Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 49 - CONSERVATION AND ECOLOGY (§§ 49-NEW-001 — 49-39-7) › Chapter 2 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (§§ 49-2-1 — 49-2-131) › IN GENERAL (§§ 49-2-1 — 49-2-33) › Section 49-2-5 - Commission on Environmental Quality

(1)
There is hereby created the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, to be composed of seven (7) persons appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four (4) years. Two (2) persons shall be appointed from each Mississippi Supreme Court District, and one (1) member shall be appointed from the state at large. The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, created by former Section
49-2-5
, is continued and reconstituted as follows: Effective January 1, 2028, each member shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of office of four (4) years, provided that four (4) members shall be appointed in 2028 to as term ending December 31, 2031, and three (3) members shall be appointed in 2030 to a term ending December 31, 2033. Appointments made at the beginning of the four-year cycle shall be made to fill any member's term which actually expires that year and any member's term which expires next until the majority of the membership of the board or commission is reached. Appointments made at the beginning of the third year of the four-year cycle shall be made for the remainder of the membership positions irrespective of the time of their prior appointment. Any question regarding the order of appointments shall be determined by the Secretary of State in accordance with the specific statute. All appointment procedures, vacancy provisions, interim appointment provisions and removal provisions specifically provided for in Section
7-1-35
, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be fully applicable to appointments to the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality.
(2)
The commission shall elect from its membership a chairman who shall preside over meetings and a vice chairman who shall preside in the absence of the chairman or when the chairman shall be excused.
(3)
The commission shall adopt rules and regulations governing times and places for meetings, and governing the manner of conducting its business. Each member of the commission shall take the oath prescribed by Section 268 of the Constitution and shall enter into bond in the amount of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00) to be approved by the Secretary of State, conditioned according to law and payable to the State of Mississippi before assuming the duties of office.
(4)
The members of the commission shall receive no annual salary, but shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by law for each day devoted to the discharge of official duties, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties, including mileage as authorized by law.
The commission shall be composed of persons with extensive knowledge of or practical experience in at least one (1) of the matters of jurisdiction of the commission.
(5)
The commission is authorized and empowered to use and expend any funds received by it from any source for the purposes of this chapter. Such funds shall be expended in accordance with the statutes governing the expenditure of state funds.
(6)
At least a majority of the members of the commission shall represent the public interest and shall not derive any significant portion of their income from persons subject to permits under the federal Clean Air Act or enforcement order under the federal Clean Air Act. In the event of any potential conflict of interest by a member of the commission, such member shall disclose the potential conflict to the other members of the commission and shall recuse himself or herself from participating in or voting on any matter related to such conflict of interest.
Laws, 1978, ch. 484, § 3; Laws, 1980, ch 560, § 22; Laws, 1989, ch. 544, § 130, eff. 7/1/1989.
Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 497, SB 2799,§ 7, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by Laws, 2016, ch. 341, HB 116, 1, eff. 7/1/2016.