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Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Public water supplies gain protection but opponents say bill still puts wells, wetlands at risk
Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville, left, tells a House committee he worked with the Louisville Water Co. on amending Senate Bill 89. Clay Larkin, an attorney with the Kentucky Coal Association, sits next to him. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer) FRANKFORT — A bill that would limit state regulation of water pollution in Kentucky picked up an amendment in a House committee Tuesday morning, but opponents say the changes don't do enough to protect against groundwater contamination while small streams and wetlands would still be stripped of state environmental protections. Audrey Ernstberger, an attorney and lobbyist for the Kentucky Resources Council, told the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee on Wednesday the amended SB 89 'exposes rural communities to pollution risks that could devastate local economies and health.' Senate Bill 89 sponsor, Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville, and Rep. Jim Gooch, R-Providence, the chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee, said they worked with various groups to add an amendment to SB 89 after fielding concerns the legislation didn't adequately protect against groundwater pollution, leaving private water wells vulnerable in particular. Madon, speaking before the House committee next to a lawyer representing the Kentucky Coal Association, reiterated his reasoning for SB 89 arguing that industries from farming to manufacturing to coal mining would benefit from a limited definition of what waters the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet can regulate. 'The more I learned, the more I realized this isn't just a coal industry issue. These issues are affecting a wide variety of businesses and job creators across the Commonwealth,' Madon said. The amended bill is expected to come up for a House vote Wednesday afternoon. Madon pushed back on criticisms that the bill would threaten groundwater, saying he worked with the drinking water utility Louisville Water Company on changes to the bill. Vince Guenthner, a senior utilities consultant for the Louisville utility, told the Lantern he worked with Senate President Robert Stivers, Gooch, Madon and Kentucky House leadership on changes to SB 89. Guenthner said he believed the changes protected Louisville's water supply along with 'a vast majority' of public drinking water supplies in the state. He said his conversations with lawmakers did not discuss private drinking water wells. The amended SB 89 passed the House committee with all Republicans except one voting in favor of the bill. Democrats opposed the bill, citing concerns from environmental groups that the bill could harm the private drinking water sources of rural Kentuckians. Gooch said he met with the Energy and Environment Cabinet on changes to the bill but that it was his understanding the cabinet believed the changes did not go 'far enough' with water protections. The secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet expressed 'grave concerns' about the original version of the legislation. A cabinet spokesperson did not immediately provide a comment on the amended version of SB 89. Gooch said he expects the full House to vote on SB 89 on Wednesday. If approved, it would go back to the Kentucky Senate to accept or reject the changes. When asked about concerns from environmental groups about the amended bill still not adequately protecting groundwater, Gooch told the Lantern lawmakers would be willing to revisit the issue if 'a well is not being protected, especially private wells.' 'Too many people in the state depend on those, and we'll be looking at that,' Gooch said. 'It might be in a couple years we may have to come back and tweak something.' Gooch characterized one environmental lobbyist's testimony as 'hyperbole' during the Wednesday committee hearing. Environmental groups and a representative of a Letcher County nonprofit law firm in Eastern Kentucky in testimony honed in on strong concerns they still had about the bill's impacts on groundwater and the state's water resources at large, asserting the changes didn't go far enough to protect Kentuckians from potential water pollution. The amended version of SB 89, like the original, still changes the definition of 'waters of the commonwealth' by removing 'all rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, marshes, and all other bodies of surface or underground water, natural or artificial.' The state definition is changed to instead mirror the federal definition of 'navigable waters.' The bill also still sets bonding requirements for coal companies seeking permits for long-term treatment of water leaving mine sites. