Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is a Cabinet-level agency within the government of the U.S. state of Tennessee, headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation, who is currently James H. "Jim" Fyke.
The Department of Conservation was first created in 1937 by the State Government Reorganization Act of 1937. All areas used for state parks, monuments, and recreation were brought under a Division of Parks within the Department later that year. For a short while in the late 1950s and early 1960s the Department existed as the Department of Conservation and Commerce, but it was soon split, with the Department of Conservation regaining its name. The modern Department of Environment and Conservation was created in 1991, with programs once in the Department of Health and Environment shifted to the new department.
The Department is legally responsible for the protection of Tennessee's air, water, and soil quality. As of 2006, the Department has at least fourteen divisions: the Division of Air Pollution Control, the Division of Archaeology, the Division of Geology, the Division of Ground Water Protection, the Division of Internal Audit, the Division of Natural Heritage, the Division of Radiological Health, the Division of Remediation, the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management, the Division of Underground Storage Tanks, the Division of Water Pollution Control, the Division of Water Supply, the Recreational Services Division, and the Department of Energy Oversight Division. The Department also has oversight of Tennessee's state parks and the Tennessee Historical Commission. According to Tennessee State Library and Archives governor papers, the Department once had a Hotel & Restaurant Division, which today exists in the Department of Tourist Development.
