A controversial bill that would allow pollution of drinking water supplies throughout much of rural Kentucky was expected to soon pass into law, but has now hit a snag in a state House committee.
Rep. Jim Gooch, the GOP chairman of the House Natural Resources and Energy committee, told lawmakers at a meeting Thursday that some concerns raised by opponents of Senate Bill 89 “may have validity,” requiring an amendment if it is to pass into law this session.
The bill already passed the Senate by a wide margin, despite environmentalists’ warnings that its exemption of many bodies of water from anti-pollution regulations would lead to unlimited pollution of groundwater and other sources that supply many Kentuckians’ drinking water.
Thursday was the last scheduled meeting of the House committee for the 2025 session, but Gooch said he may call a special meeting next Tuesday if they can find language to address the concerns about groundwater pollution.
Next Friday is the final day of the session before the governor’s veto period begins. Any bill passed by both chambers by that day and later vetoed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear can have that veto overridden by a majority vote of the legislature when they return for the final two days of the session in late March, where Republicans hold a dominant supermajority.
Gooch — a longtime advocate of the coal industry and opponent of environmental regulations — told the committee that lawmakers have “probably gotten more emails on groundwater with this bill than anything else that we have gotten” in the session. While he said he disregarded 98% of those emails due to them coming in a form response, he acknowledged that some of the criticism made good points.
“I have started to see that some of those concerns that were raised to me may have validity,” Gooch said.
Gooch says he is working on amended language for SB 89 “that would make sure that we are not doing anything that would negatively impact groundwater or take away our ability to regulate and protect — whether it be well water, whether it be our underground caves, our karst streams, sinkholes or whatever, especially people's well.”
“Not only do people in much of Kentucky have wells for their well water, but even a lot of our communities will have wells that they used in their treatment facilities for the water for their communities.”
The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting documented this week that the bill could impact 31,000 domestic use wells that pull water from the ground, which are especially concentrated in rural eastern and western Kentucky. Public water systems that rely on groundwater also serve residents in mostly small communities along the Ohio River and in far western Kentucky.
Gooch said if he comes up with amended language “that makes this bill presentable,” the committee could pass it at a special meeting next week, giving it enough time to pass before the veto period.
Lesley Sneed, an environmental permitting specialist for the Kentucky Resources Council, a leading environmental advocacy group, remains skeptical that any amended bill Gooch produces would correct the faults of the original bill.
In order to truly address concerns about the bill, Sneed says it would have to strike its provision that redefines what are considered “waters of the commonwealth” that are afforded pollution protections. The bill currently changes this to “navigable waters” under the federal definition of “waters of the United States,” which excludes all streams in the state that end up in a sinkhole.
“They seem to be focusing on the groundwater part of it... that's kind of what (Gooch) had said today,” Sneed said. “But the thing is, you can't just focus on groundwater as if it's a separate thing in the state of Kentucky.”
Sneed added that she intends to point out to Gooch how this would affect a major waterway in and near his western Kentucky district.
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Because Skinframe Creek goes into a sinkhole, Sneed said its 29,000 feet of perennial stream, 28,000 feet of intermittent stream and 30 acres of wetlands will no longer be protected under SB 89. She added that the watershed of the creek is nearly 17,000 acres of prime farmland that would no longer have protections.
Sneed said that 81,802 Kentuckians have used their action alert to email legislators in opposition to SB 89, and believes that they all deserve to be taken into consideration and not cast aside, as Gooch suggested he did.
“Obviously, the citizens of Kentucky clicked on that action alert because they have concerns about it,” Sneed said. “So I feel like those should be at least tallied.”
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
