Anti-environment state senators are targeting another well-established environmental protection rule for elimination: the prohibition against dumping electronics and their toxic components in landfills.
Present North Carolina law bars the disposal of discarded computers and televisions in landfills, because these electronic goods can contain hazardous materials. Senate Bill 553, the latest so-called “Regulatory Reform Act,” would dump that ban, among other provisions.
Opponents of the bill cite the potential for lead, cadmium, mercury, and other toxic materials to escape into groundwater or into the air when these electronics are crushed. They point out that a fee on sales of these electronics already underwrites the costs of recycling them, and that North Carolina companies exist which take care of that recycling.
In other legislative news last week:
- Environmental justice and clean energy groups continued a lobbying push against Duke Energy’s multi-year rate hike bill, Senate Bill 559. The bill passed the Senate three weeks ago, and is now in the House Finance Committee. Click here to urge your representative to oppose Duke’s rate hike bill!
- Anti-wind Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown is planning another attempt to bar new wind energy projects throughout most of North Carolina’s coastal area. We will alert you when it is time to mobilize against this threat.
Up next, EPA’s Deadly Coverup >>
To get news like this in your inbox every Monday, please sign up for our Conservation Insider Bulletin newsletter!
