Environmental issues are leading the news on multiple fronts in North Carolina. NCLCV candidate endorsements, fracking rule hearings, and the coal ash legislative disappointment are all reviewed this week inCIB.

Campaign Watch: NCLCV CPAC Endorses Pro-Conservation Legislative Candidates

Today, NCLCV’s Conservation Pac (CPAC) released its 2014 general election endorsements of pro-conservation candidates for the NC General Assembly (the state legislature). NCLCV is backing 14 candidates (six incumbents and eight challengers) for state Senate, and 21 candidates (11 incumbents and ten challengers) for state House.

“After two years of unprecedented anti-environmental attacks by the leaders of this General Assembly, we need these pro-conservation candidates to come to Raleigh and stand up for clean air, safe drinking water, and the health of our communities,” said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for NCLCV. The 2013-2014 General Assembly passed a succession of bills weakening protections for clean air, water, and land; cutting funding for environmental enforcement and for conservation trust funds; fast-tracking the environmentally hazardous drilling method of fracking; and failing to require full cleanup of dangerous coal ash pits.

Here are the 2014 general election endorsements of NCLCV, including district number, name, and counties represented:

North Carolina State Senate Races:

District 1 – Stan White; Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans

District 4 – Sen. Angela Bryant; Halifax, Nash, Vance, Warren, Wilson

District 8 – Ernie Ward; Bladen, Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender

District 9 – Elizabeth Redenbaugh; New Hanover

District 13 – Jane Smith; Columbus, Robeson

District 15 – Tom Bradshaw; Wake

District 16 – Sen. Josh Stein; Wake

District 18 – Sarah Crawford; Franklin, Wake

District 19 – Billy Richardson; Cumberland

District 22 – Sen. Mike Woodard; Caswell, Durham, Person

District 23 – Sen. Valerie Foushee; Chatham, Orange

District 25 – Sen. Gene McLaurin; Anson, Richmond, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly

District 40 – Joyce Waddell; Mecklenburg

District 49 – Sen. Terry Van Duyn; Buncombe

North Carolina State House Races:

District 5 – Howard Hunter III; Bertie, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank

District 9 – Uriah Ward; Pitt

District 11 – Rep. Duane Hall; Wake

District 31 – Rep. Mickey Michaux, Jr.; Durham

District 33 – Rep. Rosa Gill; Wake

District 38 – Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley; Wake

District 40 – Margaret Broadwell; Wake

District 44 – Rep. Rick Glazier; Cumberland

District 49 – Kim Hanchette; Wake

District 50 – Rep. Graig Meyer; Durham, Orange

District 53 – Susan Byerly; Harnett

District 56 – Rep. Verla Insko; Orange

District 60 – Cecil Brockman; Guilford

District 71 – Rep. Evelyn Terry; Forsyth

District 93 – Sue Counts; Ashe, Watauga

District 106 – Rep. Carla Cunningham; Mecklenburg

District 115 – John Ager; Buncombe

District 116 – Brian Turner; Buncombe

District 117 – Rep. Chuck McGrady; Henderson

District 118 – Dean Hicks; Haywood, Madison, Yancey

District 119 – Rep. Joe Sam Queen; Haywood, Jackson, Swain

NCLCV makes endorsement decisions based on the environmental voting and leadership record of incumbent legislators, issue questionnaires sent to candidates, and other background information.

In addition to the 35 formal endorsements named above, NCLCV also released a list of 27 “Friends”– legislators recognized for their pro-conservation records who were not taken through the formal endorsement process because they don’t have general election opposition.

Here are the named 2014 NCLCV Friends:

HOUSE

District 7 – Rep. Bobbie Richardson; Franklin, Nash

District 12 – Rep. George Graham; Craven, Greene, Lenoir

District 21 – Rep. Larry Bell; Duplin, Sampson, Wayne

District 23 – Shelly Willingham; Edgecombe, Martin

District 24 – Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield; Pitt, Wilson

District 27 – Rep. Michael Wray; Halifax, Northampton

District 29 – Rep. Larry Hall; Durham

District 30 – Rep. Paul Luebke; Durham

District 32 – Rep. Nathan Baskerville; Granville, Vance, Warren

District 34 – Rep. Grier Martin; Wake

District 39 – Rep. Darren Jackson; Wake

District 42 – Rep. Marvin Lucas; Cumberland

District 43 – Rep. Elmer Floyd; Cumberland

District 47 – Rep. Charles Graham; Robeson

District 48 – Rep. Garland Pierce; Hoke, Richmond, Robeson, Scotland

District 57 – Rep. Pricey Harrison; Guilford

District 66 – Rep. Ken Goodman; Hoke, Montgomery, Richmond, Robeson, Scotland

District 72 – Rep. Ed Hanes, Jr.; Forsyth

District 100 – Rep. Tricia Cotham; Mecklenburg

District 101 – Rep. Beverly Earle; Mecklenburg

District 102 – Rep. Becky Carney; Mecklenburg

District 114 – Rep. Susan Fisher; Buncombe

SENATE

District 5 – Sen. Don Davis, Greene; Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne

District 14 – Sen. Dan Blue; Wake

District 20 – Sen. Floyd McKissick, Jr.; Durham, Granville

District 28 – Sen. Gladys Robinson; Guilford

District 32 – Sen. Earline Parmon; Forsyth

NCLCV encourages all North Carolina conservationists to register to vote and to support all of the above candidates who are on the ballot in your districts.

