EPA makes a big move for clean water, plus legislative developments and more news, this week in CIB:

Washington Watch: EPA Restores Water Protections

Clean water and wetlands protections scored a major win last week when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published their final rule clarifying the definition of “waters of the United States” under the federal Clean Water Act. The rule language was announced May 27 and takes effect 60 days from the date it was published in the Federal Record.

Small tributary streams and wetlands have long been known to be the most vital links in filtering contaminants from runoff headed into public waters. They also provide critical wildlife habitat and fish nurseries. In order for the Clean Water Act to be effective in protecting clean water, it must apply to these key resources.

Protections for these resources were developed over decades of regulatory experience by the EPA and Corps. However, two key decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 and 2006 threw out much of that careful work. Since that time, the EPA has struggled against intense opposition to protect these waters using stopgap informal guidelines. For the past year, the agencies have been in the process of a formal rule-making process to apply the Court’s standards through new rules. The May 27 announcement was the product of that lengthy process, involving more than a million public comments on the proposed rules.

Leading citizen environmental advocacy organizations expressed overall satisfaction with the results. The Natural Resource Defense Council’s (NRDC) senior policy analyst called it a “victory for clean water”, which will better protect nearly 60% of the stream miles and a large percentage of the wetlands in the U.S.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) likewise called the clarified rules “crucial to preserving water quality.”

As is often the case, this victory at the administrative level was necessary, but not yet sufficient, to protect a key resource. The rule is certain to be challenged in court by special interests seeking weaker rules, and the U.S. House has already passed legislation that would undo the rule. Continued advocacy will be necessary to protect the small streams and wetlands which are indispensable to our clean water.

Legislative Watch: Senate Approves Gutting SEPA; McCrory Vetoes Ag-Gag; Major Corporations Back REPS

Senate Approves Gutting SEPA: Last week, the NC Senate gave final approval to its somewhat modified version of HB 795, “SEPA Reform”, the act gutting most of the protections provided by the State Environmental Policy Act. Analogous to its federal counterpart (the National Environmental Policy Act), SEPA currently requires the preparation of an environmental impact analysis for state actions involving public money or land. The “reform” bill creates such high thresholds and exemptions to that test that it effectively guts the law. Since the Senate changed some specifics of the bill and the House voted not to concur, the bill goes now to a conference committee for negotiation between the chambers.

McCrory Vetoes Ag-Gag: In an interesting twist, Governor Pat McCrory last week issued his first vetoes of the 2015 session, one of which was of HB405, “Property Protection Act”, better known to its opponents as the “ag-gag” bill. Opponents contend that the bill’s significant expansion of potential liability for individuals who report information from or take photos on private property without permission will chill whistleblowers of illegal or other outrageous activities. A leading example of potentially impacted activity is video of factory farm operations taken by aerial drones. In his veto message, McCrory said, “I am concerned that subjecting these employees to potential civil penalties will create an environment that discourages them from reporting illegal activities.” McCrory called for changes to the bill to address these concerns, but it is uncertain whether the legislature will be responsive or simply attempt to override the veto.

Major Corporations Back REPS: Some major corporate players weighed in last week in support of North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (REPS). Apple, Google, and Facebook, three of the world’s largest tech companies, signed onto a letter urging the North Carolina legislature not to cut REPS, cautioning that our state’s strong renewable energy standards were among the reasons they had chosen to invest here. Clean energy advocates called this warning from some of the big investors in our state’s economy a “wake-up call” to legislators who are ignoring the adverse business impacts of their war on clean energy.

Campaign Watch: Voter Protection Comments Needed

As we reported two weeks ago, the NC State Board of Elections (NCSBE) is in the process of adopting rules to implement the state’s new voter restriction laws, especially the new photo ID requirement. Voting rights advocates are concerned that this requirement is likely to discourage voting by hundreds of thousands of qualified voters who lack the required government photo ID, or whose ID less than perfectly matches their full name and current address. Depending on the details of the implementing rules, the problems for these voters can be made more or less severe.

As part of our mission to encourage voting with the environment in mind, NCLCV is encouraging our members and supporters to submit comments to the NCSBE on behalf of less restrictive ID rules. For details, and to submit comments, see NCLCV’s post here.

As the article says, help “keep the ballot box open!”

Education & Resources: McCrory’s Drive to Drill

Online publication Facing South last week published part two of Green Tie award-winning journalist Sue Sturgis’ three-part story on Governor Pat McCrory’s “Drive to Drill”, the tale of his advocacy for offshore oil drilling. Click here to read more details of McCrory’s rise as the political face of Big Oil.

That’s our report for this week.