The Oklahoma Secretary of Environment is a member of the Oklahoma Governor's Cabinet. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Oklahoma Senate, to serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Secretary serves as the chief advisor to the Governor on environmental policy development and implementation. The last Secretary was Gary Sherrer, who was appointed by Governor

Mary Fallin Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was the first and s ...

on January 14, 2011. The current Secretary of the successor office, the Office of the Secretary of Energy and Environment, is Michael Teague.

History

The Office of the Secretary of Environment was established in 1993 to provide greater oversight to the environmental activities of the State government. The Office was established, along with the

Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is a department of the government of Oklahoma under the Governor of Oklahoma. It is responsible for protecting human health and for safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land. ...

, by the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Act of 1993. The Act directed the Secretary of Environment ensure that state environmental agencies management activities are well coordinated and of high quality. The offices of the Office of the Secretary of Energy and the Office of the Secretary of the Environment were merged in 2013, creating the Office of the Secretary of Energy and Environment.

Responsibilities

The Secretary of Environment is responsible for overseeing the development, management and protection of the

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

and

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

of the State. The primary duties assigned to the Secretary by law are as follows: *Any duties and powers assigned by the Governor *Recipient and administrator of Federal Clean Water Act funds *Coordinate pollution control activities to avoid duplication of effort *Act on behalf of the public as trustee for natural resources *Serve as the State's Trustee for Natural Resources As the State's official Trustee for Natural Resources, the Secretary ensures that natural resources and the services they provide that are injured or lost because of contamination are restored for the benefit of the State. As of fiscal year 2012, the Secretary of Environment oversees 981.9 full-time employees and is responsible for an annual budget of $590 million.

Office of Secretary

The Secretary heads the Office of the Secretary of Environment, which is a state agency. The Mission Statement of the Office is: :''The Environmental Mission of the State of Oklahoma, as adopted by the state's environmental agencies, is to protect and enhance Oklahoma's environment and natural resources through preservation, conservation, restoration, education and enforcement in order to maintain and improve the environmental quality and natural beauty of our state and better the standard of living for all Oklahomans.''

Staff

The staff of the Office serves as the immediate staff to the Secretary. Although well funded, the Office has a very limited staff: only four full-time employees including the Secretary. As of 2012, the following are the authorized positions within the Office: *Secretary of Environment *Director of the Office of the Secretary of Environment *Special Assistant to the Secretary *Environmental Grants Manager

Budget

The Office of the Secretary has a very large budget for the size of its staff. For Fiscal Year 2013, with only 4 employees, the Office has an annual budget of $12 million. Less than $350 thousand of that budget is actually dedicated to employee compensation and operating expenses. The remaining $11.65 million (or 95%) of the budget is used as grants for State and local agencies with environmental responsibilities. The vast majority of the funds to support the Office comes from the Environmental Protection Agency, particularly under the authority of the Clean Water Act. Only 1% of the budget comes from yearly appropriations from the

Oklahoma Legislature The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 ...

, with 99% as grants coming from the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

Salary

The annual salary of the Secretary of Environment is one of the few Cabinet Secretary positions which is not set by law. As such, it is left to the Governor to determine the Secretary's salary. Despite this, if the Secretary serves as the head of State agency, the Secretary receives the higher of the two salaries. Currently Secretary Sherrer has elected to not receive compensation while serving as secretary.

Agencies overseen

The Secretary of Environment oversees the following state entities: The Secretary represents the

Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the '' ex of ...

before the following entities: *Air Quality Council *Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission *Arkansas River Basin Interstate Committee *Bioenergy Initiative *Canadian River Commission *Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission *Compliance Advisory Panel *Environmental Finance Authority *Hazardous Waste Management Advisory Council *Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission *Laboratory Services Advisory Council *Lead Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust *Radiation Management Advisory Council *Red River Compact Commission *Solid Waster Management Advisory Council *Water Law Advisory Committee *Water Quality Management Advisory Council *Water Research Institute *Water Resources Research Coordinating Committee The Secretary also oversees the Clean Energy Independence Commission, the Encouraging Conservation in Oklahoma (ECO) Task Force and various other conservation and sustainability efforts of the State government.

List of secretaries

References

External links

Office of the Secretary of Environment website
{{authority control Environment of Oklahoma Environment, Office of the Secretary of the State environmental protection agencies of the United States *Environment *Environment