A bill to free the state Department of Transportation from water pollution fines expanded Wednesday, adding a proposal that allows Georgia to use the Tennessee River as a water source for metro Atlanta.
House Bill 131 still gives a huge break to DOT, leaving the agency responsible only for a tenth of the penalties it now faces, and only after a 30-day reprieve to fix a problem.
But a last-minute amendment also makes any transfers out of the Chickamauga Valley and Lookout Mountain areas exempt from restrictions or regulations on interbasin transfers.
“It became an interbasin transfer bill,” said Donna Sheldon, R-Dacula, one of six lawmakers on the House Transportation Committee who voted against advancing the proposal for consideration of a full chamber vote. “I’m not quite sure how that relates to GDOT.”
Tom McCall, chairman of the House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, succeeded in getting his amendment attached and the bill passed. The amendment reads exactly as Senate Bill 132, which on Wednesday moved out of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment committee. He argued the issue was related to transportation.
“Haven’t you ever heard the solution to pollution is dilution?” McCall, R-Elberton, said in reference to pulling more water out of the basin.
The change shares state code with the original purpose of the bill and little else.
Sponsor Bubber Epps, R-DryBranch, initially wanted DOT to be exempt from hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for polluting Georgia's waterways with its projects. The department is the state’s largest polluter, racking up $2 million in fines in the past decade.
The agency paid $800,000 of the fines, and contractors on the projects settled the rest.
Epps agreed to changes that drop daily fines from $50,000 to $5,000 after including language that gives the agency seven days’ notice of a problem. The agency and its contractors would have a month to fix the problems before the Environmental Protection Division can fine either DOT or any of its contractors.
Opponents, ranging from environmental groups to EPD Director Allen Barnes, warned that reductions will lead to more problems and make water quality worse. The changes, no longer requiring separate plans for erosion control, will be especially harmful for downstream properties, they said.
“Take a look at the price of some of these big projects, and $5,000 a day in fines becomes the cost of doing business,” said Kevin McGrath with Georgia Trout Unlimited. “I just don’t think that’s right.”
Epps said current fines hamper the department’s ability to do roadwork throughout the state. He has also argued against allowing the department to pay fines with money from the state’s gas tax, which is designated only for roadwork.
That argument, and the interbasin tangent, head to the House Rules Committee for more debate and questions.
About the Author
