[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6306701,"mediaKeyId","2436846-529d33a2352f83c76ca2c388f289ee20","parentId",2436846,"title","House committee approves substitute to HB 351 removing specified submission requirements for local consistency letters","audioSeconds",514,"startMs",791000,"endMs",1305000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2436846-529d33a2352f83c76ca2c388f289ee20&start=791&end=1305","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2436846-529d33a2352f83c76ca2c388f289ee20/thumbnail_791000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6306701/Georgia/House-committee-approves-substitute-to-HB-351-removing-specified-submission-requirements-for-local-consistency-letters","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6306701-fa4b75a62940e52ef4be2df8f2816f2a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770455024&Signature=F3LvTFYGbjvsbfPJBwiAC-d~ba1XRdzyCT~DFjcyVwoKoM57u2S38~M4hXIPu5Vmm9xg2Td8raJieL-2kOEEPPQquB7S6OnpKQBfA62WEq6VshmIHlTlOT2r1vzPAwUWK3wgEgx2tGfQ8N-IbJk7BUCr2vp94EAYlkCydULo52WW0knSn5C4ZwnSK9j6s6Z7BdGyVblUwNIR1JMEaE4gJPXHifEUxz4jves2hq7zusLIop8u-Gz5t2z09eVL6SaEryaZaiuO-RP1vit1yd6PqMFGF6i9enP-8PCW~rVD6abi42YGG~MbnTHW1iTyTBUbnaO7oTw-G7vN4OmR3Rn3sA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Georgia State Legislature","date","2025-02-27T00:00:00Z","article","At a Natural Resources subcommittee meeting and later before the full committee, lawmakers approved a substitute to House Bill 351 that deletes two provisions requiring applicants to include local ordinances or resolutions and written reconfirmation from local governments when seeking zoning and solid-waste management plan consistency letters from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

The change matters because it alters what must be included in statute for landfill and solid-waste facility applicants and clarifies how EPD will confirm local consistency. Supporters said EPD already can check ordinances and request reconfirmation directly from local governments, so the specific language is unnecessary.

A legislator introduced the substitute and said the measure removes lines 127–130 and 137–148 from the current draft. The deleted lines previously would have required the applicant to submit a copy of any ordinance or resolution identifying the official authorized to submit zoning and solid-waste management plan consistency letters and would have allowed the EPD director to require written reconfirmation from the local government if the director believed the facility description differed substantially from the local submissions.

Sarah Visser, assistant branch chief for land protection at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, told the committee: \"No. So that provision that is struck is strictly related to the special solid waste provisions that have been deemed unconstitutional. So all of the existing siding requirements are all the same. It's just removing that special solid waste provision.\" Visser said EPD can look up ordinances and can request reconfirmation directly from local governments when necessary.

Representative Buckner raised a concern about groundwater recharge areas after the deletions, asking whether removing the language would allow a regional landfill to be sited in a significant recharge area. Committee discussion noted that the struck language related to a special solid-waste provision aimed at excluding out-of-state waste and that courts had previously struck similar language as unconstitutional. Representative Davis said the bill adds a requirement that local governments designate an authorized official to send consistency letters, or that the head of the elected body or chief elected official serve that role, which the presenter said resolves a prior ambiguity about who should be contacted.

In subcommittee, a member moved that the substitute \"do pass,\" a second was recorded, and the measure passed by voice vote; individual tallies were not recorded. The substitute then was considered by the full committee, where another motion to pass received a second and passed by voice vote.

The committee record shows the bill advanced out of committee by voice vote; no roll-call vote totals were provided in the transcript.