Administrative Watch: Hearings Heat Up on Fracking Rules

Concerned citizens are turning out in the hundreds at public hearings to express their objections to the prospect of fracking-related pollution. Thousands of others are submitting written comments calling for stronger regulations on fracking.

Members of the NC Mining and Energy Commission (MEC), the appointed board charged by the state legislature with the regulation of fracking, are hearing public reaction to their proposed rules. An estimated 500 citizens turned out in Raleigh, where speakers “overwhelmingly denounced fracking.” A “heavily anti-drilling crowd” of about 200 turned out in Sanford. (Raleigh News & Observer, 8/20/14, 8/22/14.)

Hearings are scheduled to continue tonight (Monday, August 25) in Reidsville, and September 12 in Cullowhee. The Reidsville hearing tonight will be held from 5 to 9pm at Rockingham County High School, 180 High School Road, Reidsville. The Cullowhee hearing September 12 will be held from 5 to 9pm at Western Carolina University’s Bardo Fine & Performing Arts Center, 199 Centennial Drive, Cullowhee. Meanwhile, NCLCV has assisted nearly 2,000 citizens in submitting written comments on the rules, either online or through field campaigns in Raleigh.

NCLCV urges those who haven’t submitted comments to do so now. Here is the link to NCLCV’s quick and easy comment-submission process, as well as its more detailed fact sheets on the proposed rules.

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.

NCLCV staff analysis finds the enforcement rules too weak to do the job needed in these ways:

• They’re underfunded and understaffed.
• They don’t allow local governments to help investigate for problems.
• Inspections won’t happen often enough, and can’t take place without advance notice to the driller.
• The rules don’t include authority to order that work be stopped until a dangerous problem is fixed.

NCLCV analysis also finds 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.

Whether by commenting in person at a public hearing or submitting written comments, NCLCV encourages citizens to take action now to support strong controls on air and water pollution from any fracking for gas which may be permitted in North Carolina.

Legislative Watch: Coal Ash Bill a Major Disappointment

After months of stutter-stepping over coal ash legislation, the General Assembly last week delivered a disappointingly weak bill that does little more than codify Duke Energy’s proposed plans.

The final version of SB 729 adopted by both chambers falls far short of the cleanup and public protection action plan needed, and even weakens existing state pollution control law in a key fashion.

The bill uses weaker groundwater protection standards than one state judge has already relied upon to order Duke to clean up its messes.

• It requires priority cleanup efforts at just four of 14 sites – the four that Duke Energy already agreed, under public pressure, to prioritize.
• It allows poorly defined “low-risk” sites to be “capped in place” rather than cleaned up, which amounts to simply covering them over and letting their toxic pollution continue to leak into groundwater.
• It leaves open the possibility that electric customers (not Duke’s owners) will have to pay the tab for whatever cleanup is done – potentially billions in costs taken out of ratepayers’ pockets.

NCLCV and 14 other citizen conservation groups released a news statement calling the bill a “weak, inadequate compromise that tries to shield Duke Energy from following current laws.” The groups pointed out, “Unlined coal ash pits are leaching arsenic, chromium, mercury, lead, cadmium, boron, and other pollutants into rivers, streams, and groundwater” at all 14 of the existing coal ash storage sites.

“This bill is a big gift to a multi-billion dollar utility giant,” said Harwell Carson, French Broad Riverkeeper. “Instead of strengthening and furthering protections from coal ash, this bill attempts to weaken cleanup requirements already in place.”

“Duke wants to throw a tarp over their leaking ash ponds, leave them in place, and walk away from their mess. This plan could allow them to do that [at most sites], even though lawmakers are touting it as a cleanup plan,” said Matthew Starr, Upper Neuse Riverkeeper.

The bill “leaves coal ash in unlined pits near waterways” said Liz Bozeman, board president for Yadkin Riverkeeper. “The people living near coal ash pits in North Carolina deserve better. They deserve the assurance that their drinking water is safe and that their children can grow up in healthy communities. Our state lawmakers have failed them, and it’s a great disappointment for North Carolina.”

Other groups signing onto the release panning the coal ash bill included Appalachian Voices, Cape Fear River Watch, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, Greenpeace, Haw River Assembly, NC Conservation Network, NC WARN, Waccamaw Riverkeeper, and Waterkeeper Alliance.

Judicial Watch: Supremes Approve Duke Rate Hike

In other major environment-related news last week, the NC Supreme Court upheld the 2013 decision by the NC Utilities Commission to approve a hefty electric rate increase by Duke Energy.

The NC Attorney General’s office and the citizen group NC WARN (Waste Awareness and Reduction Network) had appealed the Utilities Commission’s order, contending that it allowed an excessive profit margin on Duke’s investments. The Attorney General argued that the Utilities Commission was obligated to give more consideration to the economic challenges being suffered by members of the ratepaying public. NC WARN also contends that Duke is imprudently increasing its investment in expensive and environmentally hazardous coal and nuclear generating capacity.

The Court disagreed and cleared Duke to keep its higher rates – no doubt reinforcing Duke’s announced plans to go for more. The Court’s reasoning can be reviewed through its written decision here.

That’s our report for this week.