Introduced in the House on July 25, 2007, to require the Department of Environmental Quality to create an online “Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool,” which would enable commercial and industrial facilities to determine from various factors what level of regulation and prior permit approval they would be subject to for groundwater withdrawals of various sizes. The bill allows a potential facility to request a determination from the DEQ of the specific registrations or permits that would be required, and the level of regulations and restrictions the enterprise would be subject to if the owners chose to proceed. The bill is part of a legislative package consisting of House Bills 5065 to 5073 that would restrict and subject to extensive regulation the use of groundwater by industrial and commercial businesses
The vote was 56 in favor, 52 opposed and 2 not voting
(House Roll Call 474 at House Journal 54)
Click here to view bill details.