You can hide a lot in 508 pages.

That is the size of the monstrosity that is House Bill 97 (2015 Appropriations Act) better known as the state budget. Following a similar narrative to other bills this legislative session, HB97 left the NC House to be returned by the NC Senate pumped full of anti-environmental provisions.

One of those, tucked away on page 261, is a call to repeal our state Sedimentation Control Commission (SCC). As ourConservation Insider Bulletin editor Dan Besse wrote this week:

“[S]ince 1973, [the SCC] has drafted rules and provided expert guidance for implementing state law to keep eroded soil (sediment) out of our creeks, rivers, and reservoirs. Even many active conservationists are surprised to learn how important this issue remains: Muddy water from sediment is still the number one pollutant destroying vital aquatic habitat and filling up drinking water and recreational reservoirs.”

As you might be thinking, this is a bit of a “weedy” issue. Sedimentation. Commissions. Not quite the “sexy” narrative to push back on, right?

Wrong.

Here’s the gist: we like our creeks clean. Construction and development, both critical elements of a robust economy, create dirt that can get into our streams and rivers, killing what lives in them and potentially having a harmful effect on us. Back in 1973, our state realized that we couldn’t just dump dirt into these spaces without serious consequences, so forward-thinking leaders passed the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973, creating the Sedimentation Control Program.

The program author’s noted that the “control of erosion and sedimentation is deemed vital to the public interest and necessary to the public health and welfare.”

You read that right: controlling dirt from getting into our waterways is vital to our health and welfare. If that is true, then why is the NC Senate working to undermine a policy vital to our public interest?

Under the smoke and mirrors of trying to “save money” and remove “unnecessary regulations,” proponents of Section 14.26 believe that the best approach is to eliminate the SCC and fold its responsibilities in the pre-existingEnvironmental Management Commission (EMC). The EMC is “responsible for adopting rules for the protection, preservation and enhancement of the state’s air and water resources.” On the surface, moving sediment under the EMC’s purview appears to fall in line with its legislative mission.

Unfortunately, it’s always more complicated than it appears. Sedimentation control is much more nuanced than general rules protecting water and air. It requires intimate knowledge of both the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act Law of 1973 and expertise in areas related to construction, soil science, professional engineering, government, and natural resource conservation. The current SCC has the expertise and focus to deal with sediment and its consequences on a daily basis.Frankly put, the EMC does not.

Regarding the cost-savings factor argument for this provision: this is also far from the truth. Currently EMC members meet more often and receive a higher daily per-diem for their service compared to SCC members. The added responsibility of overseeing our state’s sedimentation program will mean more frequent and longer meetings, costing more taxpayer dollars. Or, perhaps more likely, meaningful oversight of the sedimentation control program by an appointed board of citizens will simply vanish, as the multi-tasking EMC is forced to neglect a topic for which it has neither the time nor the expertise to review.

The bottom line for legislators embroiled in budget negotiations: Section 14.26 is a loophole that puts our state waters in jeopardy from pollution and costs taxpayers more money. It removes critical voices from the oversight process who have the knowledge and experience to craft rules that work for all parties. And, it will likely cost North Carolina taxpayers more, both out-of-pocket now and future expenses as we are forced to draft water pollution cleanup plans [and hopefully no Solar Bees will be on the table].

One note of interest: all of the members of the SCC are appointed by the Governor while the EMC is comprised of members appointed by all three Chambers. Could the root of this provision be merely another tactic by the Senate to strip Governor McCrory of power? Regardless, we won’t sit here and speculate. As one of the more infamous political characters on television these days notes, “Speculation is a poor form of investment and equally poor form of politics.”