Legislation Eliminates Nominating Authority to Regulatory Boards
Lawmakers, in an attempt to lessen the "special interest" influence on the state's boards and commissions, have proposed to eliminate the nominating authority of stakeholders, including the Tennessee Municipal League, making these board positions political appointments solely determined by the governor.
TML opposes SB 2949 by Sen. Bo Watson and HB2862 by Rep. Susan Lynn, particularly as it pertains to the five state environmental regulatory boards: the Solid Waste Disposal Control Board; the Water Quality Control Board; the Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Board, and the Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee; and the Air Pollution Control Board.
Currently, state law stipulates that at least one seat on the environmental regulatory board positions "shall" be chosen by the governor from a list of names submitted by TML, ensuring that the representative on these boards is a qualified person with the technical expertise to provide the local government input on issues that affect the regulated community. The proposal states that the governor simply "may" choose the local government representative from a list of names submitted, provided that the person is engaged in municipal government.
Municipalities fought for and won the opportunity to make these nominations to ensure that the interest of local governments is considered during the formation of policies that directly affect municipalities and their residents.
Local governments are not special interest groups. Municipalities are political subdivisions of the state, governed by leaders who are elected and accountable to the citizens and taxpayers in their respective communities, and not to shareholders, stockholders, or boards of directors. Further, the relationship between state and local governments has always been a valuable partnership, which has included being able to identify qualified candidates with the technical knowledge to serve on the state's environmental regulatory boards.
TML is not alone in its fight against this harmful legislation. Several organizations and entities have joined together to express their total opposition to legislative efforts that, if enacted, will result in fundamental and unacceptable changes to Tennessee's environmental regulatory boards and their impact on the state of Tennessee.
SB 2949 was heard in the Senate Government Operations Committee Tuesday, April 20th, and was amended to change the current nomination process. The bill passed in the committee and has not been scheduled for the Senate floor to date. TML continues to oppose this legislation and will work to keep the current nomination process in place.
