A. Monies held in the Tank Trust Account established hereunder shall be disbursed by the secretary in the following manner:

            (1) Payments shall be made in reasonable amounts to motor fuel underground storage tank owners for reimbursement of payment to approved response action contractors for response actions taken when authorized by the secretary or his designee only after the amounts required by La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195.9 and 2195.10 have been paid by the underground motor fuels storage tank owner or those authorized to act for the owner. The secretary may substitute a lien with the same ranking as that authorized by La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195(F)(2) for the amount required by La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195.9 and 2195.10, but such lien shall not be substituted on behalf of an owner or operator who continues to operate the system. An underground motor fuel storage tank owner who is an eligible participant and a response action contractor will not be reimbursed for response actions, excluding emergency response actions performed during the first seventy-two hours following a release, performed at his own site. Underground motor fuel storage tank owners will not be reimbursed for response actions, excluding emergency response actions performed during the first seventy-two hours following a release, performed by a response action contractor who is known to have performed actions which contributed to or resulted in the release.

            (2) The owner or the owner’s authorized agent and response action contractor shall file a sworn application with the department indicating fair and reasonable value of the cost of site assessment and remediation, subject to those regulations and limitations as set by the department. Proof of payment of the financial responsibility amounts required by La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195.9 and 2195.10, or a certified copy of the lien authorized in this Section, shall be provided with the initial application for reimbursement.

            (3)(a) Except in cases of emergency, no disbursement from the Tank Trust Account may be made by the secretary until such time that the secretary obtains verification that the owner applicant is an eligible participant in compliance with the law.

            (b) No disbursements from the Tank Trust Account may be made by the secretary when the application for reimbursement is filed with the department more than two years after the date that the response action work is performed.

            (c) Initial assessments shall be initiated within two years from the receipt of a request for assessment made by the secretary to be eligible for disbursement from the Tank Trust Account.

            (d) When the department’s action results in a reimbursement application not being submitted within two years of the date the work was performed, the applicant will have ninety days from the date the issue is resolved to submit the reimbursement application.

            B.(1) Payments shall be made to third parties who bring suit against the secretary in his official capacity as representative of the Tank Trust Account and the owner of an underground motor fuel storage tank, who is an eligible participant as stated in La. Rev. Stat. 30:2194(B)(3), and such third party obtains a final judgment for a third-party claim which is enforceable in this state.

            (2) The attorney general of the state of Louisiana is hereby responsible to appear in said suit for and in behalf of the secretary as representative of the Tank Trust Account. The secretary, as representative of the Tank Trust Account, is a necessary party in any suit that is brought by any third party which would allow that third party to collect from this trust, and must be made a party to the initial proceedings. Payment shall be made to the third-party claimant if and only if the judgment is against the secretary and an owner who was an eligible participant on the date the incident occurred which gave rise to the claim.

            (3) The costs of defending these suits by the attorney general or those assistants employed by the secretary, or appointed by the attorney general to assist, shall be recovered from the Tank Trust Account. In the event the Tank Trust Account is insufficient to make payments at the time the claim is filed, such claims shall be paid in the order of filing at such time as monies are paid into the Tank Trust Account. Neither the amount of money in this trust, the method of collecting the Tank Trust Account, nor any of the particulars involved in setting up this trust shall be admissible as evidence in any trial where suit is brought when the judgment rendered could affect the trust.

            (4) If the attorney general declines to appear in a suit for and on behalf of the secretary as representative of the trust, or does not respond to the secretary’s request for representation within sixty days of such request and agree to appear on behalf of the secretary, an attorney from the department may, with the concurrence of the attorney general, appear in said suit for and on behalf of the secretary as representative of the trust.

            C.(1) For any month during which the collection of fees assessed pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195.3 is suspended, the treasurer shall transfer an amount equal to twenty percent of the average monthly fee amount collected according to the schedule specified in La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195.3(A)(1) from the trust into the Environmental Trust Dedicated Fund Account for use as provided by La. Rev. Stat. 30:2015.

            (2) If the secretary determines that the funds deposited on a monthly basis into the Environmental Trust Account pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 30:2195(B) are insufficient relative to the legislatively approved fiscal appropriation for the department during a given year, the secretary may order the treasurer to transfer from the Tank Trust Account to the Environmental Trust Dedicated Fund Account only that amount necessary to reach the authorized ceiling.

            Acts 1988, No. 767, §2, eff. July 15, 1988; Acts 1989, No. 513, §1; Acts 1990, No. 1014, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Acts 1995, No. 336, §1, eff. June 16, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 1160, §1; Acts 1997, No. 27, §1; Acts 1999, No. 303, §1, eff. June 14, 1999; Acts 1999, No. 602, §1, eff. June 30, 1999; Acts 2004, No. 692, §1, eff. July 6, 2004; Acts 2006, No. 447, §1; Acts 2016, No. 521, §1; Acts 2018, No. 612, §9, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2019, No. 404, §1, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2021, No. 114, §18, eff. July 1, 2022.