KRS 224.10-100: Powers and duties of cabinet.

In addition to any other powers and duties vested in it by law, the cabinet shall have the

authority, power, and duty to:

(1) Exercise general supervision of the administration and enforcement of this chapter,

and all rules, regulations, and orders promulgated thereunder;

(2) Prepare and develop a comprehensive plan or plans related to the environment of

the Commonwealth;

(3) Encourage industrial, commercial, residential, and community development which

provides the best usage of land areas, maximizes envir onmental benefits, and

minimizes the effects of less desirable environmental conditions;

(4) Develop and conduct a comprehensive program for the management of water, land,

and air resources to assure their protection and balance utilization consistent with

the environmental policy of the Commonwealth;

(5) Provide for the prevention, abatement, and control of all water, land, and air

pollution, including but not limited to that related to particulates, pesticides, gases,

dust, vapors, noise, radiation, odor, nutrients, heated liquid, or other contaminants;

(6) Provide for the control and regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation in a

manner to accomplish the purposes of KRS Chapter 350;

(7) Secure necessary scientific, technical, administrative, and o perational services,

including laboratory facilities, by contract or otherwise;

(8) Collect and disseminate information and conduct educational and training programs

relating to the protection of the environment;

(9) Appear and participate in proceedings b efore any federal regulatory agency

involving or affecting the purposes of the cabinet;

(10) Enter and inspect any property or premises for the purpose of investigating either

actual or suspected sources of pollution or contamination or for the purpose of

ascertaining compliance or noncompliance with this chapter, or any regulation

which may be promulgated thereunder;

(11) Conduct investigations and hold hearings and compel the attendance of witnesses

and the production of accounts, books, and records by the issuance of subpoenas;

(12) Accept, receive, and administer grants or other funds or gifts from public and

private agencies including the federal government for the purpose of carrying out

any of the functions of the cabinet. The funds received by the cabinet shall be

deposited in the State Treasury to the account of the cabinet;

(13) Request and receive the assistance of any state or municipal educational institution,

experiment station, laboratory, or other agency when it is deemed necessary or

beneficial by the cabinet in the performance of its duties;

(14) Advise, consult, and cooperate with other agencies of the Commonwealth, other

states, the federal government, and interstate and interlocal agencies, and affected

persons, groups, and industries;

(15) Formulate guides for measuring presently unidentified environmental values and

relationships so they can be given appropriate consideration along with social,

economic, and technical considerations in decision making;

(16) Monitor the environment to afford more effective and efficient control practices, to

identify changes and conditions in ecol ogical systems, and to warn of emergency

conditions;

(17) Adopt, modify, or repeal with the recommendation of the commission any standard,

regulation, or plan;

(18) Issue, after hearing, orders abating activities in violation of this chapter, or the

provisions of this chapter, or the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto and

requiring the adoption of the remedial measures the cabinet deems necessary;

(19) Issue, continue in effect, revoke, modify, suspend, or deny under such conditions as

the cabinet may prescribe and require that applications be accompanied by plans,

specifications, and other information the cabinet deems necessary for the following

permits:

(a) Permits to discharge into any waters of the Commonwealth, and for the

installation, alteratio n, expansion, or operation of any sewage system;

however, the cabinet may refuse to issue the permits to any person, or any

partnership, corporation, etc., of which the person owns more than ten percent

(10%) interest, who has improperly constructed, opera ted, or maintained a

sewage system willfully, through negligence, or because of lack of proper

knowledge or qualifications until the time that person demonstrates proper

qualifications to the cabinet and provides the cabinet with a performance

bond;

(b) Permits for the installation, alteration, or use of any machine, equipment,

device, or other article that may cause or contribute to air pollution or is

intended primarily to prevent or control the emission of air pollution; or

(c) Permits for the establishm ent or construction and the operation or

maintenance of waste disposal sites and facilities;

(20) May establish, by regulation, a fee or schedule of fees for the cost of processing

applications for permits authorized by this chapter, and for the cost of pr ocessing

applications for exemptions or partial exemptions which may include but not be

limited to the administrative costs of a hearing held as a result of the exemption

application, except that applicants for existing or proposed publicly owned facilitie s

shall be exempt from any charge, other than emissions fees assessed pursuant to

KRS 224.20 -050, and that certain nonprofit organizations shall be charged lower

fees to process water discharge permits under KRS 224.16-050(5);

