Emergency Services Unit (ESU)

The Louisiana State Police (LSP), Emergency Services Unit (ESU), is the primary agency in the state of Louisiana with both the regulatory and statutory authority for hazardous material and explosives. Each unit conducts enforcement activities which are supported by either administrative or criminal provisions within each set of regulations. Technicians assigned to ESU respond to, mitigate, and often remediate hazardous material and explosive incidents throughout the state of Louisiana on a 24-hour basis, 365 days a year. The job of an ESU Technician is to ensure the citizens of Louisiana are not exposed to any undue risk of hazardous materials or explosives through proactive enforcement and by strictly enforcing and investigating infractions in the hazardous material and explosives laws.

The Hazardous Materials Hotline, 1-877-925-6595, is staffed by Right-to-Know personnel and is the central repository for chemical spills or hazardous material emergency notifications. Transporters, manufacturers, storage facilities, and/or persons handling regulated hazardous materials must contact the LSP Hotline immediately to report an incident.

Hazardous Materials 

Contact information

For regulatory questions or concerns, please email: TESS.ESU@dps.la.gov

Send mail correspondence to the address listed above and include: ATTN: Hazardous Materials

Telephone: 225-925-4893 Option 0

HazMat Hotline

877-925-6595 or 225-925-6595

The Hazmat Hotline is to be used to report hazardous materials incidents within the state of Louisiana.

Hazardous Materials

Fixed Site Facility

Transportation

Frequently Asked Questions

Hazardous Materials Training Program

The LSP Hazardous Materials Training Program offers courses for first responders in relation to Hazardous Materials incidents. These courses also include counter-terrorism curriculum. Courses either meet or exceed NFPA® 470: Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Standard for Responders, NFPA 1072/472, and OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120(q), where applicable. Training is available at no cost for local, state, and federal responders assigned to the State of Louisiana through funding provided by PHMSA’s Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) Grant.
 
Click here to find a current listing of available courses and additional details on the Hazardous Materials Training Program.
 
Contact us about additional training questions at LSP_HazMatTraining@la.gov 

Explosives Control

In 1970, the Legislature passed Louisiana’s first laws governing explosives. Consequently, the State Police Explosive Control Unit was formed in 1971. Under the newly written laws, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of State Police was now tasked with regulating, both criminally and civilly, the explosives industry throughout the state of Louisiana. The Louisiana State Police was now the only state police agency in the country with regulatory authority over the explosives industry. Shortly thereafter, several states followed the path paved by the Louisiana State Police.

Contact information

For regulatory questions or concerns, email: TESS.ESU@dps.la.gov

Send mail correspondence to the address listed above and include: ATTN: Explosives Control

Telephone: 225-925-4893 Option 3

Rules and Regulations

Explosive License Application

Application Process

Downloadable Forms

Training

Handling Bomb Threats

Frequently Asked Questions

Right-To-Know (RTK), 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.

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” data base. Tier II is a comprehensive information system containing specific data regarding both the presence and location of hazardous materials in Louisiana.

Contact information

For regulatory questions or concerns, please email: TESS.ESU@dps.la.gov

Send mail correspondence to the address listed above and include: ATTN: Right-To-Know

Telephone: 225-925-4893 Option 0

Rules and Regulations

Tier II Inventory

For Tier II questions or concerns, please email: rtk.tier2@dps.la.gov

Useful Documents

Useful Links

Frequently Asked Questions

Public Information Requests

To request information regarding Hazardous Materials Incidents, Hazardous Materials Violations, Explosives Violations, or Tier II filings, please send your request to: LSPESRTKRecordsRequest@la.gov. Please include as much information regarding the request as you can, e.g. Incident Number, Date, Location, Violation Number, Company Name.