North Carolina’s rulemaking oversight agency last week green-lighted new rules for fracking permits, even while another state decided that health concerns justify putting fracking on hold. This week in CIB.

Administrative Watch: RRC Fast-Tracks Fracking Rules

No time, excuse us, gotta go now. Never let it be said that the NC Rules Review Commission (RRC) can’t expedite regulatory approvals when it feels like it. The RRC last week approved 117 rules needed to get the permitting of fracking operations ready to go ASAP next year.

In the process, the commission set aside questions about late submissions, public notice concerns, editing errors, and other technical questions – any of which can be (and are) citable as justification for delays and reconsiderations in other cases. But, other cases rarely involve both legislative leadership and the state’s executive administration falling over themselves to lay out a large welcome mat for their oil and gas industry friends.

The RRC’s own staff attorney recommended sending three of the rules back for new public notice and comment because of “substantial changes” made by the Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) after the original public comment process closed. However, that would have delayed the earliest permitting opportunity for fracking proposals for several months. To avoid that, the RRC decided that perhaps the changes were all that “substantial” after all.

Another 13 of the sub-rules were “misplaced” in the rush by MEC to meet their submission deadline and didn’t arrive in the RRC counsel’s email inbox until after the deadline. However, the commission decided that since the changes involved in those rules were “technical”, they could be reviewed and approved at its meeting in January without creating overall delay.

Southern Environmental Law Center’s attorney Mary Maclean Asbill observed that the “RRC meeting highlighted how aggressive and unreasonable the [state legislature’s mandated] rulemaking schedule was from the get go.”

In fairness, we note that the changes, which could have easily been ruled “substantial”, included the handful of small concessions made to public commenters seeking stronger rules. For example, the permit application review period was extended from 60 to 180 days, which will allow local governments and the public a greater opportunity to review and respond to problems in proposed fracking operations.

Conservationists’ frustration is less with the details of those changes than with the process’s overriding determination to kick off fracking at full speed ahead, no matter what dangers have to be overlooked to do so.

Those unresolved problems include the absence of regulations on toxic air emissions from fracking operations, questions concerning regulators’ authority to order a stop to work at a well site if serious violations are discovered, potential dangers from contaminated groundwater, and more.

The approved fracking regulations now go to the legislature, which could – if it chooses – put the entire process on hold for a renewed sober, deliberate review of the merits of fracking. Hint: don’t bet on it.

Around the States: New York Bans Fracking

Meanwhile last week, the state of New York reached a very different conclusion regarding the potential risks and merits of fracking. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that his administration would act to prevent the start of fracking in his state based on the recommendation of its commissioners for environment and health.

New York Environment Commissioner Joe Martens and Acting Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said last Wednesday that environmental and health reviews have concluded that “high volume hydraulic fracturing for shale gas development” poses “significant public health risks” associated with water contamination and air pollution.

The supporting study for those conclusions can be accessed here. The Atlantic summarizes the highlights of the reporthere.

Advocates nationally and in some other states believe that the decision by New York, the first state with significant potential gas resources to ban fracking, could represent a “turning point” in the national debate over this controversial procedure.

Washington Watch: EPA’s Final Coal Ash Rule Knocked as Too Weak

On Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency issued its long-awaited final rule on the handling of coal ash. As many anticipated, EPA decided to regulate the ash as a solid waste, with minimum national criteria for disposal, tracking, and publicly-accessible record-keeping. EPA says that the rule will address the risks from leaking of contaminants into groundwater, airborne dust, and the risk of catastrophic failure of surface impoundments.

The details of the rule and EPA’s explanations can be found here. EPA’s final rule issuance was made the last day allowed by federal court order addressing the topic.

Environmental groups had urged EPA to take the alternative course of defining and regulating coal ash as a hazardous waste. Environmental advocates offered immediate negative comments on the EPA final rule, assessing that it “falls far short of what’s needed to protect the public and our waterways from the millions of tons of dangerous sludge that is produced annually.” (Natural Resources Defense Council [NRDC] statement, 12/19/14.)

The NRDC said that classifying the ash as a hazardous waste would have produced stronger oversight, safer disposal methods, and a mandated phase-out of coal ash ponds.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) also issued a statement critical of the EPA rule. It said the rule contained “some new tools for addressing our nation’s coal ash problem” but also “glaring flaws.” It particularly cited an “absence of federal oversight and enforcement” and the “failure to clearly require a cleanup of existing and outdated coal ash lagoons.”

CIB will consider further analysis and implications of the EPA rulemaking in future editions.

Legislative Watch: Senate Democratic Leadership Named

CIB last week reported on the new Republican leadership team for the N.C. Senate going into the 2015 legislative long session. This week, we have the results of the NC Senate minority Democratic caucus setting its own leaders. Sen. Dan Blue (Wake) will remain minority leader. The new minority whip will be Sen. Terry Van Duyn (Buncombe), replacing Sen. Josh Stein (Wake) (Stein declined to seek re-election as whip, since he is considering preparation of a 2016 run for NC Attorney General). The minority caucus secretary will be Sen. Ben Clark (Cumberland). (Associated Press, 12/18/14).

Conservationists: Support Advocacy that Works

NCLCV Executive Director Carrie Clark extends a special invitation to NCLCV members and supporters to give one final gift to the environment in 2014. As the organization gears up for the 2015 legislative agenda, the plate – once again – appears full for the environment. From offshore drilling talks to legislative review of the proposed fracking rules, we will need to stand on the ready to defend North Carolina’s air, water, and land from poor environmental decisions. Please consider making a contribution to NCLCV before the year ends.

That’s our report for this week.