WHB/3/7
Sponsored by Kai Norris, Lauren Demery, Johnny Lin of Lausanne Collegiate School
This legislation was filed in the Environment and Conservation category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Memphis Aquifer - The main aquifer recognized under Memphis, TN, and surrounding states. |
| 5 | Synonymous with Sparta Aquifer, Memphis Sand Aquifer, and Memphis Sand. |
| 6 | Recharge Zone - An area where water is able to infiltrate the ground and refill the Memphis |
| 7 | Aquifer’s underground reservoir as no confining layer is present. |
| 8 | Impervious Cover - A surface area that reduces natural rainwater infiltration to the ground by over |
| 9 | 80%. |
| 10 | Independent Ownership of Land - All land over recharge zones that are currently owned by one |
| 11 | entity. |
| 12 | Property Value - The most probable price a property would retrieve on a fair open market, to be |
| 13 | determined case-by-case when necessary. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Section 2: Any independent ownership of land may not be more than 30% covered by impervious |
| 16 | cover in any Memphis Aquifer recharge zone within Tennessee. This includes the topmost layers of |
| 17 | any structures or large objects. |
| 18 | Section 3: Urban and suburban areas, as defined by Tennessee State Law, are exempt from this |
| 19 | bill. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Section 4: Properties that include at least one primary residence, and are under 10,000 square |
| 22 | feet in surface area, are exempt from this bill. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Section 5: Within the designated recharge zones, no impervious cover can be within a tenth of a |
| 25 | mile of any natural body of water, including, but not limited to, streams, rivers, and lakes. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Section 6: Firms that violate this bill under their existing land ownership are taxed at a linear rate |
| 28 | of land value, starting at a 0.5% tax payment, increasing by 0.5% of the land value per year, to |
| 29 | be paid out at the end of every fiscal year to the Tennessee Department of Environment and |
| 30 | Conservation. The tax is capped at 5% per year. Once firms are in accordance with the bill, any |
| 31 | further violations will be covered under Section 7. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Section 7: Firms that violate this bill by actively going over the 30% impervious cover limit after |
| 34 | the date of January 1st, 2028 will be charged a flat tax rate of 5% of the property value paid to |
| 35 | the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation at the end of every fiscal year. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Section 8: Enforcement of this bill will require at least 5 new state-employed inspectors to cover |
| 38 | |
| 39 | guaranteed, but assuming an average of about $50,000 annual salary per inspector, it will cost the |
| 40 | state around $250,000 per year. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | Section 9: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | Section 10: This act shall take effect January 1st, 2028, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 45 |