House Bill 1363

AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 49-2-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, RELATING TO THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND THE APPOINTMENT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 49-2-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, RELATING TO THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 49-2-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, RELATING TO THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 49-2-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, RELATING TO THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 49-2-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

49-2-4. (1) There is hereby created the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality whose offices shall be located in Jackson, Mississippi.

(2) The department shall be headed by an executive director who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The appointment of the executive director shall be made with the advice and consent of the Senate. The executive director may assign to the appropriate bureaus such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the department's lawful functions. The executive director shall have the following minimum qualifications:

(a) A master's degree in a field related to natural resources, and at least six (6) years' full-time experience in natural resources, including at least three (3) years of management experience; or

(b) A bachelor's degree in a field related to natural resources or administration and at least eight (8) years of full-time work in the field of natural resources, including four (4) years of management experience.

The executive director shall be the chief administrative officer of the department.

SECTION 2. Section 49-2-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

49-2-7. The Department of Environmental Quality shall be the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources with the exception of the Office of Parks and Recreation, and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources with the exception of the Office of Parks and Recreation, and wherever the term "Mississippi Department of Natural Resources" appears in any law the same shall mean the Department of Environmental Quality. The Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality may assign to the appropriate offices any powers and duties deemed appropriate to carry out the lawful duties of the department.

The department shall be composed of the following offices:

(a) Office of Geology and Energy Resources;

(b) Office of Land and Water Resources; and

Each office shall be composed of the administrative units set forth in the consolidation plan adopted by the commission, subject to changes by the executive director, with approval of the commission, as hereinafter set forth.

The department is designated as the single state department to receive and expend any federal funds being received or expended by any agency transferred to the department by Chapter 484, Laws of 1978, and to receive and expend any federal funds made available for matters within the jurisdiction of the department.

The department shall be responsible for conserving, managing, developing and protecting the natural resources of the State of Mississippi within the jurisdiction of the department, with the exception of functions of the Office of Recreation and Parks. The department shall coordinate all functions of state government related to natural resources within the jurisdiction of the department. The department shall not exercise any of its authority or powers granted under the provisions of this section in a manner which would be inconsistent with the provisions of Section 29-1-1.

SECTION 3. Section 49-2-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

49-2-9. (1) Effective July 1, 1979, the commission shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To formulate the policy of the department regarding natural resources within the jurisdiction of the department;

(b) To adopt, modify, repeal, and promulgate, after due notice and hearing, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, to make exceptions to and grant exemptions and variances from, and to enforce rules and regulations implementing or effectuating the powers and duties of the commission under any and all statutes within the commission's jurisdiction, and as the commission may deem necessary to prevent, control and abate existing or potential pollution;

(c) To apply for, receive and expend any federal or state funds or contributions, gifts, devises, bequests or funds from any other source;

(d) To commission or conduct studies designed to determine alternative methods of managing or using the natural resources of this state, in a manner to insure efficiency and maximum productivity;

(e) To enter into, and to authorize the executive director to execute with the approval of the commission, contracts, grants and cooperative agreements with any federal or state agency or subdivision thereof, or any public or private institution located inside or outside the State of Mississippi, or any person, corporation or association in connection with carrying out the provisions of this chapter; but this authority under this chapter and under any and all statutes within the commission's jurisdiction, except those statutes relating to the Bureau of Recreation and Parks, shall not include contracts, grants or cooperative agreements which do not develop data or information usable by the commission, or which provide goods, services or facilities to the commission or any of its bureaus, and shall exclude any monies for special interest groups for purposes of lobbying or otherwise promoting their special interests; and

(f) To discharge such other duties, responsibilities and powers as are necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter.

(2) The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology and Energy Resources shall be responsible for program management, procurement, development and maintenance of the Mississippi Digital Earth Model, which should include the following seven (7) core data layers of a digital land base computer model of the State of Mississippi:

(a) Geodetic control;

(b) Elevation and bathymetry;

(d) Hydrography;

(e) Transportation;

(f) Government boundaries; and

(g) Cadastral. With respect to the cadastral layer, the authority and responsibility of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology and Energy Resources shall be limited to compiling information submitted by counties.

For all seven (7) framework layers, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology and Energy Resources shall be the integrator of data from all sources and the guarantor of data completeness and consistency and shall administer the council's policies and standards for the procurement of remote sensing and geographic information system data by state and local governmental entities.

SECTION 4. Section 49-2-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

49-2-13. The executive director shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To administer the policies of the commission within the authority granted by the commission;

(b) To supervise and direct all administrative and technical activities of the department;

(c) To organize the administrative units of the department in accordance with the plan adopted by the commission and, with commission approval, alter such organizational plan and reassign responsibilities as he may deem necessary to carry out the policies of the commission;

(d) To coordinate the activities of the various offices of the department;

(e) To employ, subject to the approval of the commission, qualified professional personnel in the subject matter or fields of each office, and such other technical and clerical staff as may be required for the operation of the department;

(f) To recommend to the commission such studies and investigations as he may deem appropriate, and to carry out the approved recommendations in conjunction with the various offices;

(g) To merge and coordinate functions and duties where possible to eliminate the possibility of two (2) separate organizational entities performing the same or similar functions, including, but not limited to, functions of audit, inspection, collection, personnel, motor vehicles, accounting, data processing, payroll and any other such administrative, procedural or enforcement function;

(h) To coordinate all studies in the State of Mississippi concerned with the supply, development, use and conservation of natural resources within the jurisdiction of the department;

(i) To prepare and deliver to the Legislature and the Governor on or before January 1 of each year, and at such other times as may be required by the Legislature or Governor, a full report of the work of the department and the offices thereof, including a detailed statement of expenditures of the department and any recommendations the commission may have;

(j) To issue, modify or revoke any and all orders under authority granted by the commission which include, but are not limited to those which (i) prohibit, control or abate discharges of contaminants and wastes into the air and waters of the state; (ii) require the construction of new disposal systems or air-cleaning devices or any parts thereof, or the modification, extension or alteration of existing disposal systems or air-cleaning devices or any parts thereof, or the adoption of other remedial measures to prevent, control or abate air and water pollution or to cause the proper management of solid wastes; (iii) impose penalties pursuant to Section 17-17-29 and Section 49-17-43 which have been agreed upon with alleged violators; and (iv) require compliance with the conditions of any permit issued by the Permit Board created in Section 49-17-28 and all regulations of the commission; and

(k) With the approval of the commission, to enter into contracts, grants and cooperative agreements with any federal or state agency or subdivision thereof, or any public or private institution located inside or outside the State of Mississippi, or any person, corporation or association in connection with carrying out the provisions of this chapter, provided the agreements do not have a financial cost in excess of the amounts appropriated for such purposes by the Legislature.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.