2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 2. Agriculture › §2-2A-7. Inspection of and access to permitted and unpermitted facilities - Issuance of discharge permit prohibited in certain situations - Documents open to public - Trade secrets protected.

A. Any holder of a permit or applicant for a permit shall be deemed to have given consent to any authorized officer, employee, or agent of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry to:
1. Enter and inspect the facility in accordance with the provisions of the Oklahoma Agriculture Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act;
2. Investigate complaints;
3. Have access at any reasonable time for the purposes of reviewing and copying any records required to be maintained;
4. Inspect any monitoring equipment, methods, disposal systems, or other facilities or equipment as may be required;
5. Have access for the purpose of inspecting and sampling any effluent streams or any discharge of pollutants to waters of the state or for inspection and sampling of any sludge source, storage, beneficial use, reuse, or disposal site; and
6. Obtain copies of records, plans, reports, or other information required by the Department to be submitted upon request and subject to and made available for inspection at reasonable times to any authorized representative of the Department. Any authorized representative of the Department may examine any records or memoranda pertaining to discharges, treatment, or other limitations set by permit, order, or duly promulgated rules of the Board.
B. For unpermitted facilities, authorized employees or representatives, upon presentation of a credential and, if necessary, a proper warrant shall have:
1. A right of entry to, upon, or through any private or public premises upon which an effluent or sludge source is or may be located or in which any records are required to be maintained;
2. A right of entry for the purpose of investigating complaints;
3. Access, at any reasonable time, for the purposes of reviewing and copying any records required to be maintained;
4. Authority to inspect any monitoring equipment, methods, disposal systems, or other facilities or equipment as may be required; and
5. Access for the purpose of inspecting and sampling any effluent streams or any discharge of pollutants to waters of the state or for inspection and sampling of any sludge source, storage, beneficial use, reuse, or disposal site.
C. The Director shall not issue a discharge permit if the permit:
1. Would authorize the discharge of a radiological, chemical, or biological warfare agent, or high-level radioactive waste;
2. Would result, in the judgment of the United States Secretary of the Army acting through the Chief of Engineers, in the substantial impairment of anchorage and navigation of any waters of the United States as those waters are defined in the federal Clean Water Act;
3. Is objected to in writing by the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or designee, pursuant to any right to object which is granted to the Administrator under Section 402(d) of the federal Clean Water Act; or
4. Would authorize a discharge from a point source which is in conflict with a plan approved under Section 208(b) of the federal Clean Water Act.
D. 1. Any records, reports, or information obtained pursuant to this section shall be available to the public, except that upon submission of sufficient evidence showing that records, reports, or information, or particular parts thereof, other than effluent data, if made public, would divulge methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets of that person, the record, report, or information, or particular portion, shall be considered confidential in accordance with the purposes of the federal Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
2. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Department or an authorized representative of the Department including, but not limited to, any authorized contractor, from disclosing records, reports, or information to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of the State of Oklahoma or the United States concerned with carrying out provisions of state or federal law under their respective jurisdictions or within their respective authorities.
3. Any records, reports, or information required to be submitted for permitting, compliance, or review that would not be considered confidential by the Environmental Protection Agency shall not be kept confidential pursuant to this subsection.
E. 1. The Board shall promulgate standard precautions for the prevention of the transmission of communicable diseases to humans and animals to be used when inspecting animal feeding operations.
2. Except for emergency situations or when enforcement of a permit requires the use of the standard precautions, Department employees shall observe the health standards and sanitary requirements of the facility.
Added by Laws 2005, c. 292, § 8, eff. July 1, 2005.