Legislation to reel in the amount of dredged sediment the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may release into the Mobile Bay was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday.
House Bill 181, sponsored by Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise, will require that 70 percent of sediment and material dredged from the Corps’ Mobile Ship Channel expansion project be put toward “beneficial use” and is not deposited in the Mobile Bay.
Beneficially used dredged material may include using the material for marsh creation, shoreline restoration on Dauphin and Sand islands.
HB181 also empowers the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to adopt rules or revise the Alabama Coastal Area Management Program to implement the bill’s provision.
The legislation was developed in response to controversy surrounding the Corps’ release of dredged materials into the bay through a process the Corps calls “thin-layer placement,” in which dredged material is dispersed by ships directly into the bay.
The process, which bill sponsors and environmental groups have referred to as “mud dumping,” has raised concerns regarding environmental impacts on the region. Critics of the practice such as the environmental protection organization, the Mobile Baykeeper, have cited negative impacts of mud dumping on oyster beds, seagrasses and aquatic life in the area and called for restrictions on the practice for the sake of commercial and recreational fishing industries in Mobile Bay.
The Corps completed a project to deepen the Mobile Ship Channel from 45 to 50 feet to accommodate larger ships and greater cargo capacity.
Bill sponsors alongside the Mobile Baykeeper have both cited that 90 million cubic yards of sediment is projected to be produced by the Corps within the next ten years as it maintains the area’s shipping channels.
HB181 will ensure that depositing dredged material into public waters is not permitted unless as part of a shoreline restoration or marsh creation project.
HB181 becoming law was met with celebration from the Baykeeper, which publicly endorsed the legislation and pushed for the its passage during public hearings for the bill.
“For years, dredged mud was dumped directly into Mobile Bay. It smothered oyster reefs, buried seagrass, and clouded the water that coastal families rely on for fishing, seafood, tourism, and recreation. This law gives our Bay a chance to recover and gives our oysters and seagrass a fighting chance,” the Baykeeper wrote on Tuesday.
Baykeeper Director of Communications Caine O’Rear told APR that the legislation’s quick passage was achieved through support from both lawmakers and local residents.
“It was a community initiative,” O’Rear said. “We’d like to thank state Rep. Rhett Marques for taking leadership and filing the bill, and state Senator Chris Elliott for his unwavering support and commitment to, you know, Mobile Bay’s water.”
Marques, alongside Sen. Chris Elliot, R-Josephine, who led the Senate version of the bill, championed the legislation’s success and impacts on the region in statements released upon HB181’s Senate passage last week.
“I’m proud to have unanimously passed HB181 to stop irresponsible mud dumping in Mobile Bay, and to see it headed to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law,” Marques wrote. “Our success is proof that we can keep our economy strong while protecting Alabama the Beautiful for generations to come.”
“As Baldwin County’s state senator, protecting Mobile Bay and preserving the environment that makes our area such a special place to live, work, worship, and raise our families rank among my highest priorities,” Elliot said of the bill.
“With passage of this bill, we have shielded the commercial and sport fishing industries, ensured that our waters remain clean and clear, and protected the important oyster beds, seagrasses, and other aquatic life that mud dumping harms,” the senator added.
Alongside celebrating HB181’s enactment, the Baykeeper has urged Alabamians to advocate for further federal regulations of mud dumping by U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., through the inclusion of language in the 2026 Water Resources Development Act that prohibits the practice.
“This win belongs to fishermen, oyster farmers, coastal communities, and everyone who refused to stay quiet for Mobile Bay,” the Baykeeper wrote. “But there is still more work to do. We need Senator Katie Britt to finish the job by putting language into WRDA that ends mud dumping for good.”
Britt championed the inclusion of a provision in the 2024 version of the act that also required 70 percent of dredged material be put toward beneficial uses.
O’Rear expressed hope that, alongside HB181, which ensures mud dumping cannot be considered a beneficial use of dredged material, stronger federal restrictions on mud dumping will prevent the practice from impacting the bay’s ecosystem.
“The state legislation is a huge first step,” he said. “This is going to do a lot, but we want 100 percent of the mud dumping to be banned, and that’s going to happen through Katie Britt incorporating this language.”
HB181 has also drawn support from Bayou La Batre Mayor Barnes, Spanish Fort Mayor Bass, Daphne Mayor LeJeune, Baldwin Realtors, Alabama’s Beaches: The Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Point Clear Property Owners Association, the Fort Morgan Civic Association, the Little Lagoon Preservation Society, Alabama Commercial Fishermens Association LLC, Eat Alabama Wild Seafood, Admiral Shellfish Company, Bama Bay Oyster Farm and the Organized Seafood Association of Alabama.
Now that Ivey has signed HB181 into law, the legislation will take effect on October 1.
