County presenter: ask legislature to let TDEC contract directly with county governments

A county presenter said the county will ask the state legislature to allow the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) to contract directly with county government entities or county health offices.

The presenter said current statute limits TDEC contracting to a local health department or a Board of Health and described the proposal as adding a third option—county government or Department/Board of Health—so that counties have an additional contracting path. The transcript does not provide a statute citation.

Why this matters: expanding who may contract with TDEC could change how environmental and public-health services are delivered locally by allowing counties to arrange services directly rather than relying only on existing local health departments or boards. The presenter framed the item as a request to the legislature rather than a finalized change.

Next steps: the presenter stated the county would ask the legislature to consider the change; no bill number, timeline for drafting, or sponsor was provided in the record.