The Guam Environmental Protection Agency Act was first adopted in 1972 by Public Law 11-191 and went into effect on March 7, 1973. In 1974 it was codified as GC §57000 by Public Law 12-191. 10 GCA Chapter 45 establishes the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

The full text of this law is included on this site for reference purposes only. Any questions about interpretation of these regulations should be directed to appropriate Guam EPA staff.

The text of this law is also available in PDF format (23K). To print this Chapter, it is recommended that you download the PDF file. Viewing and printing PDF files requires the free Adobe^® Acrobat^® Reader. More about PDF files.

NOTE: This page has been formatted for Netscape Navigator. Users of other browsers may encounter display problems with the text below.

CHAPTER 45  

Guam Environmental Protection Agency Act



Article      1.	Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

		2. Guam Environmental Trust Fund.





Article 1

Guam Environmental Protection Agency



§45101.	Short Title.

§45102.	Statement of Policy and Purpose.

§45103.	Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

§45104.	Administration.

§45105.	Powers and Duties.

§45106.	Rules and Regulations.

§45107.	Abolishment of Water and Air Pollution Control Commissions.

§45108.	Assistance by Governmental Agencies.

§45109.	Transfer of Officers and Employees.

§45110.	Transfer of Assets, Records and Operational Appropriations.

§45111.	Definitions.



	§45101. Short Title. This Chapter shall be known as the Guam 

Environmental Protection Agency Act.



	SOURCE: GC §57000.			Top of the page.



	§45102. Statement of Policy and Purpose.  It is hereby 

declared to be the public policy of this territory of Guam that a high 

quality environment be maintained at all times to guarantee an 

enjoyable life for all people at present and in the future, and that 

environmental degradation of the quality of land, water and air by any 

pollutants, including all physical, chemical and biological agents, 

should not be allowed.



 	To these ends, it is the purpose of this Act to provide a 

united, integrated and comprehensive territory-wide program of 

environmental protection and to provide a framework to fulfill that 

task. 



	SOURCE: GC §57001.			Top of the page.



	§45103. Guam Environmental Protection Agency. There is hereby 

created a Guam Environmental Protection Agency, hereinafter referred 

to as the Agency. The management of the Agency shall be vested in a 

Board of Directors consisting of nine (9) members to be appointed by 

the Governor with the advice and consent of the Legislature.  Members 

of the Board shall serve for a period of three (3) years each, except 

that any member appointed to fill a vacancy prior to the expiration of 

the term for which his predecessor was appointed, shall be appointed 

for the remainder of such term.  The terms shall stagger so that three 

(3) members shall be appointed by the Governor each year, except that 

in the year in which the law is enacted, the Governor shall appoint 

three (3) members for one (1) year; three (3) members for two (2) 

years; and three (3) members for three (3) years.  The majority of the 

members of the Board shall not be employees of the government of Guam.  

A chairman shall be elected from among the members.



 	Members of the Board shall be compensated at the rate of Fifty 

Dollars ($50) per meeting attended subject to a maximum of twenty (20) 

meetings per member per year. 



	SOURCE: GC §57002.



	NOTE: See 5 GCA Chapter 43 for restrictions imposed on 

scheduling of the twenty meetings authorized here.			Top of the page.



	§45104. Administration.  (a) Administrator. The Board shall 

appoint an Administrator to administer matters of the Agency under the 

supervision of the Board.  The Administrator shall not be a member of 

the Board and shall not have a right to vote.  The Administrator shall 

be given the necessary authority and be held responsible for the 

administration of the Agency in all its activities subject only to 

such policies as may be adopted and such orders as may be issued by 

the Board.



 	(b) Deputy Administrator. The Board shall appoint a Deputy 

Administrator who shall not be member of the Board and shall not have 

a right to vote.  The Deputy Administrator shall perform such 

functions as the Administrator desires during the absence of the 

Administrator or in the event of a vacancy in the Office of the 

Administrator until such time that another Administrator is appointed.



 	(c) Secretary of the Board.  The Secretary of the Board shall 

be appointed by the Administrator and confirmed by the Board.  The 

Secretary shall be responsible for keeping records of meetings and 

actions of the Board.



	(d) Qualifications, Duties, Tenure and Compensation. The 

qualifications, duties, tenure and compensation of the Administrator, 

Deputy Administrator and Secretary shall be such as the Board may by 

resolution determine necessary and desirable, provided that their 

salaries may not exceed Twenty-Nine Thousand Dollars ($29,000), Twenty-

Four Thousand Dollars ($24,000) and Fourteen Thousand Four Hundred 

Dollars ($14,400) per annum, respectively.  Other fringe benefits such 

as leave, eligibility for hospital, dental, life insurance and 

retirement, shall be decided by the Board, notwithstanding any other 

laws to the contrary. 



	SOURCE: GC §57003, as amended by P.L. 14-114.			Top of the page.



