jonholzer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the Oklahoma Water Resources Board a grant of more than $11.26 million to fund clean-water projects in the state. The grant goes to the state’s Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF), which provides low-interest, flexible loans to communities to help them improve water quality and infrastructure. These…
Read MoreIn April of this year, the Office of Energy & Environment launched earthquakes.ok.gov. The website is a result of the work of the Coordinating Council on Seismic Activity. In September 2014, Governor Fallin directed Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment Michael J. Teague to lead the Coordinating Council to organize state resources and activities related…
Read MoreA number of valuable resources to monitor drought conditions in Oklahoma are available from state and federal organizations and agencies. The OWRB has served as chair of the Water Availability and Outlook Committee of the state’s Drought Management Team since 1996 and regularly publishes the Oklahoma Water Resources Bulletin, the state’s official drought monitoring publication, which…
Read MoreOKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s “Clean Power Plan,” which will require an approximately 32 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from Oklahoma power plants by 2030. “President Obama’s ‘Clean Power Plan’ represents one of the most expansive and expensive regulatory burdens ever imposed on U.S. families and…
Read MoreThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Oklahoma Office of the Secretary of Energy and Environment (OSEE) are continuing to work on analyzing the condition of wetlands in Oklahoma, as part of a national initiative. The assessment will help build capacity to monitor and analyze wetland conditions while promoting collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries. OSEE…
Read MoreOKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today applauded the Oklahoma Corporation Commission for expanding regulations regarding wastewater disposal wells (see Corporation Commission release below for more details). Governor Fallin released the following statement: “The Corporation Commission is taking active and appropriate steps to address seismic activity. Hundreds of disposal wells have already been plugged back…
Read MoreOKLAHOMA CITY — Governor Mary Fallin today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which the court struck down certain EPA-imposed regulations on power plant emissions: “As Justice Scalia noted today, the EPA regulations in question would have imposed a $10 billion a year cost…
Read MoreOKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin on Friday signed a bill reaffirming the Corporation Commission as the sole regulator of Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas industry. The bill aims to preserve a unified regulatory framework for the industry and prevent a confusing patchwork of inconsistent municipal regulations across the state. Fallin said today that Oklahoma…
Read MoreOKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) release of their final rules defining what constitute “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. “Two things are immediately clear about the EPA’s new WOTUS rules. First,…
Read MoreOKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today signed two measures aimed at reforming tax incentives and credits currently available to the Oklahoma wind energy industry. Senate Bill 498 phases out the current property tax exemption for wind facilities. SB 502 makes wind facilities ineligible for a job creation tax credit currently offered by the state.…
Read More