Oppose House Bill 1182
Please take a few minutes to learn about HB1182 and then contact your lawmakers and ask them to oppose this destructive bill. This is one of the most important things that you can do this year to protect Georgia's air and water.
CONTENTS OF THIS ALERT
Part 1 -- Status
Part 2 -- What Prompted HB 1182?
Part 3 -- All This Little Bill Does Is ...
Part 4 -- Action -- What You Can Do Right Now!
Part 5 -- Contact Information for Legislators
Part 6 -- Savannah Morning News Editorial
Part 7 -- Legal Review Indicates HB 1182 May Be Unconstitutional
HB1182 passed out of the Senate Natural Resources Committee Wednesday afternoon, February 16, with some additional changes; however, the amendments were still not enough to make it an acceptable bill.
To recap, HB 1182 was sponsored by several members of the House Agriculture Committee (including - disappointingly - Coastal Rep. Ann Purcell of Effingham County...more about that in a future mailing.) The primary sponsor was Rep. Henry Reaves, who was upset about the Hog Farm rules adopted last year by the Board of Natural Resources. Unfortunately, the bill was put on the fast-track and quickly passed out of the House by an overwhelmingly favorable vote of 160-12.
HB 1182 then went to the Senate, and was considered by the Natural Resources Committee, last Wednesday, February 9. Because of the huge turnout of opponents to the legislation, and the large number of your faxes, calls, and emails, received by the committee members, the bill was assigned for further study by the Senate Environmental Protection Subcommittee.
The Subcommittee met on Monday, February 14, and - unfortunately - made only minor changes (to slightly narrow the scope) to the bill. During the subcommittee hearing, opponents of the legislation had 4 attorneys testify about the constitutional problems with the bill. In response to the legal testimonty, one Senator responded - "So sue us...you people have never been shy about doing that before." The bill then passed out of the subcommittee by a 4-1 vote, with only Sen. Mike Egan opposed.
The bill went back before the full Senate Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, February 16. Although some additional changes were made (a 90 day time limit for the agricultural advisory committee's review, and some additional limitations on the scope of affected regulations), the bill is still a very bad bill. Even in this amended form, HB 1182 needs to be defeated...it creates special review and comment rights for agriculture that are not available to others, and it creates new and unconstitutional powers for the legislature to act in a short-circuited process, outside its normal scope of authority.
PART 2 - WHAT PROMPTED HB 1182?
People in the know at the capitol refer to HB1182 as "Reaves' Revenge"
(a.k.a., "Revenge of Boss Hog"),
since its key sponsor is Rep. Henry Reaves, one of the most outspoken
opponents of the Hog Farm Rules adopted last year by the Board of
Natural Resources. Since the Board adopted strong rules to protect
Georgia's water quality from mega-hog farms over his objections, Reaves
reportedly vowed to retaliate through legislative action and HB1182 is
the result.
One might have thought that after all of the TV coverage of the animal
farm/water quality disasters in North Carolina after Hurricane Floyd,
that the Georgia Board of Natural Resources would have been commended
for the strong stand they took last year on rules for mega-hog farm
operations (
PART 3 - ALL THIS LITTLE BILL DOES IS...
Whenever you hear the phrase, "All this little bill does is...", you'd
better watch out, because that usually means that there is some
innocuous-sounding "stated" purpose of the bill that's masking its real,
"hidden" purpose. In the case of HB1182, the sponsors (which
disappointingly include coastal area Rep. Ann Purcell of Effingham
County) will tell you that "All the bill does is let the family farmer
have some input into proposed EPD regulations."
While the bill does propose an agricultural "advisory committee", the
REAL effect of the bill - hidden in its Section 2 language - would be to
fundamentally change the process of protecting Georgia's water and air
by giving legislators a short-circuit method to repeal any EPD
regulation through a special fast-track process, without public input or
even the normal legislative committee hearings.
The manner in which this is accomplished is rather tricky - it would
come not through a new law, but through the removal of an existing law.
There is currently a special procedure in the Georgia code for
environmental protection rules, which provides an opportunity for
legislators to voice any concerns and requires EPD to consult with them
during the rulemaking process. While Section 2 of HB1182 appears to do
nothing more than eliminate this requirement, the real effect of
removing this section would be to place the adoption of environmental
rules under a different code section which allows a fast-track veto or
repeal of any environmental protection rule.
The talk about helping the "family farmer" is pretty much a smokescreen.
Although the bill purports that the committee would review EPD water and
air quality rules for "effects that proposed changes...might have on
family farms," it doesn't even mention "family farmer" in the membership
of the committee. Nope, the legislation says only that 4 of the 12
committee members must be "farmers who are actively engaged in
production agriculture" - there's not one word about the "family"
farmer. So, while HB1182 specifies that 6 members of the committee will
be legislators (does that surprise you?), there's no requirement for
"family" farmers - in fact, all of the farmers on the committee could
well be employees of an agribusiness mega-corporation.
The editorial from the Savannah Morning News, copied in
PART 4 - ACTION - WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW!
