A. The Environmental Emergency Response Training Program is hereby created for the purpose of providing or securing training designed to instruct emergency response personnel to quickly, efficiently, and effectively respond to and address environmental problems and emergencies occurring within the area of their jurisdiction and to assist in addressing, when necessary, environmental emergencies occurring regionally.

            B.(1) The chief of each eligible agency including any municipality or parish may apply to the department for allocation of funds from the Environmental Trust Dedicated Fund Account to provide or secure the training authorized by this Section.

            (2) In order to encourage training programs to further the purposes of the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act, as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 30:2011(D)(8), the department may make allocations available only for those training programs which meet certain basic guidelines for emergency response training established by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the Department of Energy and Natural Resources in conjunction with the Peace Officers Standard Training (POST). At a minimum, the guidelines shall require that training provide instruction in emergency response situations peculiar or applicable to Louisiana.

            (3) The guidelines required by this Subsection shall be adopted and promulgated by rule and regulation by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections on or before November 15, 1983.

            Acts 1983, No. 361, §1, eff. July 2, 1983; Acts 1989, No. 392, §1, eff. June 30, 1989; Acts 1999, No. 303, §1, eff. June 14, 1999; Acts 2018, No. 612, §9, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2019, No. 404, §1, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2023, No. 150, §5, eff. Jan. 10, 2024.