NC Central Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club

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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