By Matt Tomsic
mtomsic@scbiznews.com
Published Feb. 1, 2012

COLUMBIA — State senators expect to pass a bill today to suspend the decisions made for the Savannah River by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The legislative action follows the state House’s passage of a similar bill last week.

Sen. Larry Grooms Gov. Nikki Haley

On Tuesday, the state Senate voted on the second reading for S. 1115 and the House equivalent to the Senate’s bill, H. 4627.

Both bills passed unanimously, 35-0 for S. 1115 and 37-0 for H. 4627.

State Sen. Larry Grooms, a Republican representing the Lowcountry, said he expects the Senate to pass the third reading today, which would send the bill to Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk.

Haley has five days to sign or veto the bill, Grooms said. If she doesn’t do either, the bill becomes law without her signature.

“The House was quick in their deliberations,” Grooms said, adding the state Senate bill was scheduled to go to a subcommittee Tuesday.

But the subcommittee’s members were satisfied with the bill, which was brought back to the floor for the second reading, he said.

The bill suspends all DHEC decisions since 2007 concerning navigability, depth, dredging, wastewater disposal, sludge disposal and collateral issues on South Carolina’s portion of the Savannah River.

The resolution notes that the Savannah River Maritime Commission supersedes DHEC’s authority for the river. It also says DHEC violated the maritime commission’s authority by granting a water permit to the Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which is expected to deepen the Savannah River to 48 feet.

Grooms said the resolution references the Legislature’s intent to move all authority for the Savannah River to the Savannah River Maritime Commission in 2007, when the General Assembly created the commission.

“If you look up the Greek meaning of the word ‘all’ it means all,” Grooms said.

He said the General Assembly wants to stop the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project because of environmental concerns and its impact on the Jasper Ocean Terminal, which is on the South Carolina side of the river. Grooms and Charleston maritime officials have said the harbor expansion will kill the Jasper project.

“The main goal (of the legislation) would be to ensure that the Savannah Harbor dredging project does not move forward as currently designed,” Grooms said. “At the end of the day, that’s where we’d like to be.”

Grooms said today’s vote should be routine.

“It’s very unusual to have every member of the House and every member of the Senate, that there would be no dissenting votes on something of this importance,” Grooms said.