Legislative Watch: Cooper Vetoes HB 56
Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed HB 56, “Amend Environmental Laws,” which features anti-environmental items such as a repeal of the popular Outer Banks plastic bag ban, which protects sea turtles and other marine life, as well as weakening clean water protections. Cooper’s action came last week in the wake of broad public calls for the veto.
In a public message, Cooper called HB 56 “cynical legislation that fails to address the concerns of families in the Cape Fear region and does nothing to protect drinking water statewide going forward.” He added, “It gives the impression of action while allowing the long-term problem to fester. And it unnecessarily rolls back other environmental protections for landfills, river basins, and our beaches.”
NCLCV’s Director of Governmental Relations Dan Crawford praised Cooper’s decision in a news release: “NCLCV commends the Governor for vetoing House Bill 56, legislation that failed to prioritize clean, safe drinking water. In fact, a provision tucked in H56 would have weakened protections for riparian buffers, nature’s first line of defense to filter out harmful pollutants and sedimentation from North Carolina waters.” NCLCV noted that this is Cooper’s fourth veto of anti-conservation bills that put the health and well-being of our communities and natural resources in jeopardy.
Crawford added, “The Governor recognizes that contaminants like GenX pose a potentially seriously risk to North Carolina families. That is why he and other environmental legislative allies are advocating for legislation to allocate additional financial resources to the Department of Environmental Quality [DEQ] during the October special session. DEQ hires water quality experts to monitor bodies of water like the Cape Fear River and alert the public if potentially harmful elements are discovered.”
In place of the vetoed anti-environmental HB 56, NCLCV called for legislators to approve Governor Cooper’s request for $2.6 million in emergency funding to DEQ, so that its experts will have the resources to carry out their clean water protection duties under state and federal law.
Other support for the veto came from a variety of sources.
The Fayetteville Observer called Cooper’s veto “well-timed and appropriate” and called on legislators to “put people ahead of petty politics and give state government the GenX funding it needs to protect us all.”
The Outer Banks Voice focused on the veto’s protection of the popular Outer Banks plastic bag ban, noting the many local governments, businesses, and citizens who support the retention of the ban.
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