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that drastically cut the federal government's ability to regulate bodies of water and wetlands led to the Biden administration weakening federal rules on water pollution. Litigation over how expansive protections are under the Clean Water Act has continued over decades as various federal administrations have tried to define 'waters of the United States' in more broad, or restrictive, terms. The bill's amendment expands the definition of regulated state waters beyond the weakened federal standard in specific, limited cases, though not in ways that alleviate concerns from environmental groups. The amendment would add to the state definition sinkholes with 'open throat drains;' naturally occurring 'artesian or phreatic springs' and other springs used as water supply sources; and wellhead protection areas, which are surface and subsurface areas surrounding a water well or wellfield supplying a public drinking water system. Ernstberger in an interview with the Lantern said the specific examples included in the bill's amendment don't account for the variety of geological features involving groundwater such as karst aquifers. In testimony before the committee she said tens of thousands of agricultural wells along with private drinking water wells in rural Kentucky remain vulnerable to pollution. 'SB 89 also excludes off-stream ponds, reservoirs and headwaters. To say that none of these water resources require the same level of protection as our rivers and lakes is not just irresponsible. This is dangerous,' Ernstberger said. Nick Hart, a water policy director for the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, in testimony called on the legislature to preserve the existing definition of regulated state waters and instead take time to study the economic and statutory impacts of SB 89. Rebecca Shelton, the director of policy at the Letcher County-based Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, told lawmakers about how she uses a filter for a water well on her Eastern Kentucky property because the water contains heavy metals and bacteria. She said she's paid thousands of dollars to install the filter and maintain it and worries how SB 89 could impact other private well owners. 'I'm fortunate to have had these choices and the ability to pay for them. Yet I know there are still areas of Letcher County that do not, where households do not even have the option of hooking up to the public water system because the lines don't run to their house,' Shelton said. Rep. Bobby McCool, R-Van Lear, the only Republican to vote against the modified bill passing the committee, cited concerns about private water wells and impacts on utilities for his opposition. McCool represents Martin County that has for years dealt with infrastructure woes with its public drinking water utility. 'I certainly appreciate the efforts in trying to help with the coal industry,' McCool said. 'I just cannot take the risk of hurting the water system.' He said he wasn't confident concerns about private wells were 'taken care of.' Rep. Suzanne Miles, R-Owensboro, who voted in favor of the bill advancing, said the amendment came about from multiple people working on the changes. 'I think it's very important for all of us to recognize we all want clean water, and that is the intent of amending and just reassuring that we've protected the water,' Miles said.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protest held against Kentucky waterway regulation rollback bill
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — This is the week for Kentucky lawmakers to get many of their priorities to the finish line. This means advocates are also ramping up their efforts to stop some bills in their tracks. 'I'm calling this a pop-up protest because it happened so fast,' Elaine Tanner said at a gathering of protesters on Monday. Read more of the latest Kentucky news Just under a dozen environmental protesters met in downtown Pineville Monday to protest Senate Bill 89. It's the home of Sen. Scott Madon, who recently served as the city's mayor until a special election last fall and is sponsoring the bill. 'One has to question if the Cabinet even wants us to even mine coal in Kentucky,' Madon said as he presented the bill on the Senate floor last month. Madon said the bill would reduce 'red tape' for coal mining and construction permits by legally redefining 'waters of the Commonwealth' with the federal definition of 'navigable waterways.' Kentucky celebrates women's contributions at the capitol Protest held against Kentucky waterway regulation rollback bill Henderson jail directed to compensate current, former employees for unpaid time The current definition is expansive, counting 'any and all rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, marshes, and all other bodies of surface or underground water, natural or artificial.' 'We're dealing with protections of a point of entry. We have a point of entry. Someone puts something into a stream we can go find out real quick where it's at. We fought hard to get those protections in there,' Tanner said at Monday's protest. Now these advocates fear that hard work could be lost. The bill has already passed the Senate and received two of the three required readings to pass the House. This protest was to rally a few more calls and emails in an effort to kill the bill. Its supporters. However, argue the language being defended is easily weaponized. Read more of the latest news in politics 'Maybe they don't like your politics may like the type of work you in. That's not what government does. That's not the Cabinet's job. That's what's become of the Cabinet. And that is why, after many years of frustration of trying to work with them, that something had to be done,' Sen. Brandon Smith (R-Hazard) said in support of the bill on the Senate floor. The House committee the bill is assigned to meets regularly on Thursday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Eastern Kentucky senators say floods caused multimillion-dollar damage in their counties
