In October of 1986, the Federal Government enacted the “Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act” under SARA Title III. The formation of SARA Title III, a complex federal law with a simple purpose to protect lives and property by enabling all segments of the community to have access to timely detailed information about hazardous material in their community and use that information to plan for potential chemical emergencies. These efforts lead to the formation of the Department’s “Right-to-Know” Section. RTK currently maintains records in a data base known as the “Tier II”. Act 435 of the 1985 legislative session established the RTK laws whereby owners and operators are responsible for filing inventory forms for all hazardous materials manufactured, used, or stored at their facilities and for immediately reporting releases of certain hazardous materials in certain reportable quantities to the Louisiana State Police, Hazardous Materials Unit. 
 

On or before March 1 of each year, owners or operators must electronically submit the Tier 2 form to The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) of the parish in which the facility is located. Any owner or operator who violates any Louisiana reporting requirement regarding submission of the Tier Two form shall be liable to the State of Louisiana for civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.