RS 2014.1 - Permit review; prohibition
A. No permit issued under the authority of this Subtitle, including the Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, shall be reviewed for approval by any board, body, or person who receives or has received, during the previous two years, a significant portion of income directly or indirectly from the applicant. If any person receives or has received significant income from the applicant he shall recuse himself from the permit approval process for that permit.
B. As used in this Section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Applicant" does not include any department or agency of state government.
(2) "Board" or "body" includes any individual, including the secretary, who has or shares authority to approve all or portions of permits either in the first instance, as modified or reissued, or on appeal.
(3) "Income" includes retirement benefits, consulting fees, and stock dividends.
(4) "Significant portion of income" means ten percent or more of gross personal income for a calendar year, except that it means fifty percent or more of gross personal income for a calendar year if the recipient is over sixty years of age and is receiving that portion under retirement, pension, or similar arrangement.
(5) "Permit holders" does not include any department or agency of state government.
C. Income is not received directly or indirectly from applicants for a permit when it is derived from mutual fund payments or from other diversified investments for which the recipient does not know the identity of the primary source of income.
D. Any employee within the department who was convicted of a felony prior to his employment and did not disclose that conviction in his application for employment at the department is prohibited from being involved in the review or issuing of any permit, license, registration, variance, or compliance schedule authorized by this Subtitle.
E. In addition to all other terms and conditions specified in this Section, the following shall apply to all Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (LPDES) permit applications received by the department for review:
(1) Persons who approve all or any portion of LPDES permit applications shall not have received, during the two years previous to such review, a significant portion of income, directly or indirectly, from any federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or state LPDES permit holder or applicant.
(2) The recusal provided for in Subsection A of this Section is not permitted for LPDES permit applications. The approval of any portion of an LPDES permit application is prohibited by any person described in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.
Acts 1993, No. 451, §1; Acts 1995, No. 602, §1.