Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 27A-2-6-103

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 27A-2-6-103, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 27A, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 27A,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Powers and duties of Department, Board and Executive

Official statutory text

Director.

A. The Department of Environmental Quality shall have and is

hereby authorized to exercise the power and duty to:

1. Develop comprehensive programs for the prevention, control

and abatement of new or existing pollution of the waters of this

state;

2. Encourage, participate in, or conduct studies,

investigations, research and demonstrations relating to water

pollution and causes, prevention, control and abatement thereof as

it may deem advisable and necessary in the public interest for the

discharge of its duties under Section 2-6-101 et seq. of this title;

3. Collect and disseminate information relating to water

pollution and the prevention, control and abatement thereof;

4. Require the submission of and review plans, specifications

and other data relative to disposal or treatment systems or any part

thereof in connection with the issuance of such permits as are

required by this article;

5. Enforce the provisions of this article, rules promulgated

thereunder, and permits, licenses, and certifications issued

pursuant thereto and Oklahoma Water Quality Standards;

6. Establish, implement, amend and enforce the Water Quality

Management Plan, the continuing planning process documents, and

total maximum daily loads;

7. Require the submission of reports or laboratory analyses

performed by certified laboratories or operators for purposes of

compliance monitoring and testing or other purposes for which

laboratory reports or analyses are required pursuant to this

article;

8. Coordinate the preparation of the continuing planning

process documents and total maximum daily loads with other

environmental agencies and natural resource agencies; and

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 27A. Environment and Natural Resources Page 126

9. Issue swimming and fishing advisories related to human and

animal health hazards for waters of the state, based on available

data.

B. 1. The Environmental Quality Board shall have the authority

to promulgate such rules as may be necessary to implement the

policies and duties set forth in this article including, but not

limited to, rules pertaining to services, permits, licenses and

certifications including certifications under Section 401 of the

Clean Water Act, and, pursuant to Section 2-3-402 of this title, fee

schedules for such services, permits, licenses and certifications.

2. The Board may adopt by reference standards of quality of the

waters of the state and classifications of such waters as are

lawfully established by the Department of Environmental Quality and

the United States Environmental Protection Agency as Oklahoma Water

Quality Standards, may directly adopt variances and site-specific

criteria to such water quality standards, and promulgate other rules

to protect, maintain and improve the best uses of waters in this

state in the interest of the public under such conditions as may be

necessary or appropriate for the prevention, control and abatement

of pollution.

3. The Board shall promulgate rules which describe procedures

for amending and updating the Water Quality Management Plan or which

are otherwise consistent with the Continuing Planning Process and

its components. Such rules shall:

a. be in substantial conformance with any applicable

federal requirements and may incorporate appropriate

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations by

reference, and

b. require public notice to be given of any major

amendment and of any update of the Water Quality

Management Plan and allow not less than a forty-five-

day opportunity for public comment thereon. Such

rules shall also authorize the Department, if it

determines public interest in the proposed amendment

or update is significant, to give notice of and

conduct a public meeting on the proposals in

accordance with federal requirements. The rules shall

provide that the notice, comment period, and public

meeting if any, related to an amendment or update
portunity for public comment thereon. Such

rules shall also authorize the Department, if it

determines public interest in the proposed amendment

or update is significant, to give notice of and

conduct a public meeting on the proposals in

accordance with federal requirements. The rules shall

provide that the notice, comment period, and public

meeting if any, related to an amendment or update

proposed in conjunction with the issuance,

modification or renewal of a discharge permit or

permits, may be combined with the notice, comment

period, and public meeting if any, held on the

proposed permit action or actions.

C. The Executive Director may:

1. Issue, modify, or revoke orders:

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 27A. Environment and Natural Resources Page 127

a. prohibiting or abating pollution of the waters of the

state,

b. requiring the construction of new disposal or

treatment systems or any parts thereof or the

modification, extension or alteration of existing

disposal or treatment systems or any part thereof, or

the adoption of other remedial measures to prevent,

control or abate pollution, and

c. requiring other actions such as the Executive Director

may deem necessary to enforce the provisions of this

article and rules promulgated thereunder;

2. Issue, continue in effect, revoke, amend, modify or deny,

renew, or refuse to renew under such conditions as the Department

may prescribe, permits, licenses and certifications including

certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, to prevent,

control or abate pollution of waters of the state; and

3. Exercise all incidental powers which are necessary and

proper to carry out the purposes of this article.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.