In Louisiana's River Parishes, petrochemical industries and infrastructure are transforming both the economic and environmental landscape. As the state continues to attract petrochemical and manufacturing companies through incentives such as the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), those concerned about the impacts of industrial pollution to nearby communities can stay informed about potential new projects through a variety of databases. In St. James Parish, community members who have spent years staving off the proposed Formosa Plastics facility, are also keeping a weather eye out for new proposed developments.

To help with this, our Public Lab team reached out to colleague Gianna St. Julian, with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. She pointed us to a wonderful list of resources put together by the clinic. Thanks, Gianna!

Check out this extensive list of resources and websites that track cirtical health and environmental data across the country:

https://law.tulane.edu/sites/law.tulane.edu/files/Files/TELC%20ERLI%20Out%20of%20state%20Resources.pdf

She has also pointed us to some local resources, for Louisiana residents looking to track potential industrial projects:

First, the Louisiana Public Notices page, finds and sends you public notices containing and key words and locations that are entered into the search feature. Additionally, the Fastlane Public Reports database, by Louisiana Economic Development (LED), keeps track of tax exemption applications, under different tax exemption programs, such as ITEP. Last, LED News Releases provides notifications on local projects before they even apply for state permits or are announced.

Also in Louisiana, once a permit has been applied for, through Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality here Permit Applications Received, often before public notices are released. The database can provide you a list of all permits within a given data range and for a specific media (air, water or soil). Users can do an even more in-depth search through the permit applications in EDMS page.

We hope these resources are helpful to your understanding of what might projects and developments are being planned in and near your community!