By Cassie Gavin
Director of Government Relations
Sierrans, thank you for your legislative advocacy to protect the environment this year. Legislative leaders are saying that a state budget is expected to be voted on next week, so now is a hectic time behind the scenes. As the 2017 session draws to a close, we often see last-ditch efforts by legislators and lobbyists to insert provisions into sometimes unrelated bills in the hope that they will become law during the rush.
Senate committee approves bill limiting access to courts
This week we saw a new provision that would limit when citizens can bring environmental challenges to court. This proposal, supported by the NC Chamber of Commerce, was added to an unrelated House bill about labor laws and approved by the Senate Commerce Committee. Section 12 of House Bill 374 would limit citizens’ ability to bring contested cases involving the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Management Commission (EMC), which is responsible for adopting environmental rules. Please thank Sen. Angela Bryant (D-Halifax, Nash, Warren, Vance, Wilson) for raising significant concerns about this provision in committee.
The proposal targets the public’s access to the courts to challenge environmental permits by changing procedures for appeal of environmental permits on which DEQ or the EMC received public comment. That would include permits that protect water quality, many air quality permits, coastal major development permits, and interbasin transfer certificates that protect water supply. H 374 will next be considered by the Senate Finance Committee, then the full Senate.
Opportunity for Action
Please contact your senator and ask them to protect citizen access to the courts by removing Section 12 from House Bill 374 or opposing the bill in whole. Phone calls are best!
House committee revises billboard bill without addressing scenic or safety issues
The House Regulatory Reform Committee took up H 581, the billboard bill, this week and deleted a section having to do with compensation when condemnation occurs; this provision was opposed by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The committee did not address the Sierra Club’s concerns, which include allowing billboards to convert to digital, allowing more tree cutting along highways and taking away local government controls to regulate the placement of billboards. Please thank Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) for asking tough questions in committee and for drawing out the fact that DOT still has concerns about potentially losing federal highway funds due to this legislation.
Billboards, especially digital billboards, can present safety concerns because they distract drivers. A number of studies have shown this and can be found here. Additionally, many towns have banned billboards to improve the beauty of their community, and some have seen improvements in tourism associated with fewer billboards. H 581 would make these local efforts more difficult.
We anticipate that this bill may be voted on by the House next week.
Opportunity for Action
Please contact your House member and ask them to oppose H 581, the billboard bill.
Senate passes landfill leachate spraying bill over strong objections
Yesterday (Thursday), the Senate unfortunately passed H 576, the bill to require DEQ to allow a new technology that sprays liquid landfill waste over landfills. Sen. Trudy Wade (R-Guilford), championed the bill in the Senate.
Please thank Sens. Ben Clark (D-Cumberland, Hoke) and Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) who proposed good amendments that would have improved the bill and spoke out strongly against the proposal. And check out a great article about the debate here.