{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-27a-27a-2-3-101","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 27A-2-3-101","heading":"Creation - Powers and duties - Disclosure of","body":"interests - Employee classification - Programs - Departmental\n\noffices and divisions - Annual report - Environmental Quality Report\n\n- Environmental services contracts.\n\nA. There is hereby created the Department of Environmental\n\nQuality.\n\nB. Within its jurisdictional areas of environmental\n\nresponsibility, the Department of Environmental Quality, through its\n\nduly designated employees or representatives, shall have the power\n\nand duty to:\n\n1. Perform such duties as required by law; and\n\n2. Be the official agency of the State of Oklahoma, as\n\ndesignated by law, to cooperate with federal agencies for point\n\nsource pollution, solid waste, hazardous materials, pollution,\n\nSuperfund, water quality, hazardous waste, radioactive waste, air\n\nquality, drinking water supplies, wastewater treatment and any other\n\nprogram authorized by law or executive order.\n\nC. Any employee of the Department in a technical, supervisory\n\nor administrative position relating to the review, issuance or\n\nenforcement of permits pursuant to this Code who is an owner,\n\nstockholder, employee or officer of, or who receives compensation\n\nfrom, any corporation, partnership, or other business or entity\n\nwhich is subject to regulation by the Department of Environmental\n\nQuality shall disclose such interest to the Executive Director.\n\nSuch disclosure shall be submitted for Board review and shall be\n\nmade a part of the Board minutes available to the public. This\n\nsubsection shall not apply to financial interests occurring by\n\nreason of an employee's participation in the Oklahoma State\n\nEmployees Deferred Compensation Plan or publicly traded mutual\n\nfunds.\n\nD. The Executive Director, Deputy Director, and all other\n\npositions and employees of the Department at the Division Director\n\nlevel or higher shall be in the unclassified service.\n\nE. The following programs are hereby established within the\n\nDepartment of Environmental Quality:\n\n1. An air quality program which shall be responsible for air\n\nquality;\n\n2. Water programs which shall be responsible for water quality,\n\nincluding, but not limited to point source and nonpoint source\n\npollution within the jurisdiction of the Department, public and\n\nprivate water supplies, public and private wastewater treatment,\n\nwater protection and discharges to waters of the state;\n\n3. Land protection programs which shall be responsible for\n\nhazardous waste, solid waste, radiation, and municipal, industrial,\n\ncommercial and other waste within its jurisdictional areas of\n\nenvironmental responsibility pursuant to Section 1-3-101 of this\n\ntitle; and\n\n4. Special projects and services programs which shall be\n\nresponsible for duties related to planning, interagency\n\ncoordination, technical assistance programs, laboratory services and\n\nlaboratory certification, recycling, education and dissemination of\n\ninformation.\n\nF. Within the Department there are hereby created:\n\n1. The complaints program which shall be responsible for intake\n\nprocessing, investigation, mediation and conciliation of inquiries\n\nand complaints received by the Department and which shall provide\n\nfor the expedient resolution of complaints within the jurisdiction\n\nof the Department; and\n\n2. The customer assistance program which shall be responsible\n\nfor advising and providing to licensees, permittees and those\n\npersons representing businesses or those persons associated with and\n\nrepresenting local political subdivisions desiring a license or\n\npermit, the necessary forms and the information necessary to comply\n\nwith the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Code. The customer\n\nassistance program shall coordinate with other programs of the\n\nDepartment to assist businesses and municipalities in complying with\n\nstate statutes and rules governing environmental areas.\n\nThe customer assistance program shall also be responsible for\n\nadvising and providing assistance to persons desiring information\nnecessary to comply\n\nwith the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Code. The customer\n\nassistance program shall coordinate with other programs of the\n\nDepartment to assist businesses and municipalities in complying with\n\nstate statutes and rules governing environmental areas.\n\nThe customer assistance program shall also be responsible for\n\nadvising and providing assistance to persons desiring information\n\nconcerning the Department's rules, laws, procedures, licenses or\n\npermits, and forms used to comply with the Oklahoma Environmental\n\nQuality Code.