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Department of Public Safety

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission

LOUISIANA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
TITLE 55. PUBLIC SAFETY

Subchapter A. New Dealers

§ 107. Requirements

Before any permit or registration can be issued from the Office of the Director all applicants must have complied with or agree to comply with the applicable requirements as follows:

1. Must deposit filing fee of $100 for Class I and IV; $50 for Class VI-X and $25 for all other classes and registrations. This fee must accompany application.

2. Formal application for a permit or registration must be submitted to the office of the Director.

3. Must have on file in the office of the director, proof of insurance, issued by a Louisiana licensed agent, in the minimum sum of $1,000,000, in the classes of insurance as required by the commission. This proof of insurance can be a copy of the policy with an endorsement that the insurance company will give at least 10 days notice to the commission before cancellation, or on a commission proprietary certificate of insurance, showing kinds and amount in force, with certificate bearing the clause that in the event the insurance company intends to cancel, the insurance company will notify the director of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission 10 days prior to the date of cancellation. or a binder of insurance coverage, within date, will be acceptable as proof of insurance until the policy or proprietary certificate of insurance can be issued. The commission will provide the proprietary certificate of insurance form on its public web site for downloading or will provide copies of the proprietary certificate of insurance form via facsimile or via U. S. mail upon request.

a. In lieu of such liability insurance coverage the applicant may post with the commission bonds or other securities issued by the United States of America or the State of Louisiana, or certificates of deposit or similar instruments issued by a lending institution regulated by an agency of this state or of the federal government, in the minimum sum of $1,000,000, which bonds or securities shall be held in trust by the commission for the benefit of any person, firm or corporation to which such legal liability may accrue

b. Nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed as reducing the insurance requirements imposed by the laws or rules and regulations of the federal government or the state of Louisiana upon persons, firms or corporations engaged in the liquefied petroleum gas business.

4.a. Where applicable, storage tank and location must be approved. Storage tanks may not be located inside corporate limits without written permission of the governing body.
b. All sketches or drawings of proposed bottle filling plants and/or liquid withdrawal systems must be submitted to the office of the director and approved before system is put into operation.

5.a. Where applicable, applicant must provide adequate transport and delivery trucks satisfactory to the commission. Each transport and/or delivery truck used in Louisiana shall be registered in Louisiana and shall be inspected annually by the commission or other qualified agency acceptable to the commission, however any transport and/or delivery truck registered and not being used in Louisiana must either have the inspection required of those used in Louisiana or apply for a waiver of the inspection, in writing, prior to its inspection due by date. Transports and/or delivery trucks granted a waiver of inspection must be inspected prior to its use in Louisiana. Each transport and/or delivery truck registered in Louisiana shall have an annual registration fee of $50 paid and a valid registration decal affixed to the transport or delivery truck.
b. All sketches of proposed installations, as required in other sections of these regulations, shall be submitted to the Office of the Director, showing all details of the proposed installation governed by these regulations. Sketches or drawings must be submitted to the Office of the Director and approved before installation can begin. The commission reserves the right to make a final inspection and witness a pressure test by an inspector of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission.
c. Each location of Class 1, Class 6 and Class 8 dealers, which fill DOT specification cylinders of 100 lbs. or less, liquefied petroleum gas capacity, that are in commerce or transportation, shall provide a suitable weighting device (scales). The Commission shall tag, inspect, and check for accuracy the weighing device (scales) annually. A weighing device (scales) that have not been tagged, inspected and checked for accuracy shall not be used to determine the quantity of liquefied petroleum gas in cylinders.

