The Legislature today voted to override Governor Cooper's veto of an omnibus environmental bill that repeals the popular ban on plastic bags in the Outer Banks and takes away local waste management authority by giving it to private waste haulers.
House Bill 56 offers a token amount of funding to address water contamination in the Wilmington area but provides no support to state agencies to address environmental or public health concerns statewide regarding emerging contaminants in drinking water sources.
The bill also includes provisions that weaken environmental protections, such as unnecessary exemptions to riparian buffer protections.
H 56 directs only $435,000 to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and UNC-Wilmington to study GenX contamination of the lower Cape Fear River by Chemours and find a way to treat local drinking water. The Legislature ignored a $2.5 million request from Governor Cooper in emergency funding for state agencies to investigate GenX contamination and other unregulated chemicals across North Carolina.
Molly Diggins, state director of the NC Sierra Club, issued this statement regarding the veto override:
"Once again the Legislature expressed its disregard for local governments, kicking to the curb a locally popular law that protects endangered sea turtles with a ban on plastic bags in the Outer Banks. The vote also jeopardizes funding for local recycling programs.
"The big winners today were the Retail Merchants Association, which lobbies for big retailers such as Food Lion, and private waste haulers. The public, local governments, scenic beauty and marine animals all lost out.
"The Sierra Club commends former national Sierra Club president and former Henderson County Commissioner Chuck McGrady for his political courage as the only member of the majority party to speak and vote against the override vote. Rep. McGrady expressed concerns about the bill's anti-recycling provision.
"The Legislature continues to push through ill-advised, omnibus bills that run roughshod over local governments and repeal protections for the environment. The continued lack of transparency and public process for the significant change in solid waste management is especially dismaying.”