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Bill to require legislative approval of watershed moratoriums draws broad public comment; sponsor pulls measure
Summary
Senate Bill 290, which would require legislative committees to approve moratoriums on permits affecting watersheds, drew extensive testimony both for and against protections for the Buffalo River and other watersheds. After more than an hour of testimony, sponsor Senator Blake Johnson withdrew the bill for further study.
Senator Blake Johnson introduced Senate Bill 290, a bill that would require state agencies to obtain approval from the legislature—(through the Senate and House agriculture committees) before imposing moratoriums affecting watersheds.
The measure drew more than a dozen public witnesses in a divided hearing that ranged from conservation groups pleading for existing watershed protections to agriculture interests urging legislative control of moratoriums. Supporters of the bill said moratoriums limit private property rights and should be decided by elected legislators; opponents said the draft is vague, could block emergency agency action and would undercut the Administrative Procedures Act.
The bill—(Johnson said) would route any proposed moratorium through the relevant agriculture committees before agencies could finalize rulemaking. "This process was put into this piece of legislation because this body creates the laws that create those departments," Senator Blake Johnson said when…
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