AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 203, Part 1 and Title 68, Chapter 211, Part 1, relative to environmental regulatory programs.
HB0124 revises Tennessee’s environmental regulatory fee and permitting framework in Title 68, affecting the Tennessee Safe Drinking Water Act, the Water Quality Control Act, oil and gas production fees, mineral test hole regulation, solid waste landfill permitting, and coal ash/coal combustion residuals oversight. The bill shifts certain fee-setting authority to the Tennessee Board of Water Quality, Oil and Gas and assigns mineral test hole fees to the supervisor under existing statutory authority. It also increases one specified fee from $18.75 to $38.00 and adjusts how environmental protection fees are allocated between the division of mineral and geologic resources and state appropriations.
A major portion of the bill focuses on coal combustion residuals, commonly known as coal ash. It adds statutory definitions for “coal combustion residuals” and “coal combustion residuals disposal unit,” requires liners and final caps for new coal ash disposal permits and expansions, and clarifies exceptions for certain beneficial or regulated uses such as fill, agricultural use, engineered feedstock use, wastewater treatment units, and other department-authorized uses. The bill also authorizes the department to recover direct and indirect regulatory costs related to coal combustion residuals disposal units through board rules, including permitting, oversight, investigation, and remediation, subject to an annual cap.
The bill’s impact on state law is to tighten and clarify permitting standards for coal ash disposal while creating a separate cost-recovery mechanism for regulating coal combustion residuals disposal units. It also increases landfill permit and annual maintenance fees for solid waste landfills, except coal combustion residuals disposal units, and bars the department from charging those fees if it uses the new cost-recovery authority for coal ash facilities. In practical terms, the measure changes who sets certain fees, how environmental program revenues are distributed, and how coal ash disposal facilities are regulated and funded.
The general sentiment reflected in the voting history was strongly favorable and noncontroversial. The bill advanced unanimously through the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee, the full Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee, and the full Finance, Ways, and Means Committee, with no recorded dissenting votes. No committee transcript was provided, and the available record suggests broad agreement on the need to update environmental fee structures and coal ash permitting rules.
No notable points of contention appear in the available materials. The only potentially sensitive issues are the increased fees, the new liner and cap requirements for coal ash disposal, and the department’s authority to recover regulatory costs from persons associated with coal combustion residuals disposal units. However, the unanimous committee votes indicate these provisions did not generate visible opposition in the recorded legislative process.
The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 68 and 60 to revise environmental fee-setting authority, increase certain permit fees, define coal combustion residuals and coal ash disposal units, impose liner and final cap requirements for coal ash disposal permits and expansions, and authorize cost recovery for regulation of coal combustion residuals disposal units. It also changes the allocation of environmental protection fees and limits duplicative fee assessment where cost recovery is used.
The recorded legislative sentiment was strongly positive and largely unanimous. The bill passed each committee stage without opposition, indicating broad support for the environmental regulatory and fee changes. No committee debate or dissent is included in the available record.
No explicit contention is shown in the available materials. Potentially debatable issues include higher landfill and permit fees, new technical requirements for coal ash disposal facilities, and the department’s authority to recover regulatory costs from regulated parties. Even so, the unanimous votes suggest these issues did not produce visible disagreement during committee consideration.