Title:
Applying new regulatory criteria to protect riparian buffer zones
Applying new regulatory criteria to protect riparian buffer zones
Author(s)
Champagne, Alice J. M.
Boden, Darcie
Boden, Darcie
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Abstract
The Riparian Buffer Protection Program
is one of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s
primary initiatives for protecting water quality and
streamside (riparian) greenspace along the
Chattahoochee River and its tributaries. In recent years,
there has been significant degradation to natural stream
buffers throughout the river basin due to development,
which has begun to focus on land previously viewed as
undesirable, such as floodplains and riparian areas. As
a result, water quality in these waterways is declining.
A recently-revised variance process, which allows
encroachment in stream buffers, given certain
conditions, is provided by the Georgia Erosion and
Sedimentation Act (GESA) and regulated by the
Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). Key
components of Riverkeeper’s Buffer Program include:
(1) review of EPD’s variance permitting program
through analysis of individual applications and the
agency’s enforcement actions, (2) evaluation of buffer
variance criteria for effectiveness and policy reform, (3)
educational workshops and materials for the public and
the regulated community to better understand stream
buffer laws, and (4) support of continuing scientific
research on the role of stream buffers in protecting
water quality.
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Date Issued
2003-04
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings