NASHVILLE — A proposed local privilege tax on whitewater rafting on the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers complies with federal law, Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper says.

In a legal opinion released Wednesday, Mr. Cooper said House Bill 2411, which would allow Polk County to impose a privilege tax on the “amusement” of whitewater rafting, “complies with the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.”

The opinion states that the legislation, sponsored in the House by Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, and in the Senate by Sen. Dewayne Bunch, R-Cleveland, “represents a reasonable charge, imposed on a fair and equitable basis, that is calculated based upon the cost of providing services to rafts and their occupants traveling on the Ocoee and Hiwassee Rivers.”

Rep. Watson and Sen. Bunch could not be immediately reached for comment this afternoon.