NC Central Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club

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