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Legislation protecting the majority of two Middle Tennessee rivers received final approval from the state legislature Thursday, prohibiting the installation of landfills within two miles of the scenic waterways.

Shelbyville Republican Rep. Pat Marsh sponsored the bill, which designates nearly all of the Duck River, Buffalo River and their tributaries as Class II pastoral waterways. This designation includes protections against mining, commercial timber harvest and landfill uses, but allows agriculture and other traditional rural uses to continue.

Tennessee House representatives on Thursday approved the bill 81-5, with seven members present but not voting. The bill previously passed in the Senate, 32-0. It now goes to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. 

Lee has been supportive of efforts to protect the Duck River, which is the longest river within Tennessee’s borders and the most biodiverse freshwater river in North America. Lee created a planning partnership in November 2024 tasked with recommending ways to balance the river’s conservation with growing demand for water in the region.

The bill’s passage was celebrated by conservationists and residents in counties surrounding the Duck River.

Marsh said the river — which provides drinking water to at least 250,000 people in the Middle Tennessee region — is “very important” to him and his community. All members of the General Assembly whose districts touch these rivers signed onto the legislation as co-prime sponsors, he said.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, a Culleoka Republican, also voiced his support for the bill. Cepicky spearheaded a 2023 effort to classify portions of the Duck River as Class II scenic waterways to protect the river from a planned landfill expansion and waste processing sites on land formerly owned by the Monsanto Chemical Company.

The legislation also had a staunch opponent in Rep. Chris Todd, a Madison County Republican who has attempted to remove landfill restrictions from scenic river protections several times in recent years. Todd, whose district does not border or contain the river, said his concern lies with the landfill prohibition’s implications for property rights.

The landfill site’s owners sued over the blocked landfill expansion, and the case remains pending in Davidson County Chancery Court.

Todd proposed several amendments to the bill, none of which prevailed in committees or on the House floor. Todd, the chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, moved to table the bill during the committee’s meeting on March 31, a move that would pause consideration of the bill. The motion failed.

Marsh said he worked with Todd after the committee meeting on an amendment that lawmakers added to the bill Thursday.

The amendment specifies that the bill doesn’t bar construction, operation or expansion of landfills that have a valid landfill permit prior to the bill’s passage.

Marsh said there are no pending applications for a landfill in areas contained in the bill, which applies protections to the entire Duck River except for a segment that the Tennessee Valley Authority deems part of the Normandy Reservoir.

Of the nine landfill permits issued within the two-mile buffer zone for the Duck and Buffalo rivers, only three remain active, according to TDEC. This includes a permit at the former Monsanto site, a site owned by Maury County government that was never constructed, and another site owned by a graphite materials company. Another site in Perry County lies near the buffer zone and would need an on-the-ground measurement to determine whether it would be affected by the bill.

Having an “active” permit does not mean there is landfill activity happening on the site.

Notably, Marsh said the amendment does not impact expansion restrictions already in place for the former Monsanto site.

“That part (of the river) is not in this bill,” Marsh said.

Todd on Thursday said he was concerned that the amendment did not exempt all of the existing permits – namely, the permit for the former Monsanto property – because that stretch of the river was not included in the bill.

“I cannot support that,” Todd said.

Rep. Rusty Grills, a Republican representing Northwest Tennessee, asked if the bill gives property owners the opportunity to decide whether or not their land falls under scenic river protections. Marsh said it does not, but added that TDEC must obtain notarized consent from landowners before establishing the river’s boundaries.

Summertown Republican Rep. Kip Capley asked if the legislation would interfere should the state desire to reconstruct the Columbia Dam — a project dismantled in the 1990s. Marsh said the bill does not address that.

A group pushing to resurrect the dam project has reached out to U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in an attempt to secure congressional funding for a feasibility study. Another group opposes the idea, warning of negative environmental impacts and structural and logistical concerns.

Chapel Hill Republican Rep. Todd Warner introduced a resolution in January that would express support for building another Columbia Dam, but it was removed from consideration in early February.

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