A south Georgia lawmaker whose district borders the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has filed a new bill calling for a three-year moratorium on new surfacing mining permits in areas of Georgia that today sit untouched.
The bill, sponsored by Lake Park Republican Rep. John Corbett, would block state regulators from accepting any new permit applications for dragline mining for heavy mineral sands in areas where permits have not been previously issued.
The proposal would not stop an Alabama-based company, Twin Pines Minerals, from moving forward with a 582-acre demonstration proposal planned for Trail Ridge near the refuge. The state Environmental Protection Division issued draft permits for the company earlier this month, kicking off a new public comment period.
If passed, HB 1338 would prevent Twin Pines from expanding the footprint of the initial pilot project in the next three years, although Corbett acknowledged that is likely too tight a window to be a factor for Twin Pines. The company would have to apply for another permit to expand, starting another multiyear process.
The main benefit of the new bill, Corbett said, is the data that would be collected should the Twin Pines project move forward.
“If they get a permit, it will probably be tied up in court for a year or so but then should have time to get some data to prove out this type of mining going forward,” Corbett said in an interview. “So, it just gives some guardrails around this area while they get some data. That’s all we’re trying to do.”
His bill also creates new limits for the appeals phase for future mining permit applications. For example, a permit would kick in if the Office of State Administrative Hearings does not make a final decision on an appeal within about five months. Corbett said that is meant to create some “certainty.”
Corbett’s proposal emerged a little more than a week before Crossover Day, when a bill needs to clear at…
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