall provide the permit applicant a reasonable opportunity to review a draft hazardous waste permit, solid waste permit, LPDES permit, and air quality permit before such draft permit is publicly noticed. Where the draft permit includes one or more revisions to an existing permit, the draft permit shall clearly identify each change made by the department to the existing permit.

(4) For minor permit modifications or revisions that do not require preparation of a draft permit and public notice, if requested by the permit applicant, the department shall provide the permit applicant a reasonable opportunity to review the proposed language of the permit modification or revision prior to issuance of the final permit modification or revision. If the department proposes minor permit modifications or revisions not requested by the permit applicant, the department shall provide the permit applicant a reasonable opportunity to review the proposed language of the permit modification or revision prior to issuance of the final permit modification or revision or shall reopen the permit in accordance with applicable law.

(5) The secretary shall adopt rules, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, R.S. 49:950 et seq., to implement the requirements of this Subsection.

Acts 1990, No. 686, §1; Acts 1990, No. 996, §1; Acts 1991, No. 828, §1; Acts 1993, No. 269, §1; Acts 1995, No. 601, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1007, §1; Acts 1999, No. 303, §1, eff. June 14, 1999; Acts 2006, No. 117, §1, eff. June 2, 2006; Acts 2010, No. 986, §1, eff. July 6, 2010.