H.B.
528 co-authored by students
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March 5, 57 Chattahoochee High School students and two teachers will
converge on the state Capitol to ask the Ways and Means subcommittee to support
H.B. 528, a bill that would provide a financial incentive to land developers if
they create wetland habitats instead of detention ponds.
The students will spend two hours prior to the committee meeting (at 1
p.m.) lobbying the benefits of the bill, which is inspired by the ARCH Project
at Chattahoochee High School. The committee meeting begins at 3 p.m.
About the Bill
H.B. 528, if approved, will provide a financial incentive to land
developers in the form of a 50% property tax deduction for a 10-year period if
the developer foregoes the construction of a detention pond in favor of a
constructed wetland habitat.
About the ARCH Project
The
ARCH Project stands for “Active Riparian Commensal Habitat.” Several years
ago a Chattahoochee student questioned the pollution in the creek behind the
school, which flowed into nearby John’s Creek and eventually, the
Chattahoochee River. The questions evolved into a continual student research
project called the ARCH Education Network, which will replace the retention pond
on the Chattahoochee campus with a wetland habitat. This new design will remove
pollutants that result from run-off water from the school's parking lot and
surrounding neighborhoods. Grants received from local and federal sources will
fund the construction of the wetland, amphitheater, and an outdoor learning
lab.
A
Promise
is Made
The idea for the H.B. 528 legislation originally began as a way to
fulfill a promise made by students to Congressman Johnny Isakson. In
June 2001, Isakson toured the school’s on-campus detention pond and heard the
students’ appeals for federal grant money to retrofit the pond to create a
wetland habitat capable of filtering 80% of the pollutants from campus storm
water run-off. Isakson met their request with a grant of $240,000 toward the
ARCH Project, provided that the students would research ways to replicate the
project nationally.
To fulfill that promise, the students researched ideas to encourage land
developers to spend the extra money to create wetland habitats rather than
continue building detention ponds that do nothing to stop water pollution or
land erosion. The idea of a tax credit, or abatement, was their answer and in
the summer of 2002, they took the idea to state Rep. Mark Burkhalter (R-36).
Burkhalter, an advocate of the Chattahoochee project as well as a developer,
agreed to sponsor the bill.
Students learn how a
bill becomes a law – by writing it
The 2002-03 school year began with Dell Pamplin's Advanced Placement (AP)
Environmental Science class and Adam Smiley's AP Government classes researching
the work involved in writing a bill. They traveled in teams to enlist support
from various state environmental agencies with Rep. Burkhalter as their guide.
Wayne Allen, legislative counsel for the state legislature, assisted the teams
by writing the legal version of the bill based on their requirements and
rough draft. The students also spent many hours learning the myriad of details
surrounding "their law" and practicing the finer points of lobbying.
Students learn
flexibility and preparedness
The students originally thought that the bill would be assigned to the
Natural Resources committee, but learned that it instead was assigned to the
Ways and Means committee. The students’ arguments now have been tailored to
address funding issues, rather than the environmental benefits of the program.