6. Applicant must have paid permit fee in the amount of $75, except for a Class VII-E, which shall be $100, and R-1, R-2 registrations, which shall be $37.50 and Class VI-X shall be in the amount of $75 for the first location, plus $50 for each 2-11 locations, plus $25 for each 12- infinity locations. For all succeeding years the permit fee shall be .1350 of 1 percent of gross annual sales of liquefied petroleum gases with a minimum of $75, except in the case of Class VI-X which the minimum permit fee shall be $75 for the first location, plus $50 for each 2-11 locations, plus $25 for each 12- infinity locations, or .1350 of 1 percent of annual gross sales of liquefied petroleum gases of all locations whichever is greater. For Classes not selling liquefied petroleum gases in succeeding years the permit fee shall be $75, except registrations shall be $37.50 per year.
a. Each Class I and Class IV dealer shall prepare and submit reports to the commission of each three month period within their annual permit fee calculation period, by the end of the month following each three month period, in a form acceptable to the commission, the previous three month’s purchases and sales. An additional five calendar days shall be granted for mail delays before a violation is issued.
b. The reports of Class IV dealers shall contain the purchases and sales by total dollars and by company name. The reports of Class I dealers shall contain the purchases by total dollars and by company name and sales by total dollars only.
c. Any information so furnished shall be considered and held confidential and privileged by the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission, its director and/or his employees.

7. Persons in charge of operations must furnish proof satisfactory to the commission and the director of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission, that they have had experience in and are familiar with and will abide by all safety precautions necessary in the conducting of the business for which they are granted a permit.

8. All service and installation personnel, fuel transfer personnel, carburetion mechanics and tank truck drivers must have a card of competency from the Office of the Director. All permit holders, except Class VI-X permit holders must have at least one card of competency issued to their permit. A card of competency will be issued to an applicant upon receipt of a $20 examination fee and successfully completing the competency test, providing the applicant holds some form of identification acceptable to the commission. The commission may accept as its own a reciprocal state's examination which contains substantially equivalent requirements. This must be evidence by a letter from the issuing authority or a copy of a valid card issued by the reciprocal state. All applicable fees must be paid prior to issuing the card.

a. All certificates of competency must be renewed annually by permit holder. There will be a charge of $10 per card. After expiration, there will be a penalty of $3 per card. There will be a charge of $10 for replacing a lost card; a change of employer; or change of company name. A card with improper employer or company name shall not be valid.

b. All employees who are qualified by this commission and have been issued certificates of competency, shall have their certificates of competency on their person while on duty. Should an employee lose his card, dealer is to notify this office within 10 days for the issuance of a new card. If an employee terminates his employment with the dealer for whom the card is issued, the card must be picked up by the dealer and returned to this office immediately.

c. The following shall be mandatory training requirements in order to maintain a certificate of competency in Louisiana.
i. New Hires--
(a). Certified Employee Training Program (CETP) shall be the basis of all new hire training, which is not grandfathered.
(b). In addition to the regular Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission competency test which is required prior to beginning work unsupervised, all certificates of competency holders of Class 1 permit holders with certificates of competency with the following names, delivery truck driver, installation and service, and delivery truck driver/limited service must pass the CETP Basic Test within one (1) year of their hire date. Up to two (2) years provisional certificates of competency may be issued by the commission. Other Commission certificates of competency, namely serviceman recreational vehicles, transport driver, motor fuel and carburetion installation, welding and metal working industry, manager exam, cylinder delivery truck driver, cylinder re-qualification, and all combined certificates containing the immediate before named certificates of competency are exempt from this provision.
(c). Training may be given by the individual companies or may be given by an outside firm and individual companies may use any method they choose to train their employees on the CETP Basic Program. This may include, but is not limited to, e-learning, CDs, manuals, classroom instruction or any combination thereof.
(d). The CETP Basis Test must be proctored by a licensed proctor.
(e). Tests will be available not less than two times each year in each commission inspector’s area in a centralized location.
(f). All commission inspectors shall be licensed proctors with no costs being charged for their proctoring of tests.
(g). Proof of a passing grade (certification) must be sent to the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission by the employer before the second renewal period of the employee’s certificate of competency. Failure to do so will require that the individual’s certificate of competency be revoked.
(h). Individuals who have held a certificate of competency with the Commission five (5) years or longer are exempt from the CETP Basic new hire provisions, however, they must meet the continuing education training provisions.
ii. Continuing Education--
(a). Individuals with a commission certificate of competency in the following test names; transfer and cylinder filling operator, delivery truck driver, installation and service, welding and metal working industry, cylinder delivery truck driver, delivery truck driver/ limited service, and all combined certificates containing any of the immediate before named certificates of competency shall have a minimum of two (2) hours of approved continuing education every three (3) years in order to maintain their certificates of competency.
(b). This training shall include training that is most tailored for the particular functions the employee does on a normal and routine basis. This may include CETP modular training classes, defensive driving classes, equipment certification classes, pipe sizing classes, leak check classes and other similar training pre-approved and assigned credit time by the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission.
(c). All training approved by the Commission must be in objective format such as written, video with audio, or audio only. Each training class will be assigned credit time value for meeting time requirements of this section.
(d) This training may be done in-house by the dealer, by out-side sources, or by commission inspectors.
(e). A Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission inspector will be responsible for administering continuing education training tests in his area. These tests may be administered at centralized group locations or at dealer locations within the inspector’s area. The inspector shall determine passing either through oral exam or written exam on the pre-approved subject matter.
iii. Effective Time of Provisions of §107.A.8.c--
(a). Shall be upon effective date of enactment of this section.

