RS 3094 - Rules and regulations; powers of commissioner
A. The commissioner shall make reasonable rules and regulations for the following purposes:
(1) To require registration of all wells producing in excess of fifty thousand gallons per day with the commissioner showing the date drilled, the name of the driller, if available, and the current ownership together with such other information as the commissioner may reasonably require. The commissioner may, at his discretion, require registration of smaller wells.
(2) To require that all users of ground water within the state register with the commissioner showing the number, location, and capacity of wells owned or operated by them or solely for their benefit and designating the beneficial use or uses of ground water by them. The commissioner shall classify each user as a domestic, municipal, industrial, agricultural, or recreational or therapeutic user of ground water upon the basis of such information. The commissioner shall have authority in his discretion to require periodic renewals of registrations to determine alterations in uses of water within the state; such registrations may be required on an annual basis or such greater periods of time as the commissioner may deem appropriate.
(3) To establish regulations governing standards for the construction of all wells drilled after July 26, 1972, except that where authority is exercised by the Louisiana Department of Health, the commissioner shall work cooperatively with that department in the establishment of standards for construction.
(4) To require well owners to furnish, on request, information pertinent to wells, such as well logs, chemical analyses, strata samples, water levels, water uses, drawdowns, grouting, casing sizes, property descriptions, and other pertinent information reasonably required by the commissioner, provided that as to wells in existence on July 26, 1972, such information is available.
(5) To gather data with respect to existing and future wells.
(6) To require that all abandoned wells be reported and sealed in accordance with approved standards and to establish such standards.
(7) To require the well owner and/or lessee to install control devices on free flowing water wells producing in excess of five thousand gallons per day.
(8) To require the well owner and/or lessee to grout the upper portion of the annular space of existing unsealed water wells to prevent surface runoff from contaminating wells.
B. In addition to the specific regulatory matters set forth in Subsection A of this Section, the commissioner shall have authority to do, as required, the following:
(1) To make, after notice and hearing, and to enforce all reasonable rules, regulations, or orders necessary from time to time to achieve the purposes of this chapter.
(2) To collect data; to make investigations and inspections; to examine properties, papers, books, and records relevant to ground water use or conservation; to examine, survey, check, test, and gauge all water wells within the state; to hold hearings; to provide for the keeping of records and making of reports by owners of water wells and users of ground water.
(3) To require that authorized personnel be enabled to enter property at reasonable times and under reasonable conditions to inspect wells, perform tests, and examine records.
(4) To cooperate with other governmental units and agencies of this state, with governments and agencies of other states and of the United States, and with private agencies for the purpose of utilizing and conserving the ground waters of the state.
(5) To receive grants and enter into contracts for ground water resource development.
(6) To conduct studies and investigations of all problems concerning ground water resources of the state, either on his own motion or by request of a ground water conservation district, local governing body or agency, or other state agency.
(7) To require records to be kept and reports to be made of the drilling, equipping, and completion of wells into any aquifer or aquifers and the taking and use of ground water therefrom and to require accurate drillers' logs to be kept of such wells and a copy thereof and of any electric logs made of such wells to be filed with the commissioner.
C. To provide for uniform protection of public water supply users in the state, the commissioner with the concurrence and approval of the Louisiana Department of Health shall be authorized as follows:
(1) To assure that all community public water supply systems within the state are developed so as to provide for the proper utilization of the ground water aquifers and are organized to provide proper operation and maintenance of the system. It shall be the responsibility of the commissioner, with assistance from the Louisiana Department of Health, to promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, so as to ensure the safety and welfare of the general public utilizing such systems.
(2) The authority to promulgate such rules and regulations set out in Subsection (C)(1) shall only apply to public water systems affecting five hundred connections or less.
Acts 1972, No. 535, §5; Amended by Acts 1976, No. 606, §1; Acts 1985, No. 389, §1; Acts 1989, No. 483, §1; Acts 2009, No. 437, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010.