By Cassie Gavin
Senior Director of Government Relations
After a week’s break, the legislature returned to Raleigh and took action on several environmental bills this week. More on these below.
If you’ve been wondering when this legislative session will end, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger announced that he plans to adjourn the Senate or take a break after Oct. 31, but House Speaker Tim Moore hasn’t yet made the same commitment. This session is getting to be a very long one for the state given that the N.C. General Assembly is meant to be a part-time legislature. The Senate has not yet tried to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget as the House did in September; all assume that’s because the majority does not have the votes to do so. Learn more about the budget stalemate here.
Senate passes Duke Energy’s version of S 559
The Senate passed Duke Energy’s bill - S 559, Storm Securitization/Alt. Rates, - in much the same form as it was before the House turned the controversial multi-year ratemaking part into a study. A committee made up of six House members and five senators released a conference report (a revised version of the bill) on Wednesday that all but two of conferees signed.
Reps. Larry Strickland (R - Harnett, Johnson) and Dana Bumgardner (R - Gaston) did not sign the conference report which indicates that they do not support it. Notably, S 559 no longer includes Strickland’s amendment, which led to the House passing the bill nearly unanimously. That amendment would have required a study and stakeholder process to review a variety of ratemaking tools that could benefit ratepayers and the environment.
Opportunity for Action
The House may take up S 559 next week so please contact your House member and ask them to oppose the conference report.
House passes firefighting foam inventory and study
In April, Rep. Pricey Harrison (D - Guilford), a longtime environmental champion, proposed a bill to ban a type of firefighting foam that contains harmful chemicals. H 560, Ban PFAS in Fire Retardant Foam, was intended to help protect firefighters and the environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This kind of firefighting foam was linked to contamination in the Greensboro area.
H 560 did not get a hearing in a House committee, but this week a provision was added to S 433, DNCR Omnibus & Other Changes, that would require the UNC collaboratory to do an inventory and study of firefighting foam to be due April 1, 2020, to the legislature. While not a ban, this is a helpful step forward. Please thank Rep. Harrison for her efforts! The House passed S 433 with a vote of 106-0 and sent it to the Senate where it may be taken up next week.
Senate sends Farm Act to conference committee
The Senate voted Thursday to not concur with House changes to the Farm Act, so that means the bill will be negotiated by a conference committee to be appointed by leadership. The hemp provisions in the Farm Act have been very controversial. The provisions that the Sierra Club has opposed - regarding making certain agriculture documents secret and hog waste management - have remained essentially unchanged. The House has not yet appointed conferees to this conference committee so it’s unclear when or if this bill may be negotiated.