(1) There is hereby created the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, to be composed of seven (7) persons appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of seven (7) years. One (1) person shall be appointed from each congressional district as constituted January 1, 1978, and two (2) members shall be appointed from the state at large. The initial terms of the members from congressional districts shall be for one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4) and five (5) years respectively, and the initial terms of the members from the state at large shall be one (1) for six (6) years and one (1) for seven (7) years. Thereafter, all terms shall be for seven (7) years. The members serving on the predecessor Commission on Natural Resources on June 30, 1989, shall continue to serve as members of the successor Commission on Environmental Quality until the expiration of the term of their appointment to the predecessor commission.

(2) The commission shall elect from its membership a chairman who shall preside over meetings and a vice chairman who shall preside in the absence of the chairman or when the chairman shall be excused.

(3) The commission shall adopt rules and regulations governing times and places for meetings, and governing the manner of conducting its business. Each member of the commission shall take the oath prescribed by Section 268 of the Constitution and shall enter into bond in the amount of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00) to be approved by the Secretary of State, conditioned according to law and payable to the State of Mississippi before assuming the duties of office. Any member who shall not attend three (3) consecutive regular meetings of the commission shall be subject to removal by a majority vote of the commission members.

(4) The members of the commission shall receive no annual salary, but shall receive per diem compensation as authorized by law for each day devoted to the discharge of official duties, and shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties, including mileage as authorized by law.

The commission shall be composed of persons with extensive knowledge of or practical experience in at least one (1) of the matters of jurisdiction of the commission.

(5) The commission is authorized and empowered to use and expend any funds received by it from any source for the purposes of this chapter. Such funds shall be expended in accordance with the statutes governing the expenditure of state funds.

(6) At least a majority of the members of the commission shall represent the public interest and shall not derive any significant portion of their income from persons subject to permits under the federal Clean Air Act or enforcement order under the federal Clean Air Act. In the event of any potential conflict of interest by a member of the commission, such member shall disclose the potential conflict to the other members of the commission and shall recuse himself or herself from participating in or voting on any matter related to such conflict of interest.