Georgia River Network v. Turner

A buffer variance was improperly issued to a County's board of commissioners allowing the County to encroach upon the 25-foot vegetative buffer the Erosion and Sedimentation Act requires in order to construct a lake.

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These appeals and cross-appeals arise from a petition for administrative hearing Georgia River Network and American Rivers the “River Groups” filed to challenge a buffer variance the Director of the Environmental Protection Division “EPD” of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources “DNR” the “Director” issued to the Grady County Board of Commissioners the “County” under Georgia’s Erosion and Sedimentation Act in connection with the County’s plans to construct a 960-acre fishing lake. The buffer variance permits the County to encroach upon the 25-foot vegetative buffer the Erosion and Sedimentation Act requires adjacent to streams on the site. The Administrative Law Judge “ALJ”, after rejecting two challenges to her jurisdiction, reversed the variance, concluding that it failed to account for buffers required for wetlands on the site. In parallel proceedings for judicial review, the Superior Court of Fulton County the “Fulton Court” and the Superior Court of Grady County the “Grady Court” collectively, the “Superior Courts” issued orders reversing the ALJ’s decision.

In Case Nos. A14A0215 and A14A0272, the River Groups appeal from the Fulton Court and Grady Court orders, respectively, arguing that the Superior Courts erred in finding that the ALJ lacked jurisdiction and in concluding as to the merits that the Erosion and Sedimentation Act requires a 25-foot buffer only along the banks of state waters with vegetation wrested by normal stream flow or wave action. In Case Nos. A14A0273 and A14A0274, the Director and County, respectively, cross-appeal the Grady Court order. Although they do not contest the reversal of the ALJ decision, they argue that the Grady Court erred by finding “no obvious error” in the ALJ’s standing determination.

Georgia River Network v. Turner

A buffer variance was improperly issued to a County's board of commissioners allowing the County to encroach upon the 25-foot vegetative buffer the Erosion and Sedimentation Act requires in order to construct a lake.

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