Dear Friends,

The House focused primarily on budget this week, while the Senate debated tax reform and moved along quite a few bills. The House continues to play a somewhat moderating role – receiving extreme bills from the Senate, revising them and then sending them back for concurrence.  It remains to be seen what will happen to the bills on which the Senate does not concur, that go to into conference committee. They could emerge with major differences or not emerge at all. The Dorthea Dix lease bill and the fracking bill, for example, are at the conference committee stage.

Updates from this week:

• As expected, the Senate did not concur on the more moderate House version of Senate Bill 76 – the new fracking bill. Next the bill will go to conference committee where a small group of designee legislators from the House and the Senate will meet privately to try to negotiate a final bill. We are hopeful that the House will hold the line and demand further legislative approval before issuance of fracking permits, keep the ban on underground wastewater injection and keep landowner protections.

• House Bill 628, “Protect/Promote NC Sourced Building Materials”, (formerly “Protect/Promote NC Lumber”)would have originally disallowed the state from using the LEED green building certification program. But, it was revised considerably this week so as to promote all kinds of NC building materials, including, but not limited to, lumber, while still allowing LEED certification. The Senate Committee on Agriculture approved the revised bill Tuesday morning and the bill is scheduled to be voted on by the Senate Monday evening.

• House Bill 201 “Reinstate 2009 Energy Conservation Codes” would take commercial energy efficiency building requirements back to 2009 – ⅓ less efficiency than is now required. This bill, sponsored byRepresentative Torbett (Rep – Gaston Co.), was discussed but not voted on by theSenate Commerce Committee this week. The committee is scheduled to take it back up Tuesday despite a letter from the Secretary of Energy to Governor McCrory urging the State to improve and implement commercial building energy codes.

• House Bill 817, Strategic Transportation Investments passed the Senate 42-5 Thursday and had previously been approved by the House. This bill sets out a new Governor McCrory-approved allocation of state transportation funding called the Strategic Mobility Formula. The Formula divides funding into 3 pools – Statewide, Regional, and Division. Public transport can compete at Regional and Division level. The bill improved somewhat this week though still presents challenges for green transportation options. Last week’s version of the bill would have made it difficult for state funds to be used for Triangle planned light rail and commuter trains but this week compromise language was added to fix that issue. Also this week, H 817 was amended to protect greenway and bicycle-pedestrian projects already scheduled through 2015; but does not allocate funds for these into the future. The bill directs the Department of Transportation to develop criteria for comparing roads with other modes of transport when evaluating potential projects – how they will do so is yet to be determined.

Issues to watch next week: mega-landfills and terminal groins

• The leaky garbage truck bill that became the mega-landfill bill will likely be considered by the Senate Finance Committee next week. Senate Bill 328, the “Solid Waste Management Reform Act of 2013”, takes aim at landmark legislation passed in 2007 to protect parks, wildlife and water quality from efforts by out-of-state trash haulers to create mega-dumps in NC. The bill is sponsored by Senators Wade (Rep. Guilford), Brown (Rep. Jones, Onslow) and Jackson (Rep. Duplin, Johnston, Sampson) and is a sweeping reform of NC solid waste management law. Existing landfill regulations were developed, in part, as a response to interest from out-of-state waste haulers in building regional “mega-landfills” in Eastern NC, potentially making NC a net importer of waste. This interest compelled the state to do a comprehensive review of the state’s solid waste policies, and in 2007, after a year-long moratorium and study, the most comprehensive update of NC solid waste law since 1991 was enacted. S 328 would in large measure repeal these carefully studied landfill regulations.

• Senate Bill 151, the “Coastal Policy Reform Act of 2013”, would remove the cap on terminal groins (current law allows 4 pilot projects) and drops provisions designed to ensure that local communities do not incur debt without a vote of the people.  The bill would also remove fiscal protections intended to ensure that neighboring properties will be compensated for any ensuing damage. Terminal groins can cost as  much as $10 million to build, and can cost up to $2 million per year to maintain. This bill is in the House Environment Committee any may reappear next week.

• S 515, the “Jordan Lake Water Quality Act”, would entirely repeal the Jordan Lake rules meant to clean up pollution and replace them with nothing but a subcommittee to study the issue. S 515 was approved by the Senate and is now sitting in theHouse Environment Committee. The bill does not seem to have full support in the House; notably Representative Murry (Rep. Wake) has publicly opposed the bill. But we need to keep the pressure on House members to ensure that this unwise bill does not go forward in any form.

