Officials at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation say the changes are meant to improve the permitting process while protecting waterways.
But environmental groups are concerned that proposed changes will further erode Tennessee’s water pollution protections.
Environmentalists point to a recent shopping center project in Cookeville, where TDEC allowed a developer to fill in protected wetlands.
Easing water quality standards Tennessee — led by the Republican-dominated General Assembly — has been chipping away at water quality regulations in recent years.
In both cases, the Haslam administration opposed the changes, but the governor allowed them to become law without a veto.
Rule changes to allow for faster permitting One rule change would make it clear that developers could disturb some of the state’s most bio-diverse and pristine streams and wetlands — those considered “exceptional Tennessee waters” — as long as they mitigate the damage within a defined nearby area.
Two judges have sided with the state, and the Water Quality Control Board is set to hear the environmental group’s appeal in October.
Another set of rule changes that could impact water quality, advocates say, would clarify the level of acceptable pollution or damage in a stream.
The rule changes propose setting “baseline conditions” when a developer applies for a permit.
The EPA recommends that states set the allowable limits of nutrients to a certain level in the reference streams, but TDEC has been using a more lenient standard, potentially allowing more nutrients.