Legislative Watch: Legislating by Ambush…Again

What does getting rid of the broadly popular Outer Banks plastic bag ban have to do with cleaning up contaminants from Cape Fear River water?

Nothing. So why was an unwanted provision to get rid of the bag ban jammed into a bill supposedly on the GenX contamination issue? It’s because a member of the Senate ‘leadership’ team wanted it, so it appeared without warning in their version of the conference committee bill to settle differences between House and Senate versions.

Welcome to the state of legislating by ambush. Public hearings? Transparent negotiations? Involvement by legislators beyond the Senate commissars? Who needs any of that? Certainly, Phil Berger and his merry band don’t. Instead, they continued what has become their standard method of simply dictating the inclusion of their core members’ pet causes, and demanding that their caucus — and the legislature as a whole — go along, or else.

As a result, HB 56 has gone to the governor’s desk contaminated with this bad environmental move as well as others. The bloated provisions of this latest grab-bag of polluter protections also include taking local control away from landfill regulation, as well as more weakening of riparian buffer protections. Even the funding for GenX control is too little to do the job, and spitefully kept away from the Cooper Administration agencies lawfully charged with that responsibility.

HB 56 should be another prime candidate for exercise of the gubernatorial veto power.

On the positive side, the legislature has gone home again (temporarily) without attempting an override of Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the infamous “garbage juice” bill, HB 576.

HB 576 would require the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to approve aerosolization of wastewater and leachate from landfills. It was approved by the General Assembly in June over vigorous public opposition and against DEQ’s scientific advice. The legislative majority rejected analysis which pointed out that this remains an unproven technology which may not work and which could have adverse environmental impacts. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill.

In his veto message, Cooper said, “Scientists, not the legislature, should decide whether a patented technology can safely dispose of contaminated liquids from landfills. With use of the word ‘shall,’ the legislature mandates a technology winner, limiting future advancements that may provide better protection.” Since then, at least two waste management companies which had been considering using that technology have announced that they have dropped it as unsuitable.

With support for garbage juicing evaporating on all sides, the General Assembly went home for a while. However, they’re set to come back again on October 4. Who knows what new damage they will attempt then? We’ll find out—and fight it—then.

Up next: why development without environmental considerations made Harvey’s impact worse >>