How you can take action:

Sign up here to attend our last lobby day of the session!We’ll be focusing on the Jordan Lake rules repeal. If you have not attended before, Cassie will brief us and we will then split into groups to talk with key legislators. We’ll provide printed fact sheets and talking points. Everyone will walk around with at least one experienced volunteer.

Where: 1000 Court, Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St. Raleigh

When: Monday, June 17th, 5:45pm

Parking: 109 Jones St. across from State Archives, (Map)

Thank you,
–
Cassie Gavin, Director of Government Relations

919.833.8467 x 104

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Dear Friends,

The House and Senate leadership appeared determined to push as many bills as possible through committees this week as the end of session looms. The end of session date is not yet determined but we understand it may be early July. The House continued to review and debate the budget and representatives stayed in town for a rare Friday legislative session so that appropriations committees could continue budget work and the House could bring bills that made it through committee this week to the floor.

• Fracking took the spotlight as the House released its revised version of Senate Bill 76 – the new fracking bill. Two House committees easily approved the bill, sponsored by Senators Newton, Rucho and Brock, and then the bill was approved by the full House today along party lines. Governor McCrory and Secretary of the NC Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, John Skvarla, came out in support of the House version of the bill. The House version strips away the worst of the Senate’s provisions – like allowing underground wastewater injection and strengthens the landmen registry – a landowner protection section. But S 76 still tries to speed up fracking with the issuance of what might be called provisional permits that could be issued before the rules to be created by the Mining and Energy Commission are fully implemented and approved by the legislature. Rep. Harrison (Dem – Guilford) offered an amendment on the floor today that would have delayed issuance of permits until an EPA study on the impact of fracking on drinking water is complete but her amendment was defeated 66-35.

• Unfortunately, more bad legislation emerged this week; one we have been keeping an eye out for all session. What was a relatively minor bill to allow garbage trucks to be leak-resistant instead of leak-proof, sponsored by Sen. Trudy Wade (Guilford), is now a sweeping omnibus overhaul of solid waste laws. Senate Bill 328 takes direct aim at landmark legislation passed in 2007 to protect parks, wildlife refuges and water quality from efforts by out of state waste haulers to create mega-dumps in NC. Some of the changes that this bill would bring, if passed, include raising the height limit on landfills to 300 feet and lessening buffer requirements around parks, wetlands and wildlife refuges. This bill was approved by the Senate Environment Committee Thursday and will next go to the Senate floor on Tuesday. Senator Bryant (Dem – Halifax, Nash, Warren, Wilson) raised good questions in committee about the bill and it’s potential negative impact on minority communities.

• Senate Bill 334, the Dorthea Dix lease bill, came before the Senate Monday night for final approval after the Governor and the House blessed the revised House version of the bill the previous week. The House version of S 334 directs the City of Raleigh and the State to renegotiate the terms of the Dix park deal including possibly adding land and keeping state offices on Dix campus. But,Senator Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore of the Senate (Rep – Guilford, Rockingham), opposes the compromise and would prefer the lease be terminated immediately.  Senator Stein (Dem – Wake) spoke in favor of Dix as a destination park and urged the Senate to support the imperfect, but acceptable, compromise bill. Senator Pate (Rep – Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne) urged the Senate to vote no. The Senate voted 29-17 against concurring with the House version; the bill will next go into conference and be negotiated behind closed doors.

The good news is that a two bills of major concern seemed to lose steam:

• Senate Bill 151, the Coastal Policy Reform Act of 2013, would remove the cap on terminal groins and drop existing taxpayer protections. Senate Bill 515 would repeal the Jordan Lake rules and replace them with nothing but a study subcommittee.  Both of these bad bills remain sitting in theHouse Environment Committee with no movement this week.  This could mean that the bills are being revised and/or that House members are hearing our concerns and listening.

Bills to keep an eye on next week and an action alert:

• House Bill 628 “Protect/Promote NC Lumber”, sponsored byRepresentative Presnell(Rep – Haywood, Madison, Yancey), would effectively disallow the state from using the voluntary and internationally respected LEED green building certification program. H 628 was calendared for consideration by the Senate Committee on Agriculture Thursday morning but the committee did not have enough time to get to it. Therefore, this bill will likely be considered next week.

• House Bill 201 “Reinstate 2009 Energy Conservation Codes” would take commercial energy efficiency building requirements back to 2009 – ⅓ less efficiency than is now required. This bill, sponsored byRepresentative Torbett (Rep – Gaston Co.), will be considered by the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday.  

