A. To be licensed pursuant to this act, a person, firm, corporation or other entity shall meet the following requirements:
1. Principal business facilities are located within Oklahoma;
2. Tow trucks are registered and licensed in Oklahoma; and
3. Owner is a resident of the State of Oklahoma or the service is an Oklahoma corporation.
B. No operator or employee of any operator shall be permitted, allowed or caused to solicit business or engage in highway remediation and cleanup services without the operator first having obtained from the Department of Environmental Quality a license to operate a highway remediation and cleanup service. The license number shall be displayed, in conformance with rules of the Department, on both sides of every vehicle operated by the highway remediation and cleanup service. This section shall not apply to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation or the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
C. The license fee required by this section shall be in lieu of the motor carrier filing fee as required in Section 165 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes. It shall not be necessary for any operator to prove public convenience and necessity to obtain such license, and the Department shall issue such license without public hearing. The fee for such license shall be Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00).
D. All licenses shall expire on the last day of the calendar year and may be renewed annually at a cost of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) upon application to the Department as prescribed by rule. No license fee shall be refunded in the event that the license is suspended or revoked.
E. The Department is authorized to issue notices of violation and compliance orders and to suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the license of an operator when it finds the licensee or applicant has not complied with or has violated any of the provisions of this act, or any rules adopted by the Board. A suspension shall be for a period of time deemed appropriate by the Department for the violation. An operator whose license has been revoked may not apply for one (1) year. Any suspended or revoked license shall be returned to the Department by the operator. An operator whose license is revoked by the Department shall be required to pay an additional fee of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for reinstatement if such reinstatement is authorized by the Department.
F. The Department shall keep a current list of highway remediation and cleanup service operators licensed pursuant to this act and forward such list to the Department of Public Safety for distribution to wrecker service operators licensed by the Department of Public Safety. The Department shall update such list regularly to delete highway remediation and cleanup service operators whose licenses have been suspended or revoked.
G. Fees or fines collected pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be remitted to the State Treasurer to be deposited in the Department of Environmental Quality Revolving Fund.
Added by Laws 2006, c. 243, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 2006. Amended by Laws 2007, c. 62, § 5, emerg. eff. April 30, 2007.