9. Must have necessary experience in liquefied petroleum gas business or have employed a recognized operator of such experience and competency. The commission reserves the right to demand that such knowledge and competency be proved by a written examination.

10. Where applicable must provide adequate switch track or tank loading and unloading facilities. All auxiliary equipment such as pumps, hose, electrical switches, etc., shall be, where possible, Underwriters Laboratory approved for liquefied petroleum gases. If equipment is not so approved, drawings and descriptions shall be submitted to the office of the director of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission for his approval before installation.

11. Applicants for change of name must deposit a filing fee of $25 with a formal application for a name change. The office of the director will administratively grant the name change after all commission requirements are met. The commission will ratify the name change at the next subsequent after which a minimum of 20 days have elapsed since the administrative granting of the name change. A representative of the new firm or corporation will be required to be present when the application is ratified by the commission, except in the cases of Class VI-X, VII-E, and R-1 and R-2 registrations, when appearance is waived. All certificates of competency must be changed to new name, except Class VI-X which do not require certificates of competency.

12. Any permit holder who does not actively engage in business for which permit was granted, for a period of six consecutive calendar months, may have his permit revoked by the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission.

13. The commission shall grant Class I Liquefied Petroleum Gas Permits to nonresident applicants only after the commission has reached a reciprocal agreement with the Liquefied Petroleum Gas regulating authority of the state in which the applicant resides.

14. All Class I, Class VI, Class VI-X, and Class VIII permit holders are required to accept, for proper disposal or requalification, all 4 lb. through 40 lb. liquefied petroleum gas cylinders from consumers, when offered, which are not suitable for continued service in their present condition. Class I permit holders, who supply liquefied petroleum gas to Class VI, Class VI-X, and Class VIII permit holders are required to accept and properly dispose of or requalify, all 4 lb. through 40 lb. liquefied petroleum gas capacity cylinders when offered by their Class VI, Class VI-X, or Class VIII permit holders for disposal or requalification. Those cylinders offered for disposal or requalification become the property of the permit holders accepting the cylinder. It is the responsibility of the Class I permit holders to properly dispose of the cylinders which are not or can not be requalified.

15. All classes of permit holders who fill cylinders on their premises for the public shall have a "Reject and Do Not Fill" poster or sign approved by the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission at each location.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 40:1846.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Adopted by the Department of Public Safety, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission, November 1972, amended December 1974, LR 1:315 (July 1975), LR 4:86 (March 1978), LR 7:633 (December 1981), amended by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission, LR 11:557 (May 1985), LR 15:854 (October 1989), LR 16:1063 (December 1990), LR 20:1400 (December 1994), LR 24:461 (March 1998), LR 24: 2311 (December 1998), LR 25:1262 (July 1999), LR 25:2410 (December 1999), LR 26:1487 (July 2000), LR 27:2256 (December 2001), LR 28:2553 (December 2002), LR 29:2509 (November 2003), LR 31:2567 (October 2005), LR 33:1140 (June 2007) effective July 1, 2007.

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