Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens blasted the Obama administration in a letter Thursday to state lawmakers, saying proposed rules about which bodies of water should be covered under the Clean Water Act “would drastically and unlawfully expand federal control over Georgia’s water resources.”
Olens added that he will monitor how the administration handles the proposal “to be sure that Georgia is involved in related legal actions where necessary and appropriate.”
The letter came as lawmakers held a hearing at the state Capitol to better understand what impact the proposed rules would have on the state, where officials estimate agriculture, as the state’s largest industry, has a $77 billion impact. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black has already called the proposal “a serious threat … to the rights of farmers and American citizens alike.”
The proposed rules seek to clarify which bodies of water, such as wetlands and streams, fall under the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA officials have said the rules are needed following recent Supreme Court rulings related to how it administers the Clean Water Act.
But the proposed rules have “the potential to have a major economic impact on Georgia,” said Lewis Jones, an environmental lawyer with the Atlanta office of King & Spalding. The proposal, he said, “is not simply a clarification, but an expansion,” an opinion not shared by environmentalists.
Federal officials have estimated Georgia farmers, businesses and local governments would lose between $162 million and $279 million a year under the proposed rules as they deal with additional permitting requirements and costs associated with modifying their operations to meet the proposed standards.
But the financial benefits could exceed $300 million, officials say, as the regulatory process is streamlined. Jones, however, said more analysis is needed to confirm those numbers, which have been derided by opponents as inaccurate.
Bill Sapp, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the proposed rules would not add anything beyond regulatory guidance issued during the George W. Bush administration. “What happens if we don’t move forward?” Sapp asked. “The last thing we want to do is keep kicking the can down the road and end up with more confusion.”
Groups including the Georgia Agribusiness Council and the Georgia Farm Bureau spoke against the proposals Thursday, calling them “regulation overreach” that intrude on the rights of property owners and could stifle economic growth. The council raised some eyebrows before the meeting when state Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry, chairman of the chamber’s Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, circulated a draft agenda it created for the meeting.
Tolleson, however, defended the action.
“From time to time, interested organizations are asked to suggest or help arrange speakers for committee hearings,” he said. “However, in the end, the final decisions about committee agendas are left to the discretion of the chairman of that particular committee.”
The EPA is taking public comment on the proposed rules through Oct. 20.
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