Gov. Andy Beshear vetoes coal-backed bill that would allow pollution in more KY water
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday vetoed a controversial bill that would benefit the coal industry and other polluters by making it easier for them to contaminate water sources without repercussions from state environmental officials.
Beshear said Senate Bill 89 “threatens the quality of Kentucky’s water,” and imperils residents’ drinking water supply.
The bill would reduce the regulatory power of the Kentucky Division of Water by narrowing the definition of the waters it protects to mirror a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce the federal Clean Water Act.
Left unprotected, critics of the bill say, would be groundwater and “ephemeral headwater streams,” the small, temporary streams that flow into larger streams, creeks and rivers after a rain or snow melt. That puts at risk the underwater wells and river intakes used to provide water to many Kentuckians, they say.
“By redefining the waters of the Commonwealth to include only navigable waterways as defined in federal law, Senate Bill 89 makes Kentucky the only state in the country to cede its regulatory authority to the federal government,” Beshear wrote in his veto message.
“Senate Bill 89 fails to protect 156 public water systems sourced from groundwater that serve 558,624 connections and are used by more than 1.5 million Kentuckians,” Beshear wrote.
“Kentuckians deserve a government that protects one of the Commonwealth’s most abundant natural resources. Failing to protect all water sources in Kentucky will result in pollution, sickness and more dangerous flooding,” he wrote.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville, said it enjoys the backing of business and development groups that want something “protecting our job creators from unnecessary government red tape.”
In particular, Madon told lawmakers, the coal industry likes this bill. The Kentucky Coal Association endorsed it and sent representatives to sit with Madon as he presented the bill to legislative committees.
The veto might be short-lived.
The Senate bill passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled legislature with large enough GOP majorities to easily allow override votes of the governor’s veto when lawmakers return to the Capitol on Thursday and Friday for the final two days of their 2025 session.
