Surveillance

The Surveillance Division of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) operates statewide to safeguard Louisiana’s environment and support compliance with air, water, and hazardous waste regulations. With inspectors based in six regional offices across the state, the division is LDEQ’s largest, with more than 120 team members. As one of the agency’s primary “boots on the ground” groups, the Surveillance Division plays a key role in monitoring facilities, responding to environmental concerns, and ensuring that regulatory standards are met throughout Louisiana.

Our staff perform several key responsibilities:

• Inspecting facilities to ensure they follow permits, regulations, and any enforcement requirements

• Investigating incidents and complaints from citizens, partner agencies, and regulated facilities

• Collecting environmental samples, including air, water, and waste, to support high-quality data and regulatory decisions

Surveillance staff also work closely with other state agencies and provide compliance assistance to small and medium-sized facilities to help them understand and follow environmental rules. We respond to citizen reports, upset/release notifications, and referrals from partner organizations.

As part of our statewide work, the Division conducts ambient surface water monitoring under the Clean Water Act. This monitoring provides essential data used to set and review water quality standards.  

Inspections

Receiving a permit, license, registration, certification, or other acknowledgment from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), is an avenue through which a facility becomes part of the LDEQ-regulated universe subject to inspection by the Surveillance Division. Permitted facilities are recognized as entities that must comply with environmental standards, and their inclusion ensures that DEQ can monitor and evaluate according to their permitted activities to help ensure protection of public health and the environment.

Toward this goal and strategy, the Surveillance Division is responsible for conducting inspections across a wide range of environmental media. These different media inspections include: air quality, solid waste, hazardous waste, surface water, asbestos, lead, and waste tires.

Inspections are carried out using a variety of compliance monitoring methods. These may include self-certified records and monitoring reports submitted by facilities, and on-site evaluations. Each method provides valuable information that helps inspectors assess whether a facility is operating within the limits of its permit, and any applicable laws and/or regulations.

When the Surveillance Division conducts inspections, the inspector compares the facility’s operations to the conditions outlined in its permit to verify accuracy and adherence. They observe any pollution control equipment or systems that have been installed, review operational records, and interview facility representatives to gather statements about practices and procedures. Inspections also include on-site tours of the facility to directly assess operations and conditions. In addition, inspectors review any information or reports submitted to the Department to confirm consistency and compliance.

The frequency and scope of inspections are determined by several factors, including a facility’s compliance history, its location, the potential environmental impact of its operations, and any grant or funding commitments made by the department. A compliance monitoring strategy which accounts for these factors is completed and submitted to EPA on a yearly basis.

Facilities found to be out of compliance may be referred to other divisions, such as Enforcement, for further review and corrective action. By allocating resources strategically, the Division maximizes environmental protection and ensures that oversight remains effective across all regulated media.

Incidents

The Surveillance Division reviews non-emergency incidents and complaints that come through the agency’s Single Point of Contact (SPOC) system. Each incident/complaint is assigned to appropriate regional staff based on the described incident/complaint location and the type of environmental media involved. Emergency situations are handled separately by the Emergency Response Division.

Once an incident/complaint is assigned, inspectors review all the details and begin an on-site and/or off-site investigation, depending on the scope and impacts described. The goal of the investigation is to determine which environmental regulations apply and if there are compliance issues which need addressing.

Depending on the type of incident, and findings following the investigation, the resulting reports may be referred to other divisions such as Enforcement, Criminal Investigations or Audits, as needed.

Once finalized, a report is stored in LDEQ’s Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), where it is available to the public to support transparency and accountability.

Water Quality Assessments

Yearly Surveillance Activities 

Program Technical Leads and Contacts

You may contact the staff scientist listed below based on their respective discipline or specialty area if you have questions or concerns related to regulations, applicability, or inspection requirements. While the inspector assigned to a specific case will always have the most detailed information about that inspection, these individuals serve as the technical leads for their programs within the Surveillance Division.

They ensure each program’s requirements align with the agency’s mission as well as federal and state guidelines. Their responsibilities include annual planning, tracking activities for grant and strategic plan goals, providing training to inspectors, and supporting consistency across the state through travel and statewide oversight. They have deep knowledge of the regulations within their discipline and assist with complex cases or issues that may arise.