Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment | |
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Seal of the Secretary of the Environment | |
Agency overview | |
Formed | July 1, 1993 |
Headquarters | 3800 N Lincoln Boulevard Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Employees | 729 (FY2011) |
Annual budget | $440 million (FY2011) |
Minister responsible | Gary Sherrer, Secretary of the Environment |
Child agencies | Department of Environmental Quality Department of Wildlife Conservation Water Resources Board |
Website | |
Office of the Secretary of the Environment |
The Oklahoma Secretary of the 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 sixth and current Secretary is Gary Sherrer, who was appointed by Governor Mary Fallin on January 14, 2011.
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The Office of the Secretary of the 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, by the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Act of 1993. The Act directed the Secretary of the Environment ensure that state environmental agencies management activities are well coordinated and of high quality.
The Secretary of the Environment is responsible for overseeing the development, management and protection of the natural resources and wildlife of the State. The primary duties assigned to the Secretary by law are as follows:[1]
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 2011, the Secretary of the Environment oversees 729 full time employees and is responsible for an annual budget of $440 million.
The Secretary heads the Office of the Secretary of the Environment, which is a state agency. The Mission Statement of the Office is:
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 2010, the following are the authorized positions within the Office:
The Office of the Secretary has a very large budget for the size of its staff. For Fiscal Year 2011, with only 4 employees, the Office has an annual budget of $12 million. Only $600 thousand of that budget is actually dedicated to employee compensation and operating expenses. The remaining $11.4 million (or 95%) of the budget is used as grants for State and local agencies with environmental responsibilities.[2]
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, with 99% as grants coming from the United States federal government.
The annual salary of the Secretary of the Environment is one of the few Cabinet Secretary positions which is not set by law.[3] 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.
The Secretary of the Environment oversees the following State entities:
Seal | Agency | Function |
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Department of Environmental Quality | Enforces State clean air, clean water, and land protection laws | |
Department of Wildlife Conservation | Protects endangered animals and regulates hunting activities | |
Water Resources Board | Aids in the development of State water resources infastructure |
The Secretary represents the Governor of Oklahoma before the following entities:
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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.
# | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Governor served under |
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1 | Patty Eaton | July, 1993 | January, 1995 | David Walters |
2 | Gary Sherrer | January, 1995 | January, 1997 | Frank Keating |
3 | Brian C. Griffin | January, 1997 | January, 2003 | |
4 | Miles Tolbert | January, 2003 | August, 2008 | Brad Henry |
5 | J.D. Strong | August, 2008 | January 14, 2011 | |
6 | Gary Sherrer | January 14, 2011 | Present | Mary Fallin |
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