By Cassie Gavin
Senior Director of Government Relations
The NC General Assembly moved at a frenzied pace this week as legislators reviewed and voted on priority bills in advance of crossover and hundreds of new bills were filed.
In addition, there was a Senate confirmation hearing for the recently named DEQ Secretary, Dionne Delli-Gatti, who replaced Michael Regan after his appointment by President Biden to lead the EPA.
The Senate Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources Committee took up Deli-Gatti’s nomination on Tuesday. Senators peppered her with questions for two hours, then adjourned without a vote. Many of the somewhat hostile questions came from Sen. Paul Newton (R - Cabarrus, Union), a former Duke Energy employee. The committee may take up the confirmation again at a later date but that’s not yet scheduled. Unlike the federal confirmation process, in North Carolina the secretary can begin work before completion of the process, so Delli-Gatti is already leading DEQ as the agency’s first female secretary. Read more about hearing here.
Bipartisan Bills to Jumpstart North Carolina’s Electric Vehicle Future
Reps. von Haefen (D - Wake) and Rep. Warren (R - Rowan) are on a roll! They recently filed a bill to provide funding for electric vehicle (EV) charging in state parks. H 641 would help distribute electric vehicle charging around the state to parks that are often in rural areas where there aren't a lot of charging options. Please thank the sponsors for this bill and other EV-related bills that they’ve proposed, for EV parking spots (passed the House) and special EV license tags.
Up next week: anti-tree bill & CAFO biogas bill
H 496, Property Owners' Rights/Tree Ordinances, sponsored by Reps. Boles (R - Moore), Hunter (D - Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank), Brody (R - Anson, Union) and Moffit (R - Henderson), is an anti-tree bill that would make it nearly impossible for local governments to protect trees on private property. The bill is scheduled to be considered by the House Local Government - Land Use & Planning Committee on Thursday. H 496 would prohibit communities from adopting tree protection ordinances that regulate the removal of trees from private property without the express authorization of the General Assembly.
The Farm Act (S 605), which includes a biogas provision opposed by environmental groups, is expected to be considered at Tuesday’s Senate Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources Committee.