Terrebonne Parish, LA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Article XI of chapter 22 sets Terrebonne Parish's stormwater quality management and discharge control program, adopted to satisfy the parish's NPDES/LPDES municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit obligations. Section 22-353(c) prohibits any person from throwing, draining or otherwise discharging, or allowing others under their control to discharge, pollutants or waters containing pollutants into the MS4, with narrow exemptions for things like firefighting water, potable water line flushing, uncontaminated groundwater and residential car washing that are not substantial pollutant sources. Construction sites disturbing one acre or more, and industrial or commercial dischargers, must also submit a copy of their NPDES or LPDES notice of intent to the parish's Planning and Zoning Department, and operating without having filed that copy is itself an offense under subsection (d).

The Planning and Zoning Department, working with Public Works as the authorized enforcement agency, can inspect and sample regulated facilities, issue warning notices and written notices of violation, and in emergencies enter private property without prior notice to abate an immediate danger to public health or safety. A person who fails to correct a violation within 15 days of a notice can be assessed a civil penalty of up to $500 per day the violation remains unremedied, and separately faces criminal prosecution carrying a fine of up to $500 and imprisonment of up to 90 days per violation, with each day of continued violation a separate offense.

A violator can appeal a notice of violation to the parish's Appeal Authority within ten days, and the parish can recover abatement costs, including attorneys' fees, from a noncompliant property owner.