(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no municipality, county, nor any group of counties, or other person, shall regulate, supervise, or provide for the regulation or supervision of any dams or reservoirs within their jurisdictions, including the construction, maintenance, operation, removal, or abandonment of dams or reservoirs, nor to limit the size of a dam or reservoir or the amount of water that may be stored in dams or reservoirs, where the exercise of such authority would conflict with the powers and authority vested in the commissioner by this chapter.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 69-11-125

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of environment and conservation, the commissioner's duly authorized representatives, and in the event of the commissioner's absence or a vacancy in the office of commissioner, the deputy commissioner. See Tennessee Code 69-11-102
  • Dam: means any artificial barrier, together with appurtenant works, that does or may impound or divert water, and that either:
    (A) Is or will be twenty feet (20') or more in height from the natural bed of the stream or watercourse at the downstream toe of the barrier, as determined by the commissioner. See Tennessee Code 69-11-102
  • Person: means any individual, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust corporation, company, county, municipal or quasi-municipal corporation, public utility, utility or other district, the state of Tennessee and its departments, divisions, institutions, and agencies, and the duly authorized officers, agents, and representatives thereof, or any combination of any of the above. See Tennessee Code 69-11-102
  • Reservoir: means any basin that contains or will contain the water impounded by a dam. See Tennessee Code 69-11-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Water: means that liquid, including solids or other matter dissolved or suspended in the liquid, that is or will be impounded. See Tennessee Code 69-11-102
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Home rule municipalities in counties with a population of over six hundred thousand (600,000) according to the 1970 federal census, or any subsequent federal census, may exercise an option by ordinance to adopt regulations governing, supervising or otherwise controlling such dams and reservoirs within the city or county within a period of one (1) year from April 1, 1974, or in the case of local governments created after July 1, 1974, within one (1) year following the creation of such government, which shall be consistent with these regulations but may be more restrictive and require municipal approval of such plans and specifications.
(c) If, at any time, the commissioner determines that the political subdivision’s regulations or their enforcement are inconsistent or less stringent than state requirements, the commissioner shall require the political subdivision to comply with state regulations.
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