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151.125 Authority and powers of secretary.
The secretary shall exercise the following authority and powers:
(1) To administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter and all rules and
regulations and orders promulgated thereunder;
(2) To conduct or obtain investigations, research, experiments, training programs
and demonstrations, and to collect and disseminate information relating to the
safe construction, operation, or maintenance of dams and reservoirs;
(3) To adopt, after giving public notice and affording an opportunity to all interested
persons to appear and offer evidence at a public hearing in connection
therewith, general rules and regulations for flood control and water resources
which he deems necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. Such
rules and regulations, which shall have the force and effect of law, shall be of
uniform application as far as practicable, but they may take proper account of
differences in topography, geology, soil conditions, climate, hydrology, and use
of the reservoir and the lands lying in the floodplain downstream from the dam;
(4) To adopt, without notice or hearing, rules and regulations with respect to
procedural aspects of hearings, the filing of reports and orders, the issuance of
certificates of inspection, construction permits, water withdrawal permits, and
other procedural matters;
(5) To issue orders requiring the adoption by an owner of remedial measures
necessary for the safety of life, or public or private property, or for carrying out
the provisions of this chapter, or rules and regulations issued thereunder;
(6) To examine and approve or disapprove applications for construction permits
for the construction, enlargement, repair, or alteration of a dam;
(7) To establish standards for the safe construction, enlargement, repair,
alteration, maintenance, or operation of a dam or reservoir. Such standards
shall be issued in the form of regulations as described in subsection (3) of this
section;
(8) To make such investigations or inspections as necessary to determine the
condition of a dam to insure compliance with any provisions of this chapter,
including the right to enter at any time upon an area affected for such purposes
and the right of ingress and egress across intervening properties;
(9) To order the suspension or revocation, after warning, of any certificate of
inspection, construction permit, or water withdrawal permit for failure to comply
with any of the provisions of this chapter or with any rules, regulations or orders
adopted pursuant thereto, or with any of the conditions contained in or attached
to the certificate of inspection, construction permits, or water withdrawal
permits;
(10) To order the immediate cessation of any act that is started or continued without
a construction permit or water withdrawal permit as required by the provisions
of this chapter;
(11) To institute and prosecute all such court actions as may be necessary to obtain
the enforcement of any order issued by the cabinet in carrying out the
provisions of this chapter.
History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 285, sec. 2; and amended ch. 74, Art. III,
sec. 13(9).
Legislative Research Commission Note (10/29/96). Pursuant to KRS 7.136(2),
the original reference to "department" in subsection (11) of this statute has been
changed to "cabinet" to reflect reorganizations relating to the former Department
for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. See 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 74,
Art. III, sec. 13; 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 393, sec. 50(3).
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