DaleRussell's Blog

 Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and State Senator Chip Pearson are excited about a new Senate bill that  will do (drum roll, please) …… absolutely nothing.

So, why the excitement?

They both write they want to reform the Department of Transportation. (DOT) Sounds like a grand idea.

One reform they have in mind: a bill that will stop the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) from fining the DOT when it pollutes our rivers and streams.

I can’t say for sure, but I wonder if this bill is in response to a story we did last year. We found the single biggest polluter of Georgia’s waterways was the Georgia DOT. The pollution: the soil, dirt, and mud that DOT and its contractors dumped into our river system. An I-Team investigation of all EPD enforcement actions found the most consent orders (11) were filed against the DOT. Total fines: more than $400,000. That number is much higher now.

(To view story:)

Those fines are ultimately paid by the taxpayers. DOT’s chief engineer, David Studstill promised DOT would do better. I believe he sincerely meant it.

Of course, a simple solution would be for the DOT to force their contractors to pay the fines instead of the taxpayers. I’m told that rarely if ever happened in the past.

A recent agreement between DOT and EPD will identify the contractors who pollute our waters in a EPD enforcement actions.

Mmmmmm. Could this new agreement be what’s behind this piece of legislation?

So, now with Senate Bill 420 the Lt. Governor and Senator Pearson want to stop those fines under the state Erosion and Sediment Control act, writing it is a bad idea for one agency to take money from another.

I hope they also believe it is a bad idea for one state agency to pollute Georgia waters. But, I didn’t see anything about that in the bill.

Anyway, it is touted as a DOT reform. Only one problem. (Drum roll again, please)

The DOT is already exempt from the Erosion and Sediment Control Act.

Elizabeth Nicholas, lawyer for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper said it best in an email to her constituents:

“The GA DOT is already exempt from enforcement under the Erosion and Sediment Control Act. So, this amendment would make them exempt from penalties under an act that they are already exempt from, i.e., it does nothing.” 

 You, see when the EPD levies fines against the DOT they do so under the authority of a federal permit, not the state erosion and control act.

Ms. Nicholas contends the STATE legislature could not change this FEDERAL law without creating a conflict that could easily be challenged. But she fears that when the sponsors of this brilliant legislation realize their bill does nothing, they will amend it and try to make one state agency exempt from punishment.

My guess: the bill that does nothing will probably go nowhere.