\n\nG. The Department shall be responsible for holding\n\nadministrative hearings as defined in Section 2-1-102 of this title\n\nand shall provide support services related to them, including, but\n\nnot limited to, giving required notices, maintaining the docket,\n\nscheduling hearings, and maintaining legal records.\n\nH. 1. The Department shall prepare and submit an annual report\n\nassessing the status of the Department's programs to the Board, the\n\nGovernor, the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate, and the\n\nSpeaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives by January 1 of\n\neach year. The annual status report shall include: the number of\n\nenvironmental inspections made within the various regulatory areas\n\nunder the Department's jurisdiction; the number of permit\n\napplications submitted within the various regulatory areas under the\n\nDepartment's jurisdiction; the number of permits issued within the\n\nvarious regulatory areas under the Department's jurisdiction; the\n\nnumber and type of complaints filed with the Department; the number\n\nof resolved and unresolved Department complaints; a list of any\n\npermits and complaints which failed to be either completed or\n\nresolved within the Department's established time frames and an\n\nexplanation of why the Department was unable to meet said time\n\nframes; the number and kinds of services provided corporations,\n\nbusinesses, cities, towns, schools, citizen groups and individuals\n\nby the customer assistance programs; a summary of the Department's\n\nenvironmental education efforts; the number and type of\n\nadministrative hearings held and their outcomes; a detailed\n\ndescription of any promulgated and pending emergency or permanent\n\nrules requested by the Department and the current status of pending\n\nrules within the rulemaking process; the number of notices of\n\nviolations issued by the Department within the various regulatory\n\nareas under its jurisdiction; the amount of penalties collected by\n\nthe Department within the various regulatory areas under its\n\njurisdiction; and any other information which the Department\n\nbelieves is pertinent.\n\n2. Beginning January 1, 1995, and on or before January 1 of\n\nevery year thereafter, the Department shall prepare an Oklahoma\n\nEnvironmental Quality Report which outlines the Department's annual\n\nneeds for providing environmental services within its jurisdictional\n\nareas. The report shall reflect any new federal mandates and any\n\nstate statutory or constitutional changes recommended by the\n\nDepartment within its jurisdictional areas. The Oklahoma\n\nEnvironmental Quality Report shall be reviewed, amended, and\n\napproved by the Board. The Department shall transmit an approved\n\ncopy of the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Report to the Governor,\n\nPresident Pro Tempore of the State Senate, and Speaker of the House\n\nof Representatives.\n\n3. The Executive Director shall establish such divisions and\n\nsuch other programs and offices as the Executive Director may\n\ndetermine necessary to implement and administer programs and\n\nfunctions within the jurisdiction of the Department pursuant to the\n\nOklahoma Environmental Quality Code.\n\nI. 1. The Department may contract with other governmental\n\nentities to provide environmental services. Such contracts may\nices as the Executive Director may\n\ndetermine necessary to implement and administer programs and\n\nfunctions within the jurisdiction of the Department pursuant to the\n\nOklahoma Environmental Quality Code.\n\nI. 1. The Department may contract with other governmental\n\nentities to provide environmental services. Such contracts may\n\ninclude duties related to providing information to the public\n\nregarding state environmental services, resources, permitting\n\nrequirements and procedures based upon the ability, education and\n\ntraining of state environmental agency employees.\n\n2. The Department, in conjunction with the state environmental\n\nagencies, may develop a program for the purpose of training\n\ngovernment employees to provide any needed environmental services;\n\nprovided, that the investigation of complaints regarding, or\n\ninspections of, permitted sites or facilities shall not be performed\n\nby employees of other agencies, unless otherwise authorized by law.","path":["OK Code","Title 27A"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os27A.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"169318eaf16bb202ffaf577bf03cf2f9ddd7e7290667544050a3784b131a67fa","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-27a-27a-2-2-201","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-27a-27a-2-3-102"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}