La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § IX-4779

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024

Section IX-4779 - What must the administrative authority do to comply with the requirements of this Subchapter?

A. Permit Application. The administrative authority must review materials submitted by the applicant in accordance with LAC 33:IX.2501.R, 4771, and 4773 at the time of the initial permit application and before each permit renewal or reissuance.

1. After receiving the initial permit application from the owner or operator of a new offshore oil and gas extraction facility, the administrative authority must determine applicable standards in LAC 33:IX.4769 or 4771 to apply to the new offshore oil and gas extraction facility. In addition, the administrative authority must review materials to determine compliance with the applicable standards.

2. For each subsequent permit renewal, the administrative authority must review the application materials and monitoring data to determine whether requirements, or additional requirements, for design and construction technologies or operational measures should be included in the permit.

3. For Track II facilities, the administrative authority must review the information collection proposal plan required by LAC 33:IX.4773.C.2.b. The facility may initiate sampling and data collection activities prior to receiving comment from the administrative authority.

B. Permitting Requirements. Section 316(b) requirements of the CWA are implemented for a facility through an LPDES permit. The administrative authority must determine, based on the information submitted by the new offshore oil and gas extraction facility in its permit application, the appropriate requirements and conditions to include in the permit based on the track (Track I or Track II), or alternative requirements in accordance with LAC 33:IX.4771, the new offshore oil and gas extraction facility has chosen to comply with. The following requirements must be included in each permit.

1. Cooling Water Intake Structure Requirements. At a minimum, the permit conditions must include the performance standards that implement the applicable requirements of LAC 33:IX.4769.B.3-6 and C.1 and 2 or LAC 33:IX.4771.

a. For a facility that chooses Track I, the administrative authority must review the design and construction technology plan required in LAC 33:IX.4773.B.3 to evaluate the suitability and feasibility of the technology proposed to minimize impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish. In the first permit issued, the administrative authority must include a condition requiring the facility to reduce impingement mortality and/ or entrainment commensurate with the implementation of the technologies in the permit. Under subsequent permits, the administrative authority must review the performance of the technologies implemented and require additional or different design and construction technologies, if needed, to minimize impingement mortality and/ or entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish. In addition, the administrative authority must consider whether more stringent conditions are reasonably necessary in accordance with LAC 33:IX.4769.D.

b. For a fixed facility that chooses Track II, the administrative authority must review the information submitted with the comprehensive demonstration study required in LAC 33:IX.4773.C.2 and evaluate the suitability of the proposed design and construction technology and/ or operational measures to determine whether they will reduce both impingement mortality and entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish to 90 percent or greater of the reduction that could be achieved through Track I. In addition, the administrative authority must review the verification monitoring plan required in LAC 33:IX.4773.C.2.c.iii and require that the proposed monitoring begin at the start of operations of the cooling water intake structure and continue for a sufficient period of time to demonstrate that the technologies and operational measures meet the requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.C.1. Under subsequent permits, the administrative authority must review the performance of the additional and/ or different technologies or measures used and determine that they reduce the level of adverse environmental impact from the cooling water intake structures to a comparable level that the facility would achieve were it to implement the requirements of LAC 33:IX.4769.B.3 and, if applicable, LAC 33:IX.4769.B.6.

c. If a facility requests alternative requirements in accordance with LAC 33:IX.4771, the administrative authority must determine if data specific to the facility meet the requirements in LAC 33:IX.4771.A and include requirements in the permit that are no less stringent than justified by the wholly-out-of-proportion cost or the significant adverse impacts on local water resources other than impingement or entrainment, or significant adverse impacts on energy markets.

2. Monitoring Conditions. At a minimum, the permit must require the permittee to perform the monitoring required in LAC 33:IX.4775. The administrative authority may modify the monitoring program when the permit is reissued and during the term of the permit based on changes in physical or biological conditions in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure. The administrative authority may require continued monitoring based on the results of monitoring done pursuant to the verification monitoring plan required in LAC 33:IX.4773.C.2.c.iii.

3. Recordkeeping and Reporting. At a minimum, the permit must require the permittee to report and keep records as required by LAC 33:IX.4777.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § IX-4779

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 33:2076 (October 2007).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq., and in particular Section 2074(B)(3) and (B)(4)