The meeting moved on after the committee vote. The transcript does not specify subsequent steps, calendar placement, or any amendments beyond the deletions described during the discussion.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","02.27.2025 Natural Resources & Environment Subcommittee","oneSentenceSummary","At a Natural Resources subcommittee meeting and later before the full committee, lawmakers approved a substitute to House Bill 351 that deletes two provisions requiring applicants to include local ordinances or resolutions and written reconfirmation from local governments when seeking zoning and solid-waste management plan consistency letters from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Georgia , Georgia","taxId",77688,"location","Georgia","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6306698,"Water-policy center outlines Habitat Conservation Plan, alternative wells to protect Lower Flint flows",1881,1362000,3243000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2436846-529d33a2352f83c76ca2c388f289ee20&start=1362&end=3243","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2436846-529d33a2352f83c76ca2c388f289ee20/thumbnail_1362000.jpg","/articles/6306698/Georgia/Water-policy-center-outlines-Habitat-Conservation-Plan-alternative-wells-to-protect-Lower-Flint-flows","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6306698-48d614a57d1fcd9be9dc28fcdeabd23b/orig.mp4?Expires=1770455024&Signature=Mzyk6-JOreAkosUj58xAY02KyXbWVpfeXMgrK4qodUEKzXiU9nbeChhNfbQEqOGBzhnWMOzbd~B1gIWMO3UKmp6Ud3lPBLeqR62XMNNkqP3QaE4LddJI3GmxEnrlnlBat~WFoM~EheXP9yWcaw~tNUD2cu-01in23MXnom1db6JGwteOKzlo8I~phn5SyweHf~7FcfiQLU4D-2DxfaiwoWwIvF3m9SeKIJOdc0ofjM7JFGQqlqqWjFndBAcypdBuWF2uTFhhxxi3jHqERflOvw5kEoQbQJzG-nq68WOtgTbhxmTmFO7Yj8ceIZu8Tez3owyO0a8scFUaDZryPs~wsQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mark Masters, director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center at Albany State University, told the House Natural Resources committee that the center is preparing a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and deploying ARPA-funded alternative groundwater sources to protect flows in the Lower Flint Basin and provide water certainty for farmers.

Masters said the center has built a linked database of measured agricultural withdrawals, field-verified irrigated acreage and irrigation-system details that supports more targeted water management. He told lawmakers that work on regional planning and metering has positioned Georgia to pursue both conservation and certainty for users.

\"We were put together to answer the so what questions,\" Masters said, describing the center's role in turning research into practical decisions for stakeholders and policymakers.

Masters outlined specific steps in the Lower Flint project: expanded monitoring wells in deeper aquifers; alternative groundwater production wells for surface-water users; voluntary farmer incentives and conservation technologies; easements and sedimentation controls at dirt-road stream crossings; and planned augmentation in select locations. He said the HCP is being assembled for submission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and will document management practices designed to maintain habitat for endangered freshwater mussels while providing legal certainty for water users.

Masters said the center has secured ARPA funding to drill alternative-source wells and that it has reached approximately 60 landowner agreements and drilled roughly 60–65 test holes, with production wells being installed. He also credited a decade of regional planning and earlier investments, including the 2002 Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District Act and a 2003 agricultural metering law, for creating the data foundation the state uses today.

Representative Viola Davis asked about industrial and municipal withdrawals, citing constituent questions about data centers and auto plants seeking \"1,000,000 to 6,000,000. Is that gallons per day?\" Masters said permitting and metering for industrial and municipal withdrawals are administered by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and that the Water Policy Center provides technical and stakeholder support to EPD but has no regulatory authority.

Masters emphasized variability in Georgia rainfall and the role of irrigation to bridge dry periods; he cited statewide irrigated acreage of about 1.7 million acres (data through 2020), said farmers have invested more than $3 billion in irrigation infrastructure, and noted roughly 27,400 center pivots in the state with approximately 16,000 already mapped in the center's database. He said these measures were critical to defending Georgia's water use in interstate litigation and to building a management toolset for future dry spells.

Masters concluded by noting the advisory board had unanimously approved the draft HCP to go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at a meeting the previous week and invited committee questions and further collaboration.

The committee discussed groundwater monitoring, storage options and regional capture ideas; Masters said storage and capture will be highly regionalized and that metro and rural solutions differ. He provided contact information to the committee and the panel thanked him for the presentation.","Mark Masters of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center told the Natural Resources committee that a data-driven Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and ARPA-funded alternative groundwater wells aim to protect stream flows in the Lower Flint Basin, support farmers and address endangered-mussel habitat concerns.","actionData","errors"]

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House committee approves substitute to HB 351 removing specified submission requirements for local consistency letters

Water-policy center outlines Habitat Conservation Plan, alternative wells to protect Lower Flint flows