Hello TSRA Members,
It has been a busy March. I represented the TSRA at the Keep Tennessee Beautiful’s Great American clean up kick off lunch on March 1st. Then, on March 6th, attended the Tennessee Battery Recycling, Reuse &Second Life Applications Workshop put together by Tennessee Tech and TDEC. We were well received at both events as positive actors in our state, which is a testament to the hard work you all put into our communities every day.
Our Lobbyist team, Kim Adkins and Steve Buttry, have also been working hard and put together a legislative update below. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Thank you all for what you do to make this organization successful.
“Legislative committees started to shut down this week, a sign that the legislature will finish session mid-to-late April. Next week will be another busy week with heavy bill volume.
The EPR bill (SB 573 Campbell / HB 550 Harris) was officially assigned to the General Subcommittee / taken off notice in the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday – effectively killing the bill. The bill didn’t have enough votes to pass out of the committee.
Second, The “Clean Act” caption bill (SB 803 Briggs / HB 1451 Faison) was amended to create another litter study / task force to be conducted by a university is being taken off notice by the House bill Sponsor Rep. Faison – effectively killing the bill.
On Wednesday, a Solid Waste Task Force passed the Senate Ag Committee and will be heard on the House side in the next few weeks. The amended version of
SB2705 sponsored by Chairman Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) would create a 15 person task force to look for solutions to the state’s solid waste issues. The task force would be comprised of six appointees by Chairman Southerland, six by Chairman Chris Todd (R-Madison County) of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and three from the Governor. The amendment also allows companies to voluntarily donate funds to the decades long standing recycling grants fund / program. The House may have a different version of the task force, but we anticipate some type of committee or task force will pass this year on solid waste and diversion.”
Andrew Rice
President
TSRA President
