Wetlands are not only vital to our protection against natural disasters, but they are a vital portion of our economy. When we destroy these wetlands, we destroy economic opportunity for so many North Carolinians.
This bill could circumvent our state’s ability to protect our water and our wetlands, hurting us and our economy.
SB 472, “Amend 401 Certification Process”, would effectively eliminate North Carolina’s use of its authority under the Clean Water Act to review federal permits to fill or dredge wetlands.
401 permits are the way states review licenses and permits for projects expelling pollutants into our waters. These permits allow an independent state department to evaluate and decide whether or not these projects are harmful or helpful to surrounding communities.
The bill would “deem approved” any application for a 401 permit that isn’t processed by the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) within five days of receipt. This is an impossible deadline for complex water quality certifications and processes. Right now, law requires NCDEQ is given five days to determine if an application is complete. Then, their decision is due 60 or 90 days (depending on whether there is a public hearing) following receipt of a complete application. TChanging the deadline to five days could remove North Carolinians from the process entirely.
“The bill would exploit staffing shortages at an underfunded DEQ to allow potentially harmful projects to speed past the approval process. Coupled with ongoing chaos at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and changes to wetlands protections during the last General Assembly, S472 could be the most damaging environmental legislation we see this year,” comments an email alert from the NC Chapter of the Sierra Club.
