The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is the department of the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

responsible for administration of state and federal environmental laws and regulations. The main offices of the department are in

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...

, six regional offices are also maintained.

History

The department was established upon the passing of the Idaho Environmental Protection and Health Act.

Structure and functions

It is organized into five divisions: *Air Quality: responsible for monitoring air pollution and permits relating to same *Water Quality: sets water quality standards and monitors ground, surface, and drinking water quality *Waste Management and Remediation: responsible for all issues relating to waste disposal *Environmental Management and Information: provides technical communications services including publications *Technical Services: the research and technical enforcement division, including inspection activities The department also exercises non-regulatory oversight over the

Idaho National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nu ...

. The director of the department reports to the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Additional regulatory authority is vested in the Idaho Board of Environmental Quality, which, with the advice of the state

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, sets rules and regulations carried out by the department.

External links

Department official website

References

Environmental Quality "Environmental Quality" is a set of properties and characteristics of the environment, either generalized or local, as they impinge on human beings and other organisms. It is a measure of the condition of an environment relative to the requirements ...

State environmental protection agencies of the United States {{authority control