Defending Environmental Permit Appeals

Though rarely invoked, citizens have a right to appeal environmental permits for landfills, power plants and other construction if their property will be harmed by the project. For 23 years, the “stay” rule ensured construction could not move forward until a judge reviewed and ruled on a permit that had been appealed.

* SB 190 (passed), championed by utilities and other polluters, was originally written to eliminate the stay rule. Working with our coalition partners, Georgia PIRG fought the rollback and saved the stay rule to the extent that there is now an automatic 90-day hold on construction with an option for a judge to extend it an additional 60 days.

Protecting Georgia’s Waters

Many of Georgia’s rivers, lakes and streams are unsafe for fishing and swimming because of runoff pollution from development and toxic chemicals from polluters.

* HB 550 (did not pass), the Georgia Water Quality Control Act, was our top environmental priority. Introduced with strong bipartisan support, it would establish water discharge fees for polluters to fund environmental protection officers needed to enforce the Clean Water Act. Due to heavy opposition from industry and city and county governments, it stalled in the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

Maintaining Consumer Privacy

Sloppy industry practices threaten the security of Georgians’ personal and financial information.

* SB 230 (passed), the Security Breach Notification Bill, requires ChoicePoint and other data dealers to notify Georgians whose personal information has been subject to unauthorized disclosure. Georgia PIRG supported the bill, but lobbied for it to apply to all business and government entities, including financial and educational institutions.

* SB 46 (passed), the Georgia PIRGbacked Wireless Privacy Act, requires cell phone companies to obtain the express consent of consumers before before making their cell phone numbers available in a 411 directory.

Strengthening Our Democracy

Georgians have a right to a political system that is open, accessible and accountable to average citizens. Confidence of the people in our elected officials requires strong ethical guidelines and assurance that governmental decisions are fully open to public scrutiny.

* HB 48 (passed), the Ethics in Government Act, expands the definition of a lobbyist, establishes rules prohibiting public officers from advocating the hiring of family members and requires more financial disclosure on the part of political candidates. Our advocates helped strip a handful of provisions supported by House leadership to weaken current law. Although it does not contain provisions laid out in the governor’s original bill to limit lobbyist gifts or allow the Ethics Commission jurisdiction over conflict of interest cases, we consider the bill to be a good start.

* HB 218 (did not pass) would have created a loophole to exempt economic development negotiations from the GA Open Records Act until the deal is done. For example, the state could use taxpayer dollars to lure a company to site a landfill in a community without notifying the community until after the deal was finalized. Georgia PIRG opposed the bill, which stalled in the Senate, but will return next year.