WSB/2/7
Sponsored by Akhil Giddaluri, Anthony Xian of McCallie 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 I: Terms used in this act, unless the context requires otherwise, shall be defined as |
| 4 | follows: |
| 5 | Riparian zones - land around the edges of bodies of water spanning about one hundred yards |
| 6 | Riparian forest buffers - riparian zone containing trees, shrubs, and perennial plants (which help |
| 7 | maintain stream quality) usually seen in agricultural, urban, and suburban areas |
| 8 | Pesticides - agent used to kill pests, most often used in agriculture |
| 9 | Runoff - rainwater that has picked up pollutants such as fertilizer, oil, pesticides, dirt, bacteria, etc. |
| 10 | Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation - Cabinet-level agency first created in |
| 11 | 1937 within the government of the U.S. state of Tennessee that exists to enhance the quality of |
| 12 | life for citizens of Tennessee and to be stewards of our natural environment |
| 13 | Freshwater Quality Index - Tool developed by scientists to evaluate the quality of streams. |
| 14 | Summarizes bodies of water on a scale from 1-100. |
| 15 | Poor Water Quality - less than 25 |
| 16 | Fair Water Quality - between 25 and 50 |
| 17 | Average Water Quality - between 51 and 70 |
| 18 | Good Water Quality - between 71 and 90 |
| 19 | Excellent Water Quality - between 91 and 100 |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Section II: Streamside trees will be planted for streams that require it to ensure that each |
| 22 | stream’s riparian zone acts as a riparian forest buffer, properly filtering pesticides, pollution, and |
| 23 | sediment build-up from runoff, providing nutrients and food for surrounding ecosystems, and |
| 24 | reducing flood water velocity. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Section III: A committee, composed of five professionals in and related to the field, will be formed |
| 27 | that will be in charge of delegating work and regulating the planting of the trees. These |
| 28 | professionals will be deemed and hired by the Tennessee Department of Environment and |
| 29 | Conservation (TDEC). |
| 30 | |
| 31 | Section IV: The species of trees will be regulated by the committee established in section III. |
| 32 | Some possible tree species include but are not limited to the following: Bald Cypress (Taxodium |
| 33 | distichum), Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), Sycamore (Plantus occidentalis), Swamp White Oak |
| 34 | (Quercus bicolor), River Birch (Betula nigra), Sugar Hackberry (Celtis laevigata), Sweetbay |
| 35 | Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana). |
| 36 | Section V: Streams and rivers that are of poor water quality (determined by freshwater quality |
| 37 | index (WQI)) will be chosen by the committee for tree-planting. The committee will prioritize |
| 38 | |
| 39 | example, a body of water that will be prioritized is the Holston River, which ranks third for dirtiest |
| 40 | rivers in America and ranks annually in the poor range of the Freshwater Quality index. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | Section VI: Ten workers will be hired annually per each body of water to plant trees along the |
| 43 | streams edges. The distance between the stream and the edge of the riparian forest buffer will be |
| 44 | one hundred yards to ensure the buffer is as effective as possible. |
| 45 | |
| 46 | Section VII: This bill will cost $2,904,240 to the state of Tennessee. This includes the cost to plant |
| 47 | the trees and also includes the salaries for the workers and professionals on the committee. All |
| 48 | funds will be allocated from Tennessee’s budgetary surplus. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Section VIII: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | Section IX: This bill shall take effect on July 1st of this year, the start of Tennessee's fiscal year. |
| 53 |