How you can take action:Please contact your Senator and urge them to support energy efficiency and oppose House Bill 201.

Thank you,

–
Cassie Gavin, Director of Government Relations

919.833.8467 x 104

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Dear Friends,

A hodgepodge of bills moved through the NC General Assembly this week while many of the bills we’ve been closely following were put on hold. Legislators are rushing to get their priority bills approved by at least one chamber before the May 16th crossover deadline. A bill must be approved by at least one chamber to have a chance to become law this session. Therefore, the bills which have already been approved by the House or Senate are unlikely to re-emerge for consideration until after next week simply due to lack of time.

The General Assembly continues push to roll back green programs and environmental regulations:

• House Bill 628 “Protect/Promote NC Lumber” sponsored by Rep. Presnell (Haywood, Madison, Yancey) would effectively disallow the state from using the LEED green building certification program. H 628 was approved by the House Wednesday in a 78-34 vote; and the House will have to take a final vote on the bill Monday before sending it to the Senate. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary program that provides third-party verification of green buildings and addresses the entire lifecycle of a building. LEED-certified buildings aim to lower operating costs, reduce waste, conserve energy and water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This bill is coming from a national movement by timber companies to promote wood products over others.

• Senate Bill 32 “Periodic Review and Expiration of Rules” sponsored by Sen. Hartsell, would make entire categories of rules, including health and environmental, expire automatically in 10 year cycles unless re-adopted. Other states have tried this are having problems with important rules expiring unintentionally. This bill is on the calendar for a final vote by the Senate Monday night. The House has their own version of this bill, House Bill 74, that is less drastic, but still concerning since it adds a whole new rule-making treadmill to an already cumbersome process.

• Senate Bill 10, the bill that would fire environmental commissions wholesale so that they could be replaced with new members, died in the House last week. But, this week it was resurrected as House Bill 1011. The Coastal Resources Commission and the Environmental Management Commission would be especially affected as these commissions require substantive expertise which will be lost if all members are fired at once time rather than appointed in the normal way (as terms expire).

And just because these bills didn’t move this week doesn’t mean they are dead:

• Neither House Bill 298, the bill that would repeal North Carolina’s renewable energy portfolio standards (REPS), nor its Senate companion bill (Senate Bill 365) moved this week, though the issue of renewable energy in NC continued to get lots of good press.

• Senate Bill 612 (sponsored by Senators Brown, Jackson and Brock), the omnibus environmental bill that would prohibit local environmental rules more strict than state or federal, sits in the House Committee on Regulatory Reform while it is negotiated behind the scenes. This bill may also allow power plants to contaminate groundwater beneath surface drinking water supplies. S 612 would authorize “disposal systems” to pollute groundwater within a compliance boundary without triggering cleanup requirements but does not set a limit for location of a compliance boundary. Several power plants dump highly toxic coal ash into ponds with compliance boundaries that extend underneath adjacent rivers and lakes, including drinking water supplies.

• S515, the Jordan Lake Rules bill, sponsored by Senators Gunn (Alamance, Randolph) and Wade (Guilford) will be considered by the Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday. Jordan Lake is a drinking water source for 300,000 people, but nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from upstream collect in the lake. The Jordan Lake rules, designed to restore water quality in the lake, were the subject of a 2009 legislative compromise. The rules set up a process for upstream governments, agriculture, and new development to reduce pollution flowing into the lake. S 515 would allow utility lines in the buffer; these lines can leak. And S 515 would allow piping of streams for any purpose, if the applicant gets permission from the Army Corps of Engineers. These changes could hurt efforts to protect Jordan Lake as a drinking water reservoir.

• House Bill 201 “Reinstate 2009 Energy Conservation Codes”: In 2012, the Building Code Council adopted a revised Energy Conservation Code requiring 15% more efficiency for new residences and 30% more efficiency for new commercial buildings. H 201 would reverse this progress and take the Energy Conservation Code back to 2009. Energy efficiency in buildings saves homeowners and businesses money over the long-run and reduces dependence on fossil fuels. This bill is sponsored by Rep. Torbett (Gaston Co.) and is scheduled to be heard by the House Commerce Committee Monday afternoon.

How you can take action:

• Please contact your House representative and ask them to support energy efficiency by opposing House Bill 201 “Reinstate 2009 Energy Conservation Codes”. A House commmittee will vote on this measure on Monday so it is important to contact your House rep today!

Best regards,

–
Cassie Gavin, Director of Government Relations

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