Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2466 – Qualified immunity for response actions
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2466
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Discharge: means the placing, releasing, spilling, percolating, draining, pumping, leaking, seeping, emitting, or other escaping of pollutants into the air, waters, subsurface water, or ground as the result of a prior act or omission; or the placing of pollutants into pits, drums, barrels, or similar containers under conditions and circumstances that leaking, seeping, draining, or escaping of the pollutants can be reasonably anticipated. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2004
- Person: means any individual, municipality, public or private corporation, partnership, firm, the United States Government, and any agent or subdivision thereof or any other juridical person, which shall include, but not be limited to, trusts, joint stock companies, associations, the state of Louisiana, political subdivisions of the state of Louisiana, commissions, and interstate bodies. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2004
A. No action or omission taken by any person, including any discharge cleanup organization, to abate, contain, remove, clean up, or otherwise respond to pollution from a threatened or actual unauthorized discharge of oil or refined petroleum product, or to otherwise render care, assistance, or advice, whether such action or omission is taken voluntarily, or pursuant to or consistent with the national contingency plan or state oil spill contingency plan, or pursuant to or consistent with a response plan required under this Chapter, or pursuant to or consistent with the request of an authorized federal or state official, or pursuant to or consistent with the request of the responsible person, shall be construed as an admission of responsibility or liability for the discharge.
B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except for the responsible person, no person, including any discharge cleanup organization, that voluntarily, pursuant to or consistent with the national contingency plan or the state oil spill contingency plan, or pursuant to or consistent with any response plan required under this Chapter, or pursuant to or consistent with the request or direction of an authorized federal or state official, or pursuant to or consistent with the request of the potentially responsible person, renders care, assistance, or advice in abating, containing, removing, cleaning up, or otherwise responding to pollution from an unauthorized discharge or threat of discharge of oil or refined petroleum products is liable for removal costs, damages, or civil penalties, whether under this Chapter or other laws of this state, resulting from acts or omissions committed in rendering such care, assistance, or advice. This Section shall not apply to actions for personal injury or wrongful death or for acts or omissions of gross negligence or willful misconduct. A party responsible for the initial discharge is liable for any removal costs or damages for which another person is relieved under this Subsection.
Acts 1991, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 7, §1, eff. April 23, 1991.