Avian Perez looks into his family's flooded trailer for the first time since about 8 feet of water filled it. The Perez family lives at Ramsey Mobile Home Park in Pikeville, one of the Kentucky places hardest hit by recent rainfall. (Photo by) FRANKFORT — Two Eastern Kentucky senators told fellow lawmakers that recent floods have caused multimillion-dollar damage in the region, according to some of the initial assessments. Republican Sens. Phillip Wheeler and Scott Madon told the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee on Wednesday about the devastating damage their constituents have faced since the floods, which marred communities across the state and were followed by bitter winter weather. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said the weather-related death toll stood at 23 as of Tuesday afternoon. Wheeler is from Pike County, which was among the hardest hit by the latest flood. He told the committee that initial assessments in the county show damage of more than $50 million to roads. Eleven bridges have been washed out in the county. Local schools are still out due to flood damage, Wheeler added. One road that leads to a school building is a 'complete loss.' Some of the schools are also being used as shelters for people who have lost their homes. Wheeler said he has lived in the county since 1985 and has 'never seen anything like it in my life.' 'To see businesses that you've shopped at your entire life — small businesses, clothing stores, pharmacies, grocery stores —completely underwater is something that you don't get over real easy,' Wheeler said. Madon, of Pineville, said the damage across the five counties he represents — Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Knott and Letcher — appears to be more than $30 million, according to the initial assessments he's been given so far. Residents in Eastern Kentucky were still rebuilding their communities after devastating floods in 2022. Madon said that flood had caused more public damage, whereas more homes have been affected in the latest flood. In Floyd County, more than 450 homes have been lost this time. The county lost 250 in the 2022 flood. Madon, who was the mayor of Pineville until his election last November, said local government officials in the area are concerned about residents leaving the community. 'How many times is FEMA going to come in and pay those people?' Madon said. 'Once they do that a few times, they finally start mitigating and buying them out and moving them out.' Wheeler, who had last week expressed frustration with FEMA's previous responses to natural disasters in Kentucky, was among officials who met with acting FEMA Director Cameron Hamilton during a site visit Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is slated to have a press conference with Beshear Wednesday afternoon in Frankfort. Wheeler told reporters after the committee meeting he appreciated her appearance in the state. 'I think that until you really see the devastation on the ground firsthand, you can't get the full impact,' Wheeler said. 'So I'm grateful that the administration is here getting a first hand impression, and hopefully that will make the aid from FEMA and the federal government flow more quickly into the hands of businesses and people who need it.' So far, Republican President Donald Trump approved expedited disaster assistance for individuals and local governments in 11 Kentucky counties — Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Harlan, Knott, Lee, Letcher, Martin, Owsley, Perry and Pike. The president also approved an emergency declaration shortly after the flooding began on Feb. 14. The disaster in Kentucky comes as Trump has been critical of FEMA and floated the idea of disbanding it. He has established a 20-member committee to review the agency and propose ways to overhaul its work. Senate President Robert Stivers, a Manchester Republican who too has renewed his criticism of FEMA since the latest flood, said Tuesday afternoon that it was 'too early to tell' how the federal agency's current response has been so far. Stivers said three agencies within the White House have called him asking about FEMA's response. The Senate committee that heard Madon's and Wheeler's testimony has the power to review legislation that deals with budgets and finance issues. Its chair, Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, told reporters after the meeting that lawmakers will meet with the Beshear administration later Tuesday to discuss possible financial legislation. 'The answer is there will be something. I can't define that yet,' McDaniel said. 'I know there's still just a lot of evaluation going on as to what folks need.'
