Thanks in large part to public outcry over HB 271's weakening of the Shore Protection Act, the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee has refused to vote on the bill and instead has assigned it to a study committee for further analysis. Having helped prevent the bill from moving forward and encouraged the Senate committee to research the shore protection issue more carefully, we (all of us) have made possible the drafting of a more rational and effective bill for consideration in next year's legislative session.
We strongly encourage you to send a brief note to Senator Frank Ginn, who is the Chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, thanking him for his leading role in ensuring that HB 271 was set aside so that the shore protection issue could be more thoroughly researched. Since legislators often receive complaints but rarely a note of commendation, a brief note of thanks will help highlight the importance of yesterday's Senate decision regarding HB 271. Senator Ginn's email address is frank.ginn@senate.ga.gov. If you would rather call the senator's office, his number is 404-656-4700.
With HB 271 comatose for now, IPJI will be doing all it can to ensure that the best and latest research on coastal dynamics and shoreline change be taken into account in determining the proper jurisdiction of Georgia's Shore Protection Act (SPA).
In that regard, we will be asking the study committee to work with the prominent coastal scientist Dr. Chester Jackson, who is a professor at Georgia Southern University and works at the Applied Coastal Research Lab at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. In a recent note to the members of the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, Dr. Jackson-whose research on shore erosion has won international acclaim-introduced the steps that could be taken to establish a science-based method for determining the SPA's jurisdictional boundary and volunteered to work with the study committee and the Georgia DNR to achieve that goal.
In coming months, we will monitor the study committee's work and do our best to ensure that the shore protection legislation drafted for next year honors the spirit and intent of the 1979 Shore Protection Act.
Again, thank you for taking the time to support the effort to provide Georgia's shoreline with the protection it needs and deserves.
