[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6632066,"mediaKeyId","2675929-fb7dd02666d9ba08e5b944f7ffa51cae","parentId",2675929,"title","DEQ outlines new grants, options after lawmakers spotlight illegal tire piles and recycling gaps","audioSeconds",2025,"startMs",6209000,"endMs",8234000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2675929-fb7dd02666d9ba08e5b944f7ffa51cae&start=6209&end=8234","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2675929-fb7dd02666d9ba08e5b944f7ffa51cae/thumbnail_6209000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6632066/Louisiana/DEQ-outlines-new-grants-options-after-lawmakers-spotlight-illegal-tire-piles-and-recycling-gaps","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6632066-9c323eb33d8fc72adfc05c9cf5555989/orig.mp4?Expires=1771199903&Signature=b5s10N9tQpd6c3yZofw7ZE4mFFVob8URmFXCjdpeanuBmuMrii5BV3ngdHW9xZ63z-czQ8PdVShVy3Psfec~1Ky9vrpro3oIALo-jHHC3xlpnXXzXJnHtaKa0S4QkDo4zFSd97RqYUAaXpeWJ5h7MIEZ5Jrym4fQkyCk2cduc~6TNq1HHNaHWACun~gmLDHuZFnzc6ejtPrtDxxRU0sJZrm1a1CmpdXVtNHGW9pMH7hsQkIQ75Vbug9DVN5Ud9yNuaZtUpM24KKMlVljPD33ud59CPnpxpwFiFAldsF-dsKpwF9nOMeTLrKxLmkBmzkVuYXAISWcHn2xxx6T62QMXA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","State of Louisiana","date","2025-03-18T00:00:00Z","article","The House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment on March 18 received an update from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality on the state's waste tire program, including a fund balance, enforcement challenges at large illegal piles and a planned parish grant to address local cleanup costs.

DEQ Secretary Aurelia Giacometo told the committee the agency has conducted statewide \"tire town halls,\" inspected large legacy piles and is preparing a grant program for parishes. \"It\u001ams seen as something that is a waste,\" Giacometo said by way of an analogy about creating value for waste streams; she urged viewing tires as a potential feedstock or fuel rather than pure waste.

Michelle Burnett of DEQ\u001fs Office of Management and Finance told the committee the waste tire trust fund balance as of fiscal 2024 is $7.6 million. Giacometo said the governor's budget included an additional $1.3 million in authority to expand work on tire issues.

The committee heard that the state currently permits four permanent waste-tire processors that accept shredded or otherwise processed tires for approved \"beneficial end uses,\" and that there are roughly 120 local collection centers operated by parishes where residents can drop a small number of tires.

Giacometo described a short-term plan to offer parish-directed grants so local governments can address piles and illegal dumping while DEQ explores longer-term market-based and technological options. \"We have 4 permanent processors,\" she said; \"we want to start on new projects.\" She told lawmakers DEQ plans to roll the parish grant program out by the summer following the hearing.

Lawmakers raised the scale and safety of specific legacy piles. Representative Rodney McCormick flagged a site in north Caddo Parish that DEQ staff estimated at roughly 200,000 tires and described by local first responders as a significant fire hazard near populated areas and a water body. DEQ staff said enforcement is difficult when site ownership is unclear and that some owners have left the state or declared bankruptcy.

On technology and markets, Giacometo said DEQ has looked at tire-derived fuel and pyrolysis, which can convert tires into energy feedstocks for industrial furnaces and cement kilns. She said pyrolysis can produce heat that \"generates even more heat than coal itself\" and that some operations report clean combustion for certain industrial uses. She and DEQ staff emphasized these technologies are not an overnight fix and would require permitting, investment and market development.

Representative Mack and others urged practical consumer-facing options and noted that creating a financial value for tires (analogous to a beverage deposit) tends to reduce litter and encourage recovery. Several members said they welcome a grant program that will help parishes cover collection and disposal costs.

