Louisiana

Hazardous Waste Permitting

Agency Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

The Waste Permits Division of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) reviews and approves permits for facilities that handle solid and hazardous waste. LDEQ says hazardous waste permits (RCRA) are legal documents that allow certain facilities to treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste. A facility must apply for a permit and show that it can manage hazardous waste safely.

In a Phase I ESA

The general reading of a permitted hazardous waste facility listing is on the RCRA TSD page. This handbook does not pair Louisiana's permits with a single state list, because the list the LDEQ pages read describe is of permits and major modifications issued each calendar quarter. Four details from the pages shape what a file may hold.

A permit is not permanent. LDEQ says permits must be updated or renewed, especially when a facility wants to add equipment or expand. The public has a chance to review and comment on permit decisions. Ask for the original permit and each renewal.
Modifications come in classes. A modification is the process a facility uses to add, remove or update something in its permit. LDEQ describes Class 1 changes as simple information updates and Class 3 changes as large ones, such as adding new equipment or processing units. Steps are in LAC 33:V.321, and common types are listed in LAC 33:V.322. LDEQ publishes a checklist for each class.
Closure and aftercare are funded in advance. LDEQ says permitted hazardous waste facilities must set aside money, called financial assurance, to cover the cost of closing the facility and taking care of it after it closes. Each year the facility must review and update it, and the amount is based on what it would cost a third-party company to do the work. Ask whether the file holds the financial assurance documents.
Some facilities burn hazardous waste. LDEQ says facilities that burn hazardous waste, such as incinerators, boilers and industrial furnaces, must first complete a test burn, and must use continuous emission monitoring systems. Specific information is on LDEQ's hazardous waste engineering page, which this handbook did not read.

Two other processes appear on the page. To obtain a no-alternatives determination for injecting hazardous waste underground, LDEQ says a company must have an active Class 1 hazardous waste well order issued by the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy and an effective Land Disposal Restriction exemption from EPA Region 6, and must file a petition. LDEQ issues the determination under LAC 33:V.2273. A facility can also petition to have a specific waste delisted. LDEQ says an exclusion applies only to the one facility.

Where to look a site up

The pages read give no search of permitted facilities. LDEQ's Waste Permits page says the Division releases a comprehensive list of all solid, hazardous, and waste tire permits and major modifications issued each calendar quarter, and points to a Waste Permits Issued by Calendar Quarter page, which this handbook did not read. The Waste Permits Division's customer service line is 225-219-3070. LDEQ's Electronic Document Management System holds its official records; the EDMS quick search is the search the department's home page links.

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 8, 2026, no modified date shown: