Tennessee Senate Bill SB0564

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/25
• Chaptered: 5/5/26
• Passed: 5/5/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7; Title 8; Title 9; Title 62, Chapter 2; Title 65; Title 68, Chapter 221 and Title 69, relative to utilities.

Summary

This bill makes several changes to Tennessee law governing wastewater utilities, decentralized wastewater systems, and land-application treatment systems. It creates new rules for how long approved engineering plans remain valid, generally setting a 12-month expiration unless construction begins or an extension is granted, and allowing extensions up to a total of 60 months. It also requires the Department of Environment and Conservation to adopt detailed design and construction rules for decentralized wastewater treatment systems using land application by July 31, 2027, including standards for siting, soil characterization, hydraulic loading, redundancy, reserve area, and long-term performance. The bill also establishes a new process for developers who want a subdivision or neighborhood treatment works to be taken over by the local utility serving the area. Utilities must either agree in writing to assume ownership and operation within specified deadlines or formally refuse, with notice to the developer and the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation. If the utility refuses, the developer may seek another utility, though the original utility retains a limited two-year window to negotiate taking over the system later. The bill further requires performance bonds during the first ten years of operation and sets compliance and readiness conditions before ownership or operation can transfer.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 68 and 69 to regulate approval, expiration, extension, and redesign of wastewater engineering plans, and to add a new statutory framework for decentralized wastewater systems using land application. It also restricts the issuance or modification of certain permits when an applicant is not substantially complying with existing environmental orders, and it directs the department to maintain an electronic tracking system for plan approvals and extensions. These changes affect developers, utilities, local governments, and wastewater system operators by imposing new deadlines, bonding requirements, compliance thresholds, and transfer procedures.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was generally supported but not unanimously so. In the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, it passed 5-4, indicating meaningful support alongside notable reservations. The final enactment and passage in both chambers show the measure ultimately advanced, suggesting the core regulatory framework had enough backing to become law despite some opposition.

Contention

The main points of contention appear to center on the balance between environmental oversight, utility control, and development flexibility. Opponents likely objected to the new deadlines, mandatory utility response requirements, bonding obligations, and the restriction on permit issuance for applicants out of compliance with environmental orders, while supporters likely viewed these provisions as necessary to protect public health, surface water, and groundwater and to ensure systems are properly built and maintained. The 5-4 committee vote indicates the bill’s regulatory approach to decentralized wastewater and utility takeover obligations was the most disputed aspect.