No formal committee vote was taken on the item. DEQ said it will circulate details of the upcoming parish grant program, provide a list of permitted processors and collection centers, and continue investigations into large illegal piles. Committee members asked DEQ to propose statutory or regulatory changes if enforcement gaps remain.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Natural Resources Mar 18, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","At a House Natural Resources hearing, DEQ officials described a plan to roll out parish grants, reported $7.6 million in the waste tire fund and said the agency is exploring technologies such as tire-derived fuel and pyrolysis to address growing tire volumes and illegal dumping.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature LA, Louisiana","taxId",78558,"location","Louisiana","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6632072,"Louisiana lawmakers hear scientists, advocates urging review of wetland assimilation permits",6119,88000,6207000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2675929-fb7dd02666d9ba08e5b944f7ffa51cae&start=88&end=6207","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2675929-fb7dd02666d9ba08e5b944f7ffa51cae/thumbnail_88000.jpg","/articles/6632072/Louisiana/Louisiana-lawmakers-hear-scientists-advocates-urging-review-of-wetland-assimilation-permits","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6632072-a76a2f226f2578c73657745bae6e8f99/orig.mp4?Expires=1771199903&Signature=LTR5kkfBmL9RiiKFdJtxUj-eV4TG6ZpP0S5FaG84E2k2QDq2Y5dUCMOUNcc~XtCpkK6K93~HV6iNRk7WYQm3vDZi0IwfTk473BduwJPzwjQFfcBndMLeO9SqjNQlnBGVNwbSq6ljwrlcv3VA3zwAa7GjqRKwNM~e8FikUaWYXBauPN9V0-EAsaUDIYvjo-gCfidQ42z7f~gCuM2RS9KM63bY0lrbJhSV7tljwMN0-DALeFewE6rvLSyPUVo--Jw4Fh5~rNS8-6r1PpfDRrQA4H6T54gcy7IR8VnaHTfAnm4pHM3IK-eyl6xhPRy-gMK0VdjBXiAn4HYFEMh8c2-~rQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment on March 18 heard scientists, conservation groups and agency staff describe evidence that Louisiana's wastewater \"wetland assimilation\" projects have damaged receiving marsh and forested wetlands and called for a program review before new permits are issued.

The testimony came during consideration of House Study Request No. 7 of the 2024 session, which asks for information on \"wetland assimilation projects\" and how the program is working.

The issue matters because DEQ permits allow municipalities to discharge secondary- or partially treated wastewater into natural wetlands as a form of tertiary treatment. Witnesses told the committee that, at several high-loading sites including Hammond, Thibodaux and Mandeville, the receiving areas have opened to water, trees have died, and vegetation shows signs of oversaturation and accelerated decomposition.

Eugene Turner, a researcher who presented drone imagery and time-series comparisons, said the discharge has both hydrologic and chemical effects. \"It has a very high ammonia content, for example, and that's toxic,\" Turner said, and he described areas that \"turned to open water within 2 or 3 years of the assimilation material going through it.\" He also described a loss of root mass and rhizomes, which he said leaves marsh peat vulnerable to storms.

Rebecca Trish, executive director for Louisiana Wildlife Federation, urged a halt to new permits until DEQ completes a program evaluation. \"We urge that no new permits be issued until there is a review of the program,\" she said, arguing natural wetlands are not hydrologically controlled like constructed treatment wetlands and therefore cannot be engineered or \"cleaned out\" if they become saturated.

Christy Traill, executive director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy, reviewed permit records and monitoring and identified repeated exceedances at some sites. She cited Thibodaux permit data showing fecal coliform monthly averages exceeding permit limits \"79% of the time, 90% on the weekly average\" in the recent record she analyzed, and she said Louisiana's approach is looser than Florida's, which adds biological monitoring such as benthic macroinvertebrates and fish as indicators.

Representatives of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries told the committee their concern focused on changed habitat. Randy Myers, biologist administrator, said the department observed conversion of solid marsh to more open water and noted a \"direct response from waterfowl, shorebirds,\" but that the change was a degradation of the original marsh habitat. Myers said the department recommended hydrologic studies and long-term monitoring to determine whether pooling or other flow changes are implicated; he also said Wildlife and Fisheries did not test for ammonia.

Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Aurelia Giacometo said DEQ will provide additional answers but noted the agency had not been given advance notice to prepare full responses for the hearing. \"They are seen as something that is a waste,\" Giacometo said of waste streams in an analogy about creating market value for material streams; DEQ also signaled willingness to work with the committee on follow-up questions.

Kyle Balcom of the Office of Coastal Management said coastal-use permits for some of the projects date to the mid-2000s and that the office would treat any new applications differently today, and he described coastal permit conditions that can require pre- and post-project monitoring and adaptive management.

Committee members pressed for more data from DEQ and for agency follow-up. Committee members also asked about comparisons with river diversions and with engineered constructed wetlands; witnesses repeatedly emphasized that constructed wetlands are hydrologically controlled and managed, whereas the state's natural receiving wetlands are not.

No formal action or vote was taken at the hearing. Committee members requested that DEQ return with detailed monitoring data, permit compliance records and answers about how the agency enforces the permit condition that receiving wetland productivity must not decline beyond the permit limits.

The committee indicated it will seek written follow-ups from DEQ, Wildlife and Fisheries and other agencies and may hold further hearings once the agencies provide requested documentation.

","The House Natural Resources and Environment Committee heard testimony that DEQ's practice of permitting treated wastewater discharges to natural wetlands is linked to tree loss, marsh decomposition and repeated permit exceedances; witnesses urged a programwide review and tighter monitoring.","actionData","errors"]

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DEQ outlines new grants, options after lawmakers spotlight illegal tire piles and recycling gaps

Louisiana lawmakers hear scientists, advocates urging review of wetland assimilation permits