Oneida Pushes Back at Efforts to Abolish Jackson Law
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Oneida Pushes Back at Efforts to Abolish Jackson Law
By Shane Gilreath
SCN Contributing Editor
[email protected]
A growing push to abolish Tennessee’s Jackson Law is raising alarms in small towns across Tennessee. On Thursday, Oneida, who has spent much of the past year fighting the proposed Roberta II landfill project, took matters into their own hands. For communities like Oneida, and those throughout Scott County, Jackson Law has become more than a statute, but a line of defense to advocate for local control on what happens in their own backyards.
On Thursday, Oneida Mayor Lori Phillips-Jones pointed directly to the statewide effort to dismantle the opt-in law when she asked the Board of Aldermen to pass a resolution formally supporting it. “There’s been a push at the state to do away with Jackson Law,” Phillips-Jones told the board, urging aldermen to act so that no one can go to the state and say that no one supports it. “We do care and we support it,” the Mayor said.
As has been widely reported by SCN, Jackson Law allows counties and municipalities to require local approval before a private landfill can be sited in their jurisdiction. Critics of the law, made up primarily of landfill operators and development interest groups, argue that it slows permitting, restricts landfill capacity, and creates obstacles for economic development. Supporters continue to counter that the real aim of repeal is to remove local veto power and streamline landfill approvals over community objections.
Oneida’s resolution, which passed unanimously, on a motion from Alderman Mark Byrd, frames the issue around balance – economic development that strengthens the local economy while protecting public health, environmental quality, and community trust. The town emphasizes that landfill siting decisions carry “substantial and lasting impacts” on air and water quality, land use, traffic, and the ability to attract clean, sustainable industries in the future.
The resolution also highlights Jackson Law’s role in ensuring public participation, an issue that has largely brought Roberta II to the forefront of public consciousness.
