§ 27A-2-5-107 — Air Quality Council - Powers and duties.

The powers and duties of the Council shall be as follows: 1. The Council shall recommend to the Board rules or amendments thereto for the prevention, control and prohibition of air pollution and for the establishment of health and safety tolerances for discharge of air contaminants in the state as may be consistent with the general intent and purposes of the Oklahoma Clean Air Act. The recommendations may include, but need not be limited to, rules required to implement the following: a. a comprehensive state air permitting program, b. an accidental release prevention program, c. a program for the regulation and control of toxic and hazardous air contaminants, d. a program for the regulation and control of acid deposition, e. a small business program, and f. a system of assessing and collecting fees; 2. The Council shall recommend rules of practice and procedure applicable to proceedings before the Council; 3. Before recommending any permanent rules, or any amendment or repeal thereof to the Board, the Council shall hold a public rulemaking hearing. The Council shall have full authority to conduct such hearings, and may appoint a hearing officer; 4. A rule, or any amendment thereof, recommended by the Council may differ in its terms and provisions as between particular conditions, particular sources, and particular areas of the state. In considering rules, the Council shall give due recognition to the evidence presented that the quantity or characteristic of air contaminants or the duration of their presence in the atmosphere, which may cause a need for air control in one area of the state, may not cause need for air control in another area of the state. The Council shall take into consideration, in this connection, all factors found by it to be proper and just, including but not limited to existing physical conditions, economic impact, topography, population, prevailing wind directions and velocities, and the fact that a rule and the degrees of conformance therewith which may be proper as to an essentially residential area of the state may not be proper either as to a highly developed industrial area of the state or as to a relatively unpopulated area of the state; 5. Recommendations to the Board shall be in writing and concurred upon by at least five members of the Council; 6. The Council shall have the authority and the discretion to provide a public forum for the discussion of issues it considers relevant to the air quality of the state, and to: a. pass nonbinding resolutions expressing the sense of the Council, b. make recommendations to the Department concerning the need and the desirability of conducting public meetings, workshops and seminars, and c. hold public hearings to receive public comment in fulfillment of federal requirements regarding the State Implementation Plan and make recommendations to the Department concerning the plan; and 7. The Council shall have the authority to conduct individual proceedings, to issue notices of hearings and subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence, to administer oaths, and to take testimony and receive such pertinent and relevant proof as it may deem to be necessary, proper or desirable in order that it may effectively discharge its duties and responsibilities under the Oklahoma Clean Air Act. The Council is also empowered to appoint an Administrative Law Judge to conduct individual proceedings and prepare such findings of fact, conclusions of law and proposed orders as they may require. Upon issuance of a proposed order, the Council shall request that the Executive Director issue a final order in accordance with their findings or take such action as indicated and notify the respondent thereof in writing.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1992, c. 215, § 7, emerg. eff. May 15, 1992. Amended by Laws 1993, c. 145, § 44, eff. July 1, 1993. Renumbered from § 1- 1808.1 of Title 63 by Laws 1993, c. 145, § 359, eff. July 1, 1993. Amended by Laws 1994, c. 353, § 7, eff. July 1, 1994.