Increases the maximum balance of the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Fund (EG NO IMPACT See Note)

House Bill 417 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:2205(A)(1) to increase the maximum allowable balance of the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Fund from six million dollars to eight million dollars. The statute funds the cleanup of active and abandoned hazardous waste sites through revenues derived from the hazardous waste tax, judgments and settlements recovered from potentially responsible parties, and assessed civil and criminal penalties. The bill introduces an automatic annual adjustment mechanism whereby beginning January 1, 2027, the state treasurer must increase the maximum balance by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers as reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the previous calendar year. This inflation adjustment continues each January thereafter without further legislative action required.

The practical effect of this legislation impacts the Department of Environmental Quality and the state treasurer's office in managing hazardous waste site remediation activities. By raising the fund ceiling from six million to eight million dollars, the state retains greater resources available for investigation, testing, containment, quarantining, control, and cleanup of inactive and abandoned hazardous waste sites, as well as for operating expenses of these activities and matching funds for federal grants. Previously, any funds accumulated beyond six million dollars were required to be deposited into the Environmental Trust Dedicated Fund Account; the higher cap allows those funds to remain in the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Fund for its specific remediation purposes. The annual CPI-U adjustment mechanism ensures that the fund's maximum balance maintains purchasing power over time without requiring periodic legislative amendments.

This amendment operates within the existing framework governing hazardous waste remediation established in Subtitle III of Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. The Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Fund receives its revenues from the hazardous waste tax created under Chapter 7-A of Subtitle II of Title 47 and from recoveries obtained under the substantive hazardous waste provisions. The statute preserves all existing restrictions and requirements regarding fund deposits and uses, including the directive to deposit excess amounts above the maximum into the Environmental Trust Dedicated Fund Account under R.S. 30:2015, and maintains the fund's connection to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund for initial allocation of debt obligations. The effective date of July 1, 2026, allows the increased cap to take effect during the fiscal year prior to the first annual CPI-U adjustment scheduled for January 1, 2027.