The Senate gave final approval Friday to legislation re-establishing a 25-foot buffer around the state’s marshes.

Senate Bill 101, which has been subject to a see-saw battle between developers and environmentalists, now goes to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature.

The measure would give the state power to review projects that gain federal permits. More importantly to environmentalists, however, is that lawmakers have received a promise from the state’s Environmental Protection Division to prevent property owners from building make-shift bulkheads along the marsh.

The buffers are considered important because they help reduce erosion and filter land-based pollutants such as fertilizer and insecticides that threaten the state’s environmentally sensitive coastal habitat.

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michael Thurmond spoke to the AJC's Tia Mitchell during a  Politically Georgia forum at The Dogwood at Westside Paper in Atlanta on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Adam Beam/AJC)

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A migrant farmworker harvests Vidalia onions at a farm in Collins, in 2011. A coalition of farmworkers, including one based in Georgia, filed suit last month in federal court arguing that cuts to H-2A wages will trigger a cut in the pay and standard of living of U.S. agricultural workers. (Bita Honarvar/AJC)

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