Environmental Rules in Louisiana (2026)

Louisiana implements the federal NPDES stormwater program through the Department of Environmental Quality under La…

Shreveport's stormwater quality ordinance bans any discharge to the city storm drainage system, Cross Lake or its…

Ascension Parish's stormwater management ordinance bans illegal discharges into the MS4 and requires construction sites…

Any digging, filling, or construction in or near a Jefferson Parish drainage canal or ditch needs a permit from the…

Lake Charles bans dumping anything but stormwater into its storm drains and watercourses under the Stormwater Quality…

Terrebonne Parish Code § 22-353 bans discharging anything but stormwater into the parish's storm drain system (MS4)…

Bossier Parish's MS4 stormwater ordinance bars discharging anything but stormwater into the parish's storm drain…

Caddo Parish bans any non-stormwater discharge into its storm drainage system across unincorporated areas, with the…

Baton Rouge City-Parish Code Sec. 2:362 bars anyone from dumping pollutants into the municipal storm sewer system…

Lafayette City-Parish regulates stormwater discharges to its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) under Chapter…

Lafayette City-Parish bans any non-stormwater discharge into its storm sewer system and requires a $30 Land Disturbance…

New Orleans' Stormwater Code, Building Code §§ 121.1–121.16, blocks any building, grading or land-development permit…

Ouachita Parish regulates storm drainage across the unincorporated parish under Code Chapter 21, Article II, outside…

Unincorporated Rapides Parish bans dumping anything but storm water into its MS4 storm sewer system under Sec. 24-6…

St. Tammany Parish bans illicit discharges into its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) and drainage…

Tangipahoa Parish's development code puts drainage planning on the developer, requiring every project to meet the…

Shreveport requires an erosion and sedimentation control permit from the Department of Engineering and Environmental…

Terrebonne Parish Code § 22-354 requires erosion and sediment control measures on every land-disturbing site in the…

In unincorporated Ascension Parish, any development must have an erosion/sedimentation control (ESC) plan prepared by…

Construction and industrial sites in unincorporated Bossier Parish must comply with their Louisiana LPDES stormwater…

Caddo Parish requires every construction site in the unincorporated parish to stabilize exposed soil within 14 days of…

Baton Rouge/EBRP Code Sec. 2:363(e) puts any construction project that disturbs one acre or more of land…

Jefferson Parish requires erosion and sediment controls on every development its stormwater rules cover, not just a…

Anyone disturbing one acre or more of land in Lafayette City-Parish for a building or land-disturbance permit must…

Construction sites disturbing one acre or more in Lafayette Parish, city and unincorporated areas alike, must file a…

Lake Charles Code Sec. 21-234 requires developers and property owners to control erosion and sedimentation on…

City Code § 146-582 bars terracing, grading or placing fill on a lot in any way that alters the area's natural drainage…

Every site development project in unincorporated Ouachita Parish must carry a stormwater pollution prevention plan…

Anyone clearing, grading or excavating an acre or more in unincorporated Rapides Parish, or building on a smaller…

St. Tammany Parish requires every construction site in the unincorporated parish, from single-family lots to…

Tangipahoa Parish requires a state-approved stormwater pollution prevention plan, or SWPPP, on any development…

The State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978 (La. R.S. 49:214.21 et seq.) requires Coastal Use Permits…

Shreveport sits on the Red River in northwest Louisiana, far outside the state Coastal Zone, so no Coastal Use Permit…

Caddo Parish requires a development permit before any construction, fill, grading, or other development in an area of…

Lafayette Consolidated Government regulates construction in special flood hazard areas under chapter 26, article XI…

New Orleans adopts FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps by ordinance to define its Special Flood Hazard Areas, and Chapter…

Any construction or land-disturbing development inside an area of special flood hazard in unincorporated Ouachita…

St. Tammany Parish requires a Floodplain Development Permit for any construction, alteration or land-use change in a…

Any development in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated Ascension Parish needs a development permit under…

In unincorporated Bossier Parish, any permanent construction inside a special flood hazard area needs a floodplain…

Before filling, grading, or building anything in a special or local flood hazard area of unincorporated Jefferson…

New homes and additions in Lafayette's mapped flood hazard areas need a floodplain development permit and must sit at…

Development in Lake Charles's mapped floodways and flood hazard areas A, AE, and VE must offset any fill it brings in…

Chapter 10½ of the parish code applies to every area of special flood hazard in unincorporated Rapides Parish and sets…

Before any construction or development begins in a Shreveport area of special flood hazard, the owner must get a…

In unincorporated Tangipahoa Parish, no structure or land in a mapped flood hazard area may be built, altered, or have…

Terrebonne Parish Code Chapter 9 governs every area of special flood hazard across the parish and the former City of…

Rapides Parish Code § 19½-1(B)(2) requires Police Jury approval before a houseboat can moor at Cotile Lake, Indian…

Terrebonne Parish doesn't have a separate boat-dock ordinance; instead, section 12-6 requires a Coastal Impact…

Building a boat dock, pier or similar structure in Orleans Parish's coastal zone requires a coastal use permit under…

Property owners along Cross Lake need a city permit before building a pier, boathouse or dock within the lake's…

Boat houses, piers and docks accessory to a home in unincorporated St. Tammany Parish answer to Sec. 600-6.2(1). A boat…

Ascension Parish requires new buildings in the highest-risk flood zones to sit a full foot above the base flood…

New or substantially improved residential structures in a Bossier Parish special flood hazard area must have their…

New or substantially improved residential structures in a Caddo Parish special flood hazard area must have their lowest…

In FEMA-mapped flood hazard areas of East Baton Rouge Parish, Sec. 8:905 of the Code of Ordinances requires an…

Jefferson Parish sets its own floor-height floor on top of FEMA's base flood elevation: every new residential slab must…

Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government requires new and substantially improved residential structures in special…

New homes and substantial improvements anywhere in Lafayette City-Parish's flood hazard areas must elevate the lowest…

Lake Charles sets a minimum foundation height for construction under City Code § 6-487: the finished floor must sit at…

New Orleans requires pier- or chain-wall-founded homes to set their lowest habitable floor at least 18 inches above the…

New and substantially improved buildings in an Ouachita Parish flood hazard area must have their lowest floor set at…

The Police Jury has formally adopted the FEMA base flood elevations for unincorporated Rapides Parish, Community No…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Shreveport's special flood hazard areas must have their lowest…

St. Tammany Parish requires new and substantially improved residential and nonresidential structures in special flood…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Tangipahoa Parish flood hazard areas must have their lowest…

New construction and substantial improvements to residential structures in Terrebonne Parish's special flood hazard…