| Advisory opinion request regarding whether Kevin Sweeney may be employed with Providence Engineering and Environmental following his retirement from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. |
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Kevin Sweeney is currently employed as an Environmental Scientist Senior within the Assessment Division of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). He does not supervise any employees, and he reports directly to the Environmental Division Administrator. Mr. Sweeney's job duties include training new LDEQ inspectors, inspecting regulated facilities, maintaining facility data, drafting reports, and working with facilities to achieve compliance with Chemical Accident Prevention (CAP) provisions. LDEQ inspections involve meeting with the facility's employees, conducting interviews, and reviewing information and data to determine whether the facility's relevant policies and procedures, the implementation of those policies and procedures, and related processes meet CAP regulations. Most CAP inspections are conducted by a three person team, so one person may not inspect all compliance issues. If the team identifies an area of concern (AOC), an issue that potentially does not meet CAP requirements, it is referred to the Enforcement Division.
The Enforcement Division makes the official determination as to whether the AOC constitutes a violation of CAP regulations, and imposes the appropriate penalty, if any. The Enforcement Division may consult with the inspector(s) regarding a facility's proposed corrective action(s) to satisfy a compliance order. Additionally, the inspector(s), at the request of the Enforcement Division, may work with the facility to choose corrective action(s) to bring it into compliance with CAP regulations. Nevertheless, the Enforcement Division makes the final determination regarding the suitability of the facility's proposed corrective action(s).
Following his retirement, Mr. Sweeney intends to be employed with Providence Engineering and Environmental (Providence), a contractor that provides services to chemical facilities and municipalities regarding Process Safety Management (PSM) and CAP regulations. PSM is a federal OSHA rule, the core of which was adopted, with minor revisions, by the EPA and the LDEQ as the CAP regulations. His job duties would include auditing and evaluating internal practices, the regulatory effectiveness of the policies and procedures, drafting and/or revising the policies and procedures to ensure compliance with PSM and CAP regulations, conducting audits as part of PSM compliance evaluations of contract personnel that are working in regulated facilities. However, Mr. Sweeney would not be rendering any services to, for, or on behalf of the LDEQ.
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La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) provides that no former public employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such former public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he was formerly employed, or for a period of two years following termination of his public employment, render, any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed.
La. R.S. 42:1121C provides that no legal entity in which a former public servant is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public service, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such public servant at any time participated during his public service and involving the agency by which he was formerly employed or in which he formerly held office.
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Adopt the proposed opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Haley Williams |
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