Please continue to express your opposition to this bill by calling or faxing your Senator and the Lieutenant Governor, who is President of the Senate. (See PART 5 of this Alert page for CONTACT INFORMATION.)
When calling, here are some points to emphasize:
- Urge them to OPPOSE HB1182 in its entirety.
- Ask them WHY they think that one special interest group - agriculture - needs its own advisory committee, when there is already a Public Comment period - for everyone, including agriculture - on every proposed EPD regulation.
- You might also ask, if the committee is really supposed to be for the "family farmer", why there are 6 legislators but only 4 farmers proposed for committee membership. (The bill doesn't require the farmers to be "family" farmers or landowners, either. It simply calls for the farmers on the committee to be "actively engaged in production agriculture", which means that the appointees could be employees of agribusiness mega-corporations.)
- Urge them - at the very least - to DELETE all of Section 2 of the bill. This is the section that would let legislators repeal water and air quality rules without going through the normal legislative process. (It's somewhat confusing, as the proposed Section 2 actually removes a portion of the current Georgia code, and it is this removal that would put in place the short-circuit legislative veto of environmental protection rules.)
- PLEASE MAKE YOUR FEELINGS KNOWN - HB 1182 could go to the floor of the Senate for a vote any day.
If you are calling from outside the Atlanta area, you can reach any Senator or the Lt. Governor toll-free through the Senate Information Office at 800-282-5803.
Click here to find out who represents your district in the Senate.
| Member | Telephone | Fax |
| Sen. Peg Blitch (D) | 404-656-0053 | 404-657-1806 |
| Sen. Jack Hill (D) | 404-656-5038 | 404-651-6768 |
| Sen. Eric Johnson (R) | 404-656-5109 | 404-657-9727 |
| Sen. René Kemp (D) | 404-656-0070 | 404-657-1806 |
| Sen. Regina Thomas (D) | 404-463-7784 | 404-463-7783 |
| Sen. Tommie Williams (R) | 404-656-0089 | 404-463-7785 |
Contact the Lieutenant Governor:
| Honorable Mark Taylor, Lt. Governor |
| TEL 404-656-5030 |
| FAX 404-656-6739 |
PART 6 - SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS EDITORIAL
Wednesday, February 2, 2000
Savannah Morning News
THE GEORGIA General Assembly already has the power to change laws when it feels state agencies have overstepped their authority in formulating rules based on those laws. It doesn't need to start micro-managing this process.
Unfortunately, that's what House Bill 1182 does. This measure, offered by State Rep. Henry Reaves, D-Quitman, and co-sponsored by State Rep. Ann Purcell, D-Rincon, would get the legislature directly involved -- in advance -- in any rules changes made by the Department of Natural Resources.
Although the legislation has overwhelmingly passed the House, the Senate should reject this proposal as wrongheaded and unnecessary.
The bill would set up an advisory committee consisting of farmers and legislators who serve on the House and Senate agricultural committees. Committee members would have to review and approve all rules before they are enacted.
That alone makes the bill suspect. The people most likely to be affected by any rules and their representatives will be guarding the hen house.
In addition, the bill would allow the House or the Senate to veto any regulation with a majority vote. That vote would come without committee meetings or, even worse, public hearings. Citizens who feel strongly about a DNR rule would be effectively silenced. Any time the Department of Natural Resources enacts rules, it holds numerous public hearings. It takes testimony from all groups.
Why should the farming interests be given special access or their own hearings? The legislature doesn't do that for other special interests. Why these changes and why now?
In the case of H.B. 1182, it's simple. Many of Mr. Reaves' constituents are farmers who aren't happy with the state's rules on hog farms. Last year, responding to environmental problems in North Carolina and elsewhere, and hoping to keep those problems out of this state, the Georgia Board of Natural Resources imposed tougher restrictions on hog farms, mainly those with more than 3,000 hogs.
The new rules require these mega farms to treat hog waste and be bonded to cover the cost of waste cleanup if a spill occurs, contaminating drinking water. These are common-sense requirements that protect the public in case of serious problems. Georgia should not have to learn this lesson the hard way, as North Carolina did.
Opponents have said these rules would force some farmers out of business. That's an exaggeration. The rules are tiered so that bigger farms will have to deal with more regulations.
Georgia has fewer than 600,000 hogs, a lot less than some states. But before last year, it didn't have any rules about mega farm producers. The DNR acted proactively and responsibly when some large producers were eyeing the state for possible expansion. Farmers deserve seats at the table when rules are considered. But they should[n't] be reserved for farmers exclusively.
By enacting this legislation, Mr. Reaves and the bill's supporters would be able prevent any rules they don't like from being enacted. They also could attempt to veto rules any already in place, without having to make a case for their decision.
The odor emanating from most hog farms is bad enough. If the Senate doesn't send this bill back to the waste pit where it belongs, the public will be smelling it for years to come.
PART 7 -- HB 1182 MAY BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Click on one of the following links for the complete legal analysis conducted by the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest and the Turner Environmental Law Clinic:
Expansion Project
The Coastal Environmental Organization of Georgia
P.O. Box 2107
Savannah, GA 31402
(912) 651-1099
info@theceo.org