By Cassie Gavin
Director of Government Relations
The N.C. General Assembly’s calendar was packed this week as legislators rushed to pass bills before a self-imposed deadline for committee work. A number of environmental bills passed or were approved by at least one chamber.
The Farm Act - Senate Bill 711 - was passed by the General Assembly and sent to Gov. Cooper for consideration. The governor could sign the bill, let it become law without his signature, or veto it. This measure would severely limit the ability of landowners to seek redress in court when they have suffered a loss of use or value of their property due to neighboring farming or forestry activities. Those landowners include neighbors of industrial hog operations who report suffering from foul odors and noxious animal waste spray.
Notably, this is the second bill to restrict nuisance suits against farms that the legislature has passed within two years. In May 2017, the General Assembly overrode a veto of House Bill 467, “Agricultural and Forestry Nuisance Remedies,” which restricted the amount of compensation neighbors of farming and forestry operations could seek for nuisance claims. S 711 would also restrict the amount of damages plaintiffs could recover. The bill seems primarily intended to limit the ability of North Carolinians to seek compensation in court for harm caused by neighboring factory hog farms. Numerous such cases against Smithfield Foods are currently making their way through the courts.
Many of North Carolina’s large-scale hog operations store millions of gallons of hog waste in open-air lagoons. As permitted by state regulations, the waste is periodically sprayed onto fields, but it can drift onto neighboring properties. Many North Carolina families, some of whom lived on their land before a factory hog farm was built nearby, report suffering from foul odors, flies and animal waste spray drifting onto their properties. If S 711 becomes law, it would narrow the ability of landowners in these situations to bring nuisance cases.
Please thank Representatives Robert Reives (D - Chatham) and John Blust (R - Guilford) for repeatedly speaking up about the unfairness of the nuisance provision.
Also this week, the House passed House Bill 1073, “Establish Economic Development Task Force.” After years of objecting to taxpayer subsidies, including but not restricted to those for energy, this bill would create a task force to explore ways to provide public funding to incentivize the expansion of fracked gas infrastructure in the state.
House Bill 1073 calls for creation of a “blue ribbon” task force made up of 10 voting members (eight from the majority party) and seven advisory members, none of whom would represent clean energy interests or perspectives. The task force would be charged with evaluating, among a long list of things, existing legal mechanisms to direct funds to support gas expansion, whether a new fund to do so should be created, whether local governments should be given authority to issue bonds for developing gas infrastructure, and whether liquified natural gas (LNG) projects should be eligible to receive such funds. The bill goes next to the Senate for consideration; it is unclear whether the Senate will take it up.
Please thank Rep. John Autry (D - Mecklenburg) for speaking up about the problems with H 1073 in the House debate, including that public financing for pipelines seems unnecessary as private funds appear to be readily available.
Today, the legislature passed several “regulatory reform” bills that tinker with water, waste, and air protections to the detriment of the environment. One provision in House Bill 374, “Regulatory Reform Act of 2018,” would exempt an estimated 150 subdivisions from stormwater rules that serve to protect water quality in the sensitive coastal region of the state. With the heightened concern about water quality at the coast due to GenX chemical contamination, this move seems to be especially ill-timed.
Please thank Rep. Pricey Harrison (D - Guilford) and Rep. Deb Butler (D - New Hanover) for speaking up against the environmental rollbacks in the regulatory reform bills.