Mobile Baykeeper has responded to a bill signed into law that restricts an agency from adopting environmental protection rules more stringent than federal regulations.

"On the heels of a huge win for our bay, this is very disappointing,” said executive director William Strickland. “The bottom line is that our right to protect our and our family’s waters, health, and way of life through state law has been taken away. Big government and big business have conspired against the will of the people once again.”

The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva), was signed into law on Thursday despite pushback from environmental groups.

“Thousands of people called and wrote their elected officials begging them to vote no,” Strickland continued. “Several coastal representatives either voted no or abstained, which is nice. But the system is designed to make us give up and hand our power over to those who can afford dozens of lobbyists. The people of coastal Alabama are going to resist the temptation to give up and keep fighting for the waters, fish, shrimp, oysters, and the families who depend on them."

Supporters of the bill said it was a way to ensure that Alabama never enacts regulations that would drive up the cost of living. Alabama may still enact its own environmental regulations stricter than the federal government’s as long as those regulations are grounded in generally accepted scientific practices.

The “Sound Science” law went into effect upon signing.