A company or individual, including out-of-state companies or individuals, performing drilling, including soil borings, cone penetrometer investigations, geo-probe investigations, public or domestic water well drilling and installation, heat pumps with closed loop or open loop installations, monitoring well installations, piezometer installations, dewatering well installations, environmental well installations, environmental well pump and treat installations, or any other holes in the ground, lake bottoms, pond bottoms, river bottoms, Federal lands within the State, Indian/Native American lands within the State, military land and reservations within the State, Louisiana owned land and road rights-off-way, Parish or City owned lands or rights-of-way, or offshore state territory waters excluding oil, gas, and disposal wells, foundation pile or pier installations, fence post holes, power/telephone poles within the State of Louisiana must be licensed by the Water Resources Section of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. For a license, contact LA DOTD, 225-274-4172 or 225-274-4121. Water supply wells used for drilling a gas or oil well must be made by a Louisiana licensed water well contractor. Oil, gas, brine, and waste disposal wells may have to be licensed by the Department of Natural Resources. That telephone number is 225-342-4500. Water wells larger than a minimum diameter may have to be permitted by the Department of Natural Resources. For that information call LDNR at 225-342-5528. Some Parishes or Cities may require a permit prior to drilling a water well. Check with the Parish or City government prior to drilling the well. Holes or boreholes used to install instrumentation such as vibrating wire piezometers or stress cells, must be drill by a Louisiana licensed driller. All environmental boreholes or holes, regardless of depth, must be drilled by a Louisiana licensed driller. Test pits dug to make density tests or to obtain hand cut block soil samples do not require a Louisiana water well contractor. However, sampling within such an excavation with a rotary drill for auger sampling, push tube sampling, or split barrel sampling may require that such be performed by a licensed Louisiana water well contractor; check with LA DOTD. The construction of such a sampling pit may require that the work be done by a Louisiana licensed contractor; check with the Louisiana contractorÕs licensing board; 225-765-2301. All pit construction must be performed within the OSHA rules and requirements. The use of nuclear or radio active gauges will have to be licensed by State and/or Federal agencies. The use of nuclear or radioactive borehole logging devices will have to be licensed by the appropriate State and/or Federal agencies. Workover maintenance of a water wells when chemicals or materials are injected into the water well may require a permit from the Department of Natural Resources, Injection Well Group. The telephone numbers for all Louisiana agencies and offices can be obtained by calling 225-342-6600. Federal telephone numbers and information can be obtained by calling 800-688-9889. When drilling near overhead utility lines such as electric, fiber optic, telephone, or cable television, check with the local utility or line company regarding their requirements or the State law requirements. Also check with Louisiana One Call, 1-800-272-3020, because some overhead lines have associated buried static grounding lines. Depending on the height of the drill rig derrick or mast and the location of the drilling, it may be necessary to check with the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) regarding their height limitations and requirements for height and requirements daytime and night time lighting. When drilling within 1,500 feet of the inside toe of a river levee the driller is required to obtain permission from the local Levee Board before starting the actual hole drilling. This may take 30 to 45 days. When drilling on or in navigable rivers or lakes, the U. S. Coast Guard may require a permit. Check with their local office. All firms or individuals drilling in Louisiana must abide by the rules and regulations promulgated by the DOTD Water Resources Section. Firms or individuals performing environmental borings must abide by the rules and regulations set forth in "Water Well Rules, Regulations, and Standards, State of Louisiana, November 1985, "Construction of Geotechnical Boreholes and Ground Water Monitoring Systems, 1993", and the other water well drilling rules. A copy may be obtained from LA DOTD. Out-of-state partnerships, companies, or corporations (C-Corporations, S-Corporations, LLC-Corporations, etc.) must be registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State before performing any work in Louisiana. Improper registration or no registration with the Louisiana Secretary of State may make the companyÕs workerÕs compensation insurance or liability insurance invalid. The Louisiana Secretary of State telephone number is 225-925-4704. Also, out of state firms may have to be registered with the Department of Revenue; that telephone number is 225-219-7318. Out of state firms or individuals performing drilling or engineering work in Louisiana may have to pay State, City, or Parish excise tax on income or revenue earned in Louisiana. Out of state drillers may have to have a Parish and/or City business license to drill in a Parish or City. Check with the local government where the drilling is to be performed. Any Louisiana corporation performing work in another state must be registered with that stateÕs Secretary of State, and probably has to be a licensed driller for that state. Out-of-state corporations can be registered through a registration agent. An example of a nationwide registration agent is the CT Corporation whose Houston telephone number is 713-658-9486; other registration agents are available. An individual performing engineering work or surveying work in Louisiana must be a Registered Professional Engineer or Registered Land Surveyor in Louisiana. Companies, corporations, or partnerships performing engineering in Louisiana must be registered as engineering firms in Louisiana. Individual registration or company registration and information can be obtained through Louisiana State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, 225-925-6291. At this time, Louisiana does not register Professional Geologists. Louisiana vehicles traveling out-of-state and out-of-state vehicles traveling into the state may have to have a special type of vehicle or fuel tax registration. Check with the Louisiana State Police and/or the Department of Revenue. In-state and out-of-state vehicle drivers must have a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) and follow all CDL rules. Check with the Louisiana Motor Transportation Association, Inc. regarding these registrations, rules, and regulations at 225-928-5682. Louisiana drilling firms and out of state drilling firms performing a Public project for a City, Parish, or State of Louisiana of $50,000 volume or a project that may expand to $50,000 may have to have a Louisiana general building contractorÕs license. Information on Louisiana contractorÕs licenses can be obtained from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, 225-765-2301. Louisiana state law requires that the driller call Louisiana One Call (Dottie) well in advance (at least 48 hours, preferably 72 hours) before drilling on private or public property for layout and location of buried public utility lines and gas pipelines. Their telephone number in Louisiana is 1-800-272-3020. The Louisiana One Call System does not maintain a database for all gas, petroleum, or water distribution pipelines. It is the drillerÕs responsibility to obtain such pipeline information in the vicinity of the proposed boring or water well. Local gas pipeline and water distribution pipeline information may be available from local City or Parish government agencies. The driller is responsible for following all applicable Federal, State and Local rules, ordinances, and laws including wetlands and coastal land rules and regulations. If the driller has a question regarding wetlands or coastal lands, he should contact the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the local U. S. Army Corps of Engineers office, or all such offices. For information of Louisiana rules and laws the driller may want to contact a Louisiana licensed attorney. It is advisable that the driller or his office staff keep detailed records and notes of the contacts and telephone calls with Local, State, and/or Federal Agencies. This record should be on 8 _ by 11 or 8 _ by 14 paper. This is for subsequent defense of claims and lawsuits regarding the drillerÕs work. Remember, some people think Murphy was an optimist. This document is prepared by the Louisiana Ground Water Association (LGWA). It is intended to be complete however LGWA assumes no responsibility for the implicit or explicit completeness of the document or it information.