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wetlands, groundwater, small streams would lose KY protection under advancing bill
Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville, raises his hand Jan. 7 as the Senate is sworn for the 2025 legislative session. Madon's predecessor, the late Sen. Johnnie Turner of Harlan, started work on Senate Bill 89, which is supported by the coal industry. (LRC Public Information) A bill that would limit regulation of water pollution in Kentucky to a weakened federal standard advanced Wednesday from a state legislative committee, lawmakers touting it as relief from bureaucracy for industry. Environmental advocates and a former state environmental attorney lambasted the measure, Senate Bill 89, saying it could degrade water quality across the state, particularly wetlands, groundwater and waterways considered to be headwater or ephemeral streams. Headwaters are the origins and smallest parts of streams farthest from the endpoint of waterways, and ephemeral streams have running water only part of the year. SB 89 passed out of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee with votes from all present Republicans and one Democrat, Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson. Sen. Keturah Herron, D-Louisville, cast the only vote against the bill. The bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville, said the late Sen. Johnnie Turner began work on SB 89. Turner died less than a month before last year's general election. Madon, the former mayor of Pineville, won the seat as a write-in candidate. Madon, presenting the bill alongside representatives of the Kentucky Coal Association, described it as a 'common sense approach to energy policy,' saying the coal mining industry has been hampered by permitting barriers over water regulation. Madon in his testimony referenced a 2023 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that sharply limited the federal government's ability to police water pollution for bodies of water and wetlands that don't have a continuous surface connection to larger, regulated waterways. 'The effects of this decision was that small, [ephemeral] drains and many wetlands — places that are not really waters but rather are just wet when it rains — are no longer subject to federal permitting. This decision was huge, was a huge win for industries and the private landowners,' Madon said. He said the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet is still regulating 'streams and wetlands that are no longer subject to federal regulation, causing delays and unnecessary red tape for the coal industry.' Madon did not offer specifics about the permitting challenges when asked by the Lantern, though he said permitting barriers have arisen under both Democratic and Republican governors. A spokesperson for the Energy and Environment Cabinet didn't respond to a request for comment about the permitting challenges Madon referenced. Litigation over how far reaching protections are under the Clean Water Act has stretched over decades as various federal administrations have tried to define 'waters of the United States' in more expansive, or restrictive, terms. More than 1.5 million Kentuckians are served by public water systems that rely on groundwater, and about 416,000 Kentuckians use water wells or springs, reports the Kentucky Geological Survey. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that of Kentucky's 79,752 miles of streams and rivers, about 65% of them are ephemeral or intermittent. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that drastically cut the federal government's ability to regulate bodies of water and wetlands led to the Biden administration weakening federal rules on water pollution. Madon said his bill would align the state's water regulations to that standard SB 89 changes the definition of 'waters of the commonwealth' by removing 'all rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, marshes, and all other bodies of surface or underground water, natural or artificial.' The state definition is changed to instead refer to the federal definition of 'navigable waters.' The bill also sets bonding requirements for coal companies seeking permits for long-term treatment of water leaving mine sites. Environmental groups and a former state attorney who litigated cases of environmental damage strongly criticized the bill as having wide-reaching consequences, not only for the state's ecology but also for costs communities would have to bear to deal with water pollution. 'What he's calling red tape I would put forward is actually the process and the enactment of protections of waterways from hazardous pollutants and from damages to their integrity,' said Michael Washburn, the executive director of the nonprofit Kentucky Waterways Alliance. 'What SB 89 is really looking to do is just further tie the hands of the state.' Washburn said groundwater and other sources of water for private wells and public water systems could be threatened by the change in definition. he destruction of wetlands, he said, could remove a potential natural control mechanism for flooding in Eastern Kentucky. According to a fact sheet from the Kentucky Geological Survey, more than 1.5 million Kentuckians are served by over 100 public water systems that rely on groundwater, and about 416,000 Kentuckians use water wells or springs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency previously estimated that of Kentucky's 79,752 miles of streams and rivers, about 65% of them are ephemeral or intermittent. Audrey Ernstberger, an attorney with the environmental legal group Kentucky Resources Council, told the committee groundwater could be polluted by underground storage tanks, septic systems, unplugged oil and gas wells and landfills without recourse from state officials, who clean up spills of hazardous substances and enforce pollution controls on industry. Ernstberger also advocated for the value of protecting ephemeral streams, saying they filter pollution and provide habitat for aquatic wildlife. 'The economic consequences of this bill could be severe. Public water treatment costs could increase as utilities struggle to manage higher contamination levels,' Ernstberger said. 'We all live downstream of something, and all rivers start somewhere.' Madon said in an interview after the committee approved the bill that environmentalists were trying to say 'the sky is falling' and that he didn't want state regulation to overreach what's established by federal regulations. 'I just think we need to let our coal companies go to work and put our coal miners back to work and let's harvest our coal,' Madon said. Kathryn Hargraves, an attorney who worked from 1981 to 2003 in the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, now known as the Energy and Environment Cabinet, told the Lantern the bill would mean water quality standards for permits issued by the cabinet would no longer protect wetlands and ephemeral streams. She said having spent her career litigating 'environmental cleanup messes' for the state, the impact of pollution takes a long time to fix once it's been done. 'This bill is catastrophic,' Hargraves said. 'It's easy to enact stuff. You know, you can sign it with a pen, but the results on the ground you can't fix, you can't fix it with the stroke of a pen.'
