Environmental Enforcement
PH: 256-241-1942
FAX 256-231-1747
MON-FRI 8:00am-4:30PM
Enforcement of solid waste, and local public nuisance laws. Initial reports on reported and suspected major environmental violations, which are then passed onto the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and/or the United States Environmental Protection agency.
FAQ
Q. What types of environmental complaints are handled by the environmental enforcement section of the county enforcement office?
A. The environmental enforcement officer handles all reported complaints within the unincorporated areas of the county dealing with public nuisances. Relating to Calhoun County; to authorize any city in the county and the county commission to declare noxious or dangerous weeds growing upon the streets, roads, or sidewalks, or upon private property within the city or county, or any accumulation of trash, rubbish, junk, or debris, or any unsightly or dangerous walls, or any abandoned or unsafe construction of any kind of nature, or motor vehicles or machinery not in operating condition, or any debris of a burned building, or any abandoned or unused swimming pool, or any abandoned wells or cisterns, to be a public nuisance and creating a lien upon the property fronting upon the streets, roads, or sidewalks or upon the nuisance exists for the cost of the abatement, to exempt property accessed for advalorem tax purposes as agricultural or forest property . He also enforces state solid waste laws, and scrap tire laws.
Q. What type of enforcement powers does the Environmental Enforcement officer have?
A. The Environmental Enforcement Officer has the power under law to cite all violations of the states solid waste act. Whereas a violator can be cited to appear in district court and may be fined up to $200.00 plus court costs for each separate offense. He is officially appointed by the Calhoun County Commission to do so. He is also appointed to enforce scrap tire violations.
Q. What type of formal training does the Environmental Enforcement Officer have?
A. The Environmental Enforcement Officer receives training through an organization titled S.E.E.N. The Southern Environmental Enforcement Network is a regional alliance of regulatory, law enforcement, and prosecutorial agencies from thirteen Southern states and territories. The Network is dedicated to the effective enforcement of environmental laws with an emphasis on criminal enforcement, and to the development of the environmental enforcement professional. The Network provides environmental enforcement professionals with training, networking and coordination, information and resource sharing, and joint problem solving activities. Members include environmental regulatory agencies, attorneys general offices, local Prosecutor organizations and law enforcement agencies. Federal participants include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service.