Enforcement Actions

The Enforcement Division of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) issues the department's enforcement actions. LDEQ says the Division reviews inspection reports, issues penalties, maintains compliance databases, and provides expertise in negotiating, litigating and settling cases. Its four sections are Air Enforcement, Waste Enforcement, Water Enforcement, and Self-Audit & Settlement.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name enforcement lists among its standard record sources. An enforcement record at a property is still worth reading, and the first job is to tell which kind of action it is. LDEQ's Enforcement Actions page lists action codes, among them:

The list also gives an amended form of several of these (AAO, ACO, ACONOPP, ANOPP, ANOV, APA, AXP). Five details shape the reading.

• Where a case starts. For waste, LDEQ says enforcement may begin when an inspection finds violations, and may also come from agency file reviews, or from reported incidents or facility releases that point to a possible breach of the waste rules. Its Waste/Multimedia Enforcement Section takes referrals that may involve violations of the hazardous waste, solid waste (waste tires included), underground storage tank or radiation protection regulations.
• Investigation reports are public once final. LDEQ's Surveillance Division inspects facilities and investigates the non-emergency incidents and complaints that come in through the Single Point of Contact. LDEQ says that once finalized, an investigation report is stored in its Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), where it is available to the public. Ask for the report behind an action, not only the action.
• Some penalties are expedited. LDEQ says it started the Expedited Penalty (XP) program in March 2004 to address minor to moderate violations.
• Some violations are disclosed by the owner. LDEQ's voluntary environmental self-audit regulations were promulgated in December 2023 and amended in January 2026. LDEQ says an owner or operator gives notice of the intent to conduct an audit on a Notice of Audit form, and must submit a Disclosure of Violation, if applicable, no later than 30 calendar days after the end of the audit period. LDEQ's pages say LAC 33:I.7011 grants confidentiality for a specified period, that other regulations allow or deny confidentiality for certain information, and that LDEQ will post final audit decisions on its Final Audit Determinations page.
• Where waste is buried cannot be kept confidential. LDEQ's page lists, under LAC 33:I.503.E, information that is prohibited from being classified as confidential, among it the location and identification of any buried waste, effluent and discharge data to surface water and groundwater, and air emission data.

Where to look a site up

• The Enforcement Actions page links monthly reports in PDF and Excel. On October 16, 2026 it listed October 2025 through September 2026. LDEQ says the reports are current up to the previous month, and that information on the page completed or posted before April 2026 is considered archived. Previously issued actions are in the EDMS. The report files were not opened for this handbook.
• The Enforcement page links recently issued settlement agreements for 2025 and 2026, and says earlier ones are in the EDMS.
• The Enforcement Division gives deqenforcement@la.gov and 225-219-5337. Audit questions other than payment go to _DEQ_ENFSelfAudit@la.gov.

Getting the file

LDEQ's routes to a file are its Electronic Document Management System, an online public records request form, and visits to its Public Records Center or a regional office. They are described on the Public Records Requests page.

Sources

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 16, 2026, no modified date shown:

• Enforcement
• Enforcement Actions
• Waste Enforcement
• Surveillance
• Environmental Audit Program
• Environmental Audit Exclusions & Confidentiality
• Information & Records, read October 8, 2026