NC’s Attorney General joins in the call for Duke Energy to assume financial responsibility for coal ash cleanup, plus other news, this week in CIB:

Legislative Watch: Cooper Joins Call for Duke to Pay for Coal Ash Cleanup

The push to hold Duke Energy responsible for the costs of cleaning up the coal ash pits in North Carolina gained a high-profile supporter last week when state Attorney General Roy Cooper spoke out in a letter to legislators.

“Consumers shouldn’t foot the bill to clean up coal ash. Many families and businesses are already struggling and simply can’t afford to pay more for power while utilities continue to earn high profits,” Cooper said. “Coal ash must be cleaned up to protect our water and the utility can afford to pay for it more than consumers can.”

NCLCV last week invited its members and supporters to send a message on this point to their legislators. The online link for participation in that effort is still available here.

In other coal ash news last week, it was revealed that documents subpoenaed in the federal grand jury investigation of the Dan River coal ash spill show that Duke received warnings about the danger decades ago. Engineering reports in N.C. Utilities Commission records from 1986 and 1992 pointed to problems with the drainage pipe that ruptured last winter. The records were consultant reports for the utility, which were also by rule submitted to the regulatory commission. More here.

The newly released evidence is sure to become part of the debate over Duke’s liability for the costs of cleanup. Advocates for requiring Duke to pay the full costs of coal ash cleanup will point out that this is additional evidence that the company knew its practices were a danger. Duke and its backers will likely counter again with the assertion that they met the rules in place at the time, and that regulators failed to require remedial action despite receiving the reports themselves.

Legislative Watch: House Modifies Rule Changes Bill

The N.C. House last week approved a modified version of SB 38, “Amend Environmental Laws 2014”, that’s not as bad as the equivalent Senate package. SB 38 constituted the House’s version of omnibus environmental rule changes taken from the Senate’s broader SB 734, the “Regulatory Reform Act of 2014”.

Among the changes, the House bill merely triples the size of “isolated” wetlands (from 1/10 to 1/3 of an acre) that can be destroyed without state regulatory review in the western and Piedmont regions (“west of I-95”). The Senate version had increased the area of those unprotected western and Piedmont wetlands ten-fold (from 1/10 to a full acre).

As Rep. Ruth Samuelson (R-Mecklenburg), sponsor of the House version, observed, the Senate’s version of a minimum review size of one “isolated” wetland acre statewide would essentially mean the loss of all such wetlands in the Piedmont and west. More here.

Like the Senate version, however, the House’s bill also triples (from 1/3 to one acre) the size of coastal (“east of I-95”) “isolated” wetlands that can be destroyed without state regulatory review. Both sides of the wetland debates agree that there are many more somewhat larger wetland areas in the coastal region. Sharp debate still continues regarding the appropriate minimum acreage review cutoffs, both east and west.

The bill dictates other changes to the definition of protected wetlands and directs the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to study whether mountain bogs need to be protected at some other acreage cutoff. DENR is to make recommendations to the legislative Environmental Review Commission by November 1, 2014.

On the definite plus side for the House’s version, its bill dropped some of the other most egregious environmental provisions approved by the Senate. Provisions dropped from the House version included the elimination of about half of the state’s ambient air quality monitors, the granting of sweeping immunity for self-reported pollution violations, and the waiver of environmental reviews for certain coastal road projects.

We have yet to see how the Senate will react to this substantially modified package of regulatory changes. The ball is now back in its court with further volleys an option.

Education & Resources: Put Solar On It

The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and other conservation groups nationwide launched a “Put Solar On It” advocacy campaign on the summer solstice (June 21) this past weekend. The campaign aims to encourage citizens to support additional solar energy installations in their communities.

See the news release, including the sponsoring organizations and the steps being taken, here.

To see efforts being supported in North Carolina, check here.

That’s our report for this week.