§ 59-1118. Hiring or contracting of licensed public water supply or wastewater operators.

A.  A municipality, sewer improvement district, water or sewer public trust, or rural water or sewer district may hire or contract for the services of one or more operators, properly licensed and certified by the Department of Environmental Quality, to operate the entity’s publicly owned public water supply or wastewater systems. The entity may contract with a small publicly owned water supply system or small publicly owned wastewater system to provide the services of the entity’s certified operator or operators to assist in the operation of the small system.

B.  A consortium of small publicly owned water supply systems or small publicly owned wastewater systems may hire or contract for the services of one or more operators, properly licensed and certified by the Department, to provide certified operator services for those small publicly owned public water supply or wastewater systems.

C.  A substate planning district may hire or contract for the services of one or more operators, properly licensed and certified by the Department, to provide certified operator services for small publicly owned public water supply or wastewater systems within the substate planning district.

D.  The Oklahoma Rural Water Association may hire or contract for the services of one or more operators, properly licensed and certified by the Department, to provide certified operator services for small publicly owned public water supply or waste water systems.

E.  The Environmental Quality Board shall adopt rules defining a small system for purposes of this section, and establishing such requirements, restrictions and conditions relating to the hiring and contracting of operators as it deems necessary to ensure proper operation of publicly owned public water supply or wastewater systems.

Added by Laws 2006, c. 154, § 2, eff. July 1, 2006.