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Southern Regional Office (SRO)
ADEQ's Southern Regional Office (SRO) in Tucson serves Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties.

Responsible for a portion of agency programs, the SRO coordinates ADEQ's activities to protect public health and the environment along the Arizona-Mexico border, conducts inspections and complaint investigations of permitted and non-permitted air pollution sources, water and wastewater facilities, responds to emergencies that threaten public health and the environment and processes open burn permit applications.

SRO’s Superfund Programs Unit is responsible for the State Superfund Program, called the Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF), and the Federal Superfund Program authorized by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Both the WQARF and CERCLA programs investigate and clean up soils and groundwater contaminated with hazardous wastes. There are seven WQARF sites managed by SRO staff. In cooperation with the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Air Force, SRO’s Superfund Programs Unit also participates in the investigation and cleanup of a large federal National Priorities List (NPL) site and provides state oversight of a Department of Defense (DoD) site. Both of these sites utilize CERCLA as the primary regulatory authority for investigating and cleaning up hazardous waste.

The SRO also monitors and tests public drinking water systems to ensure safe, potable water supplies, inspects the construction and operation of wastewater treatment facilities and on-site systems, oversees the investigation and cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater Superfund sites and supports ADEQ's groundwater monitoring, sourcewater assessments and water quality permitting activities.

Two Community Liaisons support SRO. The Southeast Arizona Community Liaison offers assistance to Cochise, Graham, Greenlee and Santa Cruz counties, and the Southwest Arizona Community Liaison offers assistance to La Paz and Yuma counties. They conduct broad outreach within the regions they serve and may assist/educate the regulated community and general public on ADEQ requirements and services.

State map

Application Forms and Guidance

Compliance Programs

The Compliance Programs Unit is responsible for serving its regional customers in the following ways:

  • Ensuring that permitted and non-permitted air pollution sources meet the Clean Air Act and state statutes and requirements. For stationary sources in Pima County, contact the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality.
  • Issuing open burn permits for those areas without local control.
  • Ensuring that public water systems deliver potable water to their customers in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and state requirements.
  • Ensuring that wastewater treatment facilities, including alternative on-site systems, are constructed and operated safely without harm to the public or environment in accordance with the Clean Water Act and state requirements.
  • Making sure that southern Arizona's water ways are protected from pollutants in stormwater runoff in accordance with the Clean Water Act and state requirements.
  • Providing community outreach and technical and compliance assistance.
  • Reviewing construction plans, issuing some pre- and all post-construction approvals, and conducting construction inspections for consistency with applicable rules.
  • Monitoring U.S./Mexico border infrastructure impacts, participating in multi-agency water/wastewater project development and implementation, and meeting with various agencies and jurisdictions on Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) infrastructure projects and Operation and Maintenance assessments.

See Also:

U.S. EPA EMPACT Project Partner

ADEQ is partnering with the Tucson Water Department, the the University of Arizona and several Pima County agencies, businesses and organizations to provide citizens near real-time information about the quality of their drinking water. This effort is made possible by an Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ADEQ regulates Arizona public drinking water systems, such as Tucson Water, under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Act requires the U.S. EPA to set drinking water quality standards and monitoring requirements to protect public health. Public water systems are responsible for complying with all state and federal requirements, including sampling, reporting and paying for all water quality analyses. ADEQ's Water Quality Compliance Section implements the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act by reviewing water quality monitoring data, inspecting public water systems and initiating enforcement actions when necessary.

ADEQ's role as a partner in the EMPACT project is to verify Tucson Water's compliance with federal and state drinking water regulations as stated in the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Arizona Administrative Code.

See Also:

For questions about this report or compliance requirements for public water systems, please contact:

Compliance and Enforcement Unit
(602) 771-4624
(800) 234-5677 - Toll Free

Office Location

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Southern Regional Office
400 West Congress Street, Suite 433
Tucson, Arizona 85701
(520) 628-6733 - General Information
(888) 271-9302 - Toll Free
(520) 628-6745 - Fax
SRO Directory
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