It’s time now to urge stronger pollution control rules on fracking, plus other news, this week in CIB:

Administrative Watch: Ask Now for Stronger Controls on Fracking

It’s time for concerned citizens to speak up for strong enforcement of pollution controls on any fracking operations that come to our state.

As we reported previously, the NC Mining and Energy Commission (MEC), the regulatory body empowered by the state legislature to oversee the regulation of fracking in our state, has sent its proposed rules governing fracking out to public hearing and comment. The proposed rules are complex with multiple sections.

To encourage clear and effective public participation in this rulemaking process, NCLCV is focusing on two areas: enforcement of pollution controls on fracking wells and permitting of proposed fracking wells. Last week we looked at enforcement (see here).

This week we’re looking at permitting. The rules concerning what environmental permits for fracking contain are key because the state can only enforce controls that the permit applies to that activity. A weak permit can leave big holes in the pollution control enforcement process. Our staff have looked closely at what permits for fracking wells need to take into account in order to play their role in the environmental protection process.

We’ve found the permitting rules weaker than needed in several ways:

• They do not require the wells to address air pollution, including dangerous methane emissions which can catch fire and which also contribute significantly to global warming pollution.
• They don’t clearly define what is prohibited as “significant adverse effects” on water, wildlife and the environment.
• They don’t ensure a way to pay for the costs of enforcing the controls named in the rules.

NCLCV encourages concerned citizens to write now during the public comments process and ask for stronger permitting rules on fracking wells. Here’s the link to a fast and easy way to submit comments in line with NCLCV’s suggestions on that topic.

For those who want to dig further into the details and make more extensive suggestions, here’s the fact sheet on the proposed fracking permitting rules. In either event, please take action now to support making the permits on fracking wells as strong and effective as state law allows.

In-person hearings on the proposed MEC fracking rules begin this Wednesday, August 20, in Raleigh. The hearing will be held from 10am to 2pm at NC State’s McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh. Conservationists are encouraged to arrive early to sign up to comment.

Those who are able to stick around in Raleigh after the hearing are invited to come to Climate Action NC’s free screening of Gasland II, a follow-up to the famous Gasland documentary on the dangers of fracking. The film and dinner will be provided beginning at 6:30pm (Wednesday, August 20) at Kings Barcade, 14 W. Martin St., Raleigh.

Hearings are scheduled to continue August 22 in Sanford, August 25 in Reidsville, and September 12 in Cullowhee.

Legislative Watch: Rules “Reform” Bill Slashes Wetlands Protections

The NC General Assembly last week managed to levy a double dose of insult and injury to our state’s environment. They again failed to act on the pressing issue of coal ash cleanup and pollution control, and they passed yet another set of anti-environmental changes under the guise of rules “reform.”

Most notably, SB 734, the so-called “Rules Reform Bill of 2014,” slashes protections for our state’s ecologically critical wetlands habitats. The new rules the bill contains triples the area of wetland that a development project can destroy without review or mitigation. On the coastal plain (east of I-95), “isolated” wetlands of up to an acre in size can be destroyed. In the rest of the state (west of I-95), “isolated” wetlands of up to 1/3 acre in size can be destroyed. These limits triple the size of a wetland that can be lost to any single development without review or mitigation, from the current rule limit of 1/3 acre east of I-95 and 1/10 acre west of I-95. (Wetland areas are typically much smaller in the upland Piedmont and mountain regions than in the flatter coastal plains.) The bill also cuts in half the mitigation required when wetlands are lost, from a 2:1 ratio to a 1:1 ratio.

In other anti-environmental moves, the “compromise” version of SB 734 also includes these steps:

• It extends the ban against state rules for protecting the environment that go beyond the often inadequate federal minimums.
• It allows the state Parks Division to waive driving speed limits in the parks.
• It arbitrarily eases stormwater rules on some coastal developments.
• It forbids the enforcement of a state or local rule change strengthening an environmental protection on any project for which a permit application had been submitted at the time the rule goes into effect.

As Rep. Paul Luebke (D-Durham) said during floor debate on the bill, “This is not regulatory reform. It is regulatory repeal. Our environment is hurt by the contents of this bill.”

Campaign Watch: Failure to Act on Coal Ash Will Be Campaign Issue

Can a politician be trusted to keep his or her word? And are they competent to do the job of governance even if they try? These are questions that resonate even with voters beyond those who explicitly determine who they support based primarily on their stands on environmental and public health protection.

And there are questions being raised about officials such as Thom Tillis and Pat McCrory in the wake of the General Assembly’s failure to act in response to the Dan River coal ash spill and continuing threats from coal ash pits around the state.

After pledging swift action to address the third-largest coal ash spill in American history, and promising a plan to clean up pollution leaking from the 33 coal ash pits around North Carolina, the legislature instead dramatically failed to pass any legislation either acting on the problem or helping to pay for cleanup. Both independent political analysts and some legislators are predicting that this failure will not sit well with many voters. Find the full story here.

Education & Resources: Rep. Martin to Discuss NC Issues and Climate Change

The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is sponsoring a news conference today featuring one of our state’s pro-environment legislative leaders, Rep. Grier Martin (D-Wake). Rep. Martin is expected to comment on how state issues like coal ash and fracking fit into the larger national push for clean energy and control of carbon pollution.

Martin points out that “The Dan River coal ash disaster and the push to force fracking on North Carolinians have jarred many in our state and increased awareness about environmental issues. We need to realize that what we do here locally is a key part of the larger effort to reduce carbon emissions and clean up our act on energy.”

The news conference will be held this morning (Monday, August 18) at 11 am in the NC General Assembly press room in the Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones Street, Raleigh.

That’s our report for this week.