Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Quality topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee passes Duck River protection bill after debate on testing and boundary rules
Summary
House Bill 1510, sponsored by Representative Marsh to strengthen protections on the Duck River, passed the committee after extended debate; members rejected amendments that would have required notarized consent for boundary setting and annual five‑mile sampling, and TDEC testified that the agency currently uses an approximately five‑year watershed monitoring cycle with about 20 monitoring stations on the Duck River.
The committee voted to advance House Bill 1510, a measure sponsored by Representative Marsh that sponsors described as targeted to protect the Duck River — an area the sponsor called among the nation’s most biodiverse waters. "This bill is to protect the most biodiverse waters in the country as well to protect their drinking water of millions of people," Marsh said as he described the bill's intent.
During lengthy debate members considered two amendments. One would have required notarized consent of private landowners (and permit holders of affected landfills) before establishing scenic-river boundaries; speakers warned the provision could create complex property-rights and takings questions. The other would have required TDEC to conduct comprehensive water-quality sampling every five miles annually; April Grippo, director of water resources at TDEC, told the committee the agency currently runs an intensive watershed-monitoring cycle about every five years and maintains roughly 20 monitoring stations along the Duck River, and that permitted dischargers perform more frequent monitoring as required by NPDES permits. Grippo said more frequent sampling would produce more data but would not neatly align with TDEC's five-year permit/review cycle. Both amendments failed on roll calls; the committee then voted to pass HB 1510 and send it on to counting/rules.
