Tennessee House Bill HB0893

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 7; Title 59; Title 65; Title 66; Title 68 and Title 69, relative to water.

Summary

HB0893 makes a narrow change to Tennessee’s water law by requiring the Department of Environment and Conservation, or the relevant department maintaining withdrawal registrations, to publish a list of registered water withdrawals in a publicly accessible location on its website. The bill does not change the underlying registration requirement itself; instead, it adds a transparency and public-access component to the existing reporting framework in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 69-7-304(a). In practical terms, the bill would make information about registered water withdrawals easier for the public, local governments, researchers, and other stakeholders to find online. Because the measure is limited to disclosure and website posting, it does not appear to create new permitting standards, fees, or substantive restrictions on water use. Its main legal effect is to amend state water administration law to require public posting of an existing list of withdrawals.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Section 69-7-304(a) within the state’s water resources framework, adding a website publication requirement for registered water withdrawals. This affects the department responsible for maintaining withdrawal registrations by imposing an administrative transparency duty, and it may benefit the public, water users, and local officials seeking access to withdrawal data. No other substantive changes to water rights, allocation rules, or enforcement provisions are included in the text provided.

Sentiment

There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition from debate or roll call. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears administrative and low-conflict, focused on transparency rather than regulation. The absence of recorded controversy suggests it may have been viewed as a straightforward public-information bill.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided context. If concerns were raised, they would most likely relate to public access to withdrawal data, administrative burden on the department, or privacy/confidentiality issues for water users, but none of these are reflected in the available transcripts or votes. As presented, the bill is narrowly tailored and does not indicate disagreement over broader water policy.