(21) May require for persons discharging into the waters or onto the land of the

Commonwealth, by regulation, order, or permit, technological levels of treatment

and effluent limitations;

(22) Require, by regulation, that any person engaged in any operation regulated pursuant

to this chapter install, maintain, and use at such locations and intervals as the

cabinet may prescribe any equipment, device, or test and the methodologies and

procedures for the use of the equipment, device, or test to monitor the nature and

amount of any substa nce emitted or discharged into the ambient air or waters or

land of the Commonwealth and to provide any information concerning the

monitoring to the cabinet in accordance with the provisions of subsection (23) of

this section;

(23) Require by regulation th at any person engaged in any operation regulated pursuant

to this chapter file with the cabinet reports containing information as to location,

size, height, rate of emission or discharge, and composition of any substance

discharged or emitted into the ambi ent air or into the waters or onto the land of the

Commonwealth, and such other information the cabinet may require;

(24) Promulgate regulations, guidelines, and standards for waste planning and

management activities, approve waste management facilities, d evelop and publish a

comprehensive statewide plan for nonhazardous waste management which shall

contain but not be limited to the provisions set forth in KRS 224.43 -345, and

develop and publish a comprehensive statewide plan for hazardous waste

management which shall contain but not be limited to the following:

(a) A description of current hazardous waste management practices and costs,

including treatment and disposal, within the Commonwealth;

(b) An inventory and description of all existing facilities whe re hazardous waste

is being generated, treated, recycled, stored, or disposed of, including an

inventory of the deficiencies of present facilities in meeting current hazardous

waste management needs and a statement of the ability of present hazardous

waste management facilities to comply with state and federal laws relating to

hazardous waste;

(c) A description of the sources of hazardous waste affecting the Commonwealth

including the types and quantities of hazardous waste currently being

generated and a p rojection of such activities as can be expected to continue

for not less than twenty (20) years into the future; and

(d) An identification and continuing evaluation of those locations within the

Commonwealth which are naturally or may be engineered to be s uitable for

the establishment of hazardous waste management facilities, and an

identification of those general characteristics, values, and attributes which

would render a particular location unsuitable, consistent with the policy of

minimizing land dispos al and encouraging the treatment and recycling of the

wastes.

The statewide waste management plans shall be developed consistent with state and

federal laws relating to waste;

(25) Perform other acts necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities described in

this section;

(26) Preserve existing clean air resources while ensuring economic growth by issuing

regulations, which shall be no more stringent than federal requirements, setting

maximum allowable increases from stationary sources over baseli ne concentrations

of air contaminants to prevent significant deterioration in areas meeting the state

and national ambient air quality standards;

(27) Promulgate regulations concerning the bonding provisions of subsection (19)(a) of

this section, setting f orth bonding requirements, including but not limited to

requirements for the amount, duration, release, and forfeiture of the bonds. All

funds from the forfeiture of bonds required pursuant to this section shall be placed

in the State Treasury and credited to a special trust and agency account which shall

not lapse. The account shall be known as the "sewage treatment system

rehabilitation fund" and all moneys placed in the fund shall be used for the

elimination of nuisances and hazards created by sewage sys tems which were

improperly built, operated, or maintained, and insofar as practicable be used to

correct the problems at the same site for which the bond or other sureties were

originally provided;

(28) Promulgate administrative regulations not inconsisten t with the provisions of law

administered by the cabinet;

(29) Through the secretary or designee of the secretary, enter into, execute, and enforce

reciprocal agreements with responsible officers of other states relating to

compliance with the requirements of KRS Chapters 350, 351, and 352 and the

administrative regulations promulgated under those chapters;

(30) Monitor and enforce the compliance of a merchant electric generating entity to

which a construction certificate has been issued pursuant to KRS 278.710 with

respect to its obligations under KRS 278.710(3), (4), (5), (7), (8), (9), and (10); and

(31) Draw upon a decommissioning bond or similar security for which it is named as a

beneficiary and decommission and dismantle a merchant electric generating facility

in accordance with its approved decommissioning plan.