Today's News-Sentinel has a great editorial on three bills that are pending in the state legislature.

One of the bills, Sentate bill SB4119 and House bill HB4185, is not so good. It tries to remove protection from wetlands and "ephemeral streams" that are often the headwaters of rivers in mountainous areas, and also removes the protections from adjacent lands. Wetlands serve as a habitat for aquatic life and protect surrounding areas from flooding, and they provide a filtration system for surface waters. If these wet weather streams are polluted, they carry the pollutants to other water bodies and contaminate them as well.

The other two bills, "Stop Work Orders Bill" (HB3521 and SB3651) and "Green Design Incentives Bill" (HB3965 and SB3956), provide the "carrot and the stick" tools for cities and counties to protect their water resources.

We have an obligation to our children and grandchildren to protect our clean water resources, and I'm so glad to see the News-Sentinel take a stand on this important legislation.

Contact your legislators and let them know you oppose SB4119 and HB4185 and that you support HB3521 and SB3651 and HB3965 and SB3956.

sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.bill.dunn@legislature.state.tn.us
sen.jamie.woodson@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.harry.tindell@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.park.strader@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.joe.armstrong@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.frank.niceley@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.stacey.campfield@legislature.state.tn.us
rep.harry.brooks@legislature.state.tn.us