Twas the week before Crossover and all through the House (and Senate)
All lobbyists were stirring, with fires they must douse;
The bills were written by staff with such care,
In hopes to meet the deadline that would soon be there;
The members hustle and made their beds;
While visions of bad legislation danced in their heads…
- SB883, which exempts any riparian buffer impacts associated with the piping of a stream under a Corps permit from mitigation requirements.
- HB201, which exempts certain buildings from current energy code requirements, prevents increased control of stormwater runoff unless mandated by federal law, and exempts certain projects from the North Carolina Environmental Policy Act.
I could go on but have too many fires that need to be doused. Crossover is next week, which means there are many bad bills out there. I will take a moment to highlight several of them that are scheduled, have been scheduled, or rumored to be scheduled sometime this week:
- House Bill 681: “REPS Repeal (Energy Ratepayer Protection Act)” – This is a jobs-killing bill hands down. It was a terrible idea last session and it still is now. REPS has generated over $6 billion in positive economic impact for North Carolina. For less than $1 a month, ratepayers will save over $650 million by the year 2029. Protecting REPS is a priority for NCLCV and will be a Scorecard issue. VOTE NO
- House Bill 795: “SEPA Reform” – This would exempt almost all projects using public money from having an environmental impact statement (EIS). EIS can be used to look at the total scope the project has on the environment. This is a terrible piece of legislation and will be scored on our Scorecard. VOTE NO
- House Bill 639: “Risk Remediation Amendments” – This expands a current plan that allows incomplete contamination cleanup at several dozen sites across the state, thus putting groundwater and neighbors at risk. This bill would expand to include any future contamination that will, simply, put the public at risk. This is bad policy and will be a Scorecard item. VOTE NO
- House Bill 760: “Regulatory Reform Act of 2015” – This bill would shift the burden from developers to taxpayers, and it would rollback protections on water pollution by weakening buffer rules. Buffers serve as the first line of defense to slow down pollution from our pristine waters across the state. This bill will weaken our water quality and will appear in our annual Scorecard. VOTE NO
- Senate Bill 453: “Regulatory Reform Act of 2015” – This bill has many really terrible provisions, including one would give polluters countless “get out of jail free” cards. Another section would turn our coast into a copy of New Jersey’s, which is lined with sandbag after sandbag. The Sedimentation Control Commission would be eliminated under one section of the bill. Polluters responsible for brownfield sites would be allowed to forgo cleanup in another part of the bill. VOTE NO
OPPOSE
HB681 NC ENERGY RATEPAYER PROTECTION ACT
HB639 RISK-BASED REMEDIATION AMENDS
HB760 REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2015
SB453 REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2015
The HotList is a weekly email the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) sends out during session where we talk about relevant legislation and share information on key environmental issues as they come before the General Assembly. While primarily intended for elected representatives, the HotList is also made public to any and all who are concerned about the environment.
