La. Admin. Code tit. 43 § I-1147

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

Section I-1147 - Equipment Removal Order or Cancellation of an Alternative Energy Source Lease

A. The board shall cancel any AESL issued under this Part upon proof that the AESL was obtained by fraud or misrepresentation, and after notice and opportunity to be heard has been afforded to the lessee.

B. The board may cancel an AESL issued under this Part if the board determines, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the lessee has failed to comply with any applicable provision of these rules, any order of the board, or any term, condition or stipulation contained in the AESL, and that the failure to comply continued for 30 days (or other period the board specifies) after lessee received notice from the board or its authorized representative of non-compliance.

C. The board may cancel the AESL and/or require the lessee to suspend its operations and remove all equipment at lessee's cost from the state lands or water bottoms at any time if the state determines, after the lessee has been given notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard, that:

1. continued operations under the AESL will cause serious harm or damage to biological resources, property, oil, gas or other mineral resource development activities, the environment (including, but not limited to, the human environment), impede, obstruct or adversely impact navigation or use of the waterway, have a detrimental effect on vessel safety, or if required for the dredging of the waterway;

2. the threat of harm or damage, the impediment or obstruction on navigation, or the detrimental effect on vessel safety exists within an unacceptable limit and cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable limit within a reasonable period of time;

3. the economic advantages of cancellation outweigh the economic advantages of continuing either the AESL in effect or continued operations under the AESL.

D. Failure of the alternative energy source lessee to comply with an order of the board, or its authorized representative, to remove any and/or all equipment or suspend operations by the date specified, shall subject the lessee to a civil penalty of $300 per day and shall continue to accrue on a daily basis until lessee complies with the order.

E. The civil penalty shall be paid into the Mineral and Energy Operation Fund on behalf of the board.

F. The state may remove any or all equipment whenever the lessee has failed to comply with the removal order of the board and the lessee shall reimburse the state for all necessary costs incurred.

La. Admin. Code tit. 43, § I-1147

Promulgated by Department of Natural Resources, Office of Mineral Resources, LR 38:138 (January 2012).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:124.