	§45105. Powers and Duties. The Guam Environmental Protection 

Agency shall be responsible for the implementation of the Water 

Resources Conservation Act, Chapter 46 of this Part; the Water

Pollution Control Act, Chapter 47 of this Part; Toilet Facilities and 

Sewage Disposal Act, Chapter 48 of this Part; the Air Pollution 

Control Act, Chapter 49 of this Part; the Guam Pesticides Act, Chapter 

50 of this Part; and Solid Waste, Chapter 51 of this Part. 



	SOURCE: GC §57004, as amended by P.L. 14-22.



	NOTE: GEPA has powers and duties in addition to those listed 

here.  See Chapters 52 and 53.			Top of the page.



	§45106. Rules and Regulations. Notwithstanding the provisions 

of 5 GCA Chapter 9, rule-making procedures under the Administrative 

Adjudication Act, the Agency is hereby authorized and directed to 

adopt, amend and repeal rules and regulations implementing and 

consistent with the powers and duties vested in the Agency pursuant to 

§45105; provided, however, that no action taken with respect to such 

rules and regulations shall be effective unless such action is first 

presented to and approved by the Legislature. If, after forty-five 

(45) calendar days, the Legislature has not expressly approved or 

rejected such action, or any part thereof, by a resolution duly 

adopted or by eleven (11) members of the Legislature, such action or 

any part thereof not expressly rejected shall be deemed to be 

approved. 



	SOURCE: GC §57005, as amended by P.L. 14-22.			Top of the page.



	§45107. Abolishment of Water and Air Pollution Control 

Commissions. The Water Pollution and Control Commission and the Air 

Pollution Commission, established pursuant to Chapter XI and Chapter 

XII of Title X of the Government Code of Guam are hereby abolished. 



	SOURCE: GC §57006.			Top of the page.



	§45108. Assistance by Governmental Agencies. Office space and 

housekeeping functions shall be provided by the Department of Public 

Health and Social Services and other logistic support shall be 

provided by the Department of Administration.  The services and 

facilities of departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the 

government of Guam may be made available to the Agency in the exercise 

of its functions to the extent allowed by law. 



	SOURCE: GC §57007.			Top of the page.



	§45109. Transfer of Officers and Employees. All officers and 

employees of the Water Pollution Control Commission, the Air Pollution 

Control Commission, Department of Public Health and Social Services, 

the Public Utility Agency of Guam and the Department of Agriculture 

who have performed exclusively the functions transferred by §45105 of 

this Chapter shall be transferred to the Agency. 



	SOURCE: GC §57008.			Top of the page.



	§45110. Transfer of Assets, Records and Operational 

Appropriations. The balance of all unexpended appropriations and all 

assets, property and records of the Guam Water Pollution Control 

Commission, the Air Pollution Control Commission, the Department of 

Public Health and Social Services, the Public Utility Agency of Guam 

or the Department of Agriculture used or to be used for the functions 

transferred pursuant to §45105 of this Chapter shall be transferred to 

the Agency. 



	SOURCE: GC §57009.			Top of the page.



	§45111. Definitions. Except as provided in or where otherwise 

clearly indicated by the content, the following definitions shall 

apply throughout this Part:



		(1) Agency means the Guam Environmental Protection 

	Agency; and



		(2) Administrator means the Administrator of the Guam 

	Environmental Protection Agency. 



	SOURCE: GC §57010.			Top of the page.





Article 2

Guam Environmental Trust Fund



§45200.	Guam Environmental Trust Fund.



	§45200. Guam Environmental Trust Fund. (a) There is hereby 

created the Guam Environmental Trust Fund (the "Fund") to be used by 

the Administrator of the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (the 

"Administrator") to clean up hazardous materials and restore and 

repair damage done to the Guam environment.



 	(b) The Fund shall be financed by the collection of a two 

percent (2%) assessment fee on all commercial and industrial liability 

insurance premiums paid in Guam for the coverage of companies or 

individuals.  Such fees shall be collected from the insurance 

companies providing such coverage on Guam.



 	(c) For purposes of this section, commercial and industrial 

liability insurance is defined as liability or indemnity insurance 

against injury to third persons, with the insured being engaged in 

commercial or industrial activities within Guam, such activities being 

included in the definition of business and engaging in business 

defined in §26101 (a), Title 11, Guam Code Annotated.



 	(d) The Department of Revenue and Taxation (the Department) 

shall collect such fees and transmit them to the Treasurer of Guam for 

deposit in the Fund.  The Department shall:



		(i) Develop the necessary forms and instructions to be 

	sent to all insurance companies issuing commercial and 

	industrial liability insurance.  Such forms and instructions 

	shall direct these insurance companies to pay the two percent 

	(2%) assessment as a condition of continuing to do business of 

	Guam;

		(ii) Act as the repository for the Fund for use by the 

	Administrator in carrying out the purpose of the Fund.

	

 	(e) The Administrator shall be the disbursing and certifying 

officer for the Fund, and shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 

14 of Title 46, Guam Code Annotated.  The Director of Administration 

shall maintain appropriate records of the Fund and shall provide 

accounting and auditing services for the Fund.



	SOURCE: Added by P.L. 21-10:2.			Top of the page.