KRS 151.125: Authority and powers of secretary.

The secretary shall exercise the following authority and powers:

(1) Administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter and all rules and regulations

and orders promulgated thereunder;

(2) Conduct or obtain investigations, research, experiments, trainin g programs and

demonstrations, and to collect and disseminate information relating to the safe

construction, operation, or maintenance of dams and reservoirs;

(3) Adopt, after giving public notice and affording an opportunity to all interested

persons to a ppear and offer evidence at a public hearing in connection therewith,

general rules and administrative regulations for flood control and water resources,

and minimum standards for floodplain management, deemed necessary to

accomplish the purposes of this c hapter. Such rules and administrative regulations,

which shall have the force and effect of law, shall be of uniform application as far

as practicable, but they may take proper account of differences in topography,

geology, soil conditions, climate, hydrol ogy, and use of the reservoir and the lands

lying in the floodplain downstream from the dam;

(4) Adopt, in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A, rules and administrative regulations

with respect to procedural aspects of hearings, the filing of reports and order s, the

issuance of inspection reports, construction permits, water withdrawal permits, and

other procedural matters;

(5) Issue orders requiring the adoption by an owner of remedial measures necessary for

the safety of life, or public or private property, o r for carrying out the provisions of

this chapter, or rules and administrative regulations issued thereunder;

(6) Examine and approve or disapprove applications for construction permits for the

construction, enlargement, repair, or alteration of a dam;

(7) Establish standards for the safe construction, enlargement, repair, alteration,

maintenance, or operation of a dam or reservoir. Such standards shall be issued in

the form of administrative regulations as described in subsection (3) of this section;

(8) Make such investigations or inspections as necessary to determine the condition of

a dam to ensure compliance with any provisions of this chapter, including the right

to enter at any time upon an area affected for such purposes and the right of ingress

and egress across intervening properties;

(9) Order the suspension or revocation, after warning, of any inspection report,

construction permit, or water withdrawal permit for failure to comply with any of

the provisions of this chapter or with any rules, administrative regulations, or orders

adopted pursuant thereto, or with any of the conditions contained in or attached to

the inspection report, construction permits, or water withdrawal permits;

(10) Order the immediate cessation of any act that is started or continued without a

construction permit or water withdrawal permit as required by this chapter; and

(11) Institute and prosecute all such court actions as may be necessary to obtain the

enforcement of any order issued by the cabinet in carrying out the provisions of this

chapter.