By Cassie Gavin
Senior Director of Government Relations
The N.C. General Assembly will officially start back up this week on Wednesday, May 18, although no votes are expected until next week. The legislature alternates between long sessions in odd years when the budget is negotiated and short sessions in even years. Since this year will be a short session the primary focus will be on budget adjustments. But many bills that passed one chamber last year remain eligible to be taken up this year. In addition, new bills may be filed if they meet certain qualifications and new issues can be added to old bills. So we may see new environmental proposals pop up that call for Sierrans’ support or opposition.
Here’s a preview below; please let your legislators know that you care about these issues.
We’re asking Senators to support these helpful environmental bills that were passed by the House in 2021:
- Improve Energy Efficiency: H 245, "Efficient Government Buildings & Savings Act," would require state buildings to be more energy and water-efficient. Passed the House 116-1. Primary sponsors: Reps. Szoka, Arp, Zenger, Saine
- Allow Enforcement of EV Parking Spots: H 296, "EV Charging Station/Parking," would allow enforcement of EV parking spots like other kinds of dedicated parking spots. Passed House 115-4. Primary sponsors: Reps. von Haefen, Warren, Szoka, Autry
- Protect Firefighters and Water: H 355, "Firefighting Foam Registry/PFAS Ban," to ban the use of PFAS firefighting foam in training. Primary Sponsor: Rep. Davis
- Limit State Use of Single-Use Plastics: H 230, "NC Managing Environmental Waste Act of 2021," would help reduce plastic waste by eliminating single-use plastic use by the state and providing local governments help with plastic recycling. Primary Sponsors: Reps. Warren, Richardson
- Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy: S 358, "C-PACE Program," would help businesses invest in more resilient buildings, clean energy or energy efficiency and pay for upgrades over time. Not subject to crossover. Primary sponsors: Reps. Johnson, Lazzara, Woodard
- Modernize Sewer Overflow Notification: H 885, strengthens spill notification requirements for sanitary sewer overflows to better protect water and health.
We’re asking Senators to oppose the harmful anti-tree bill passed by the House in 2021:
- H 496, "Property Owners' Rights/Tree Ordinances," would restrict local governments’ ability to pass tree protection ordinances unless they have legislative approval. The bill was referred to Senate Rules in May 2021 but did not move. The bill language was inserted into a version of the budget then later removed. Primary sponsors: Reps. Boles, Hunter, Brody, Moffitt
We’re asking Senators and Representatives to:
- Defend Veto of Anti-Climate Bill: Gov. Cooper vetoed H 220 in Dec. 2021. The final House vote on the bill was 57-46. If we see a veto override attempt, please vote to uphold the veto. Be on the lookout for any language to protect gas lines or to ban local governments from taking climate-friendly actions in other bills. H 220 also contained overly broad language limiting public records. Look out for this being added to another bill. Primary sponsors: Reps. Arp, Miller, Saine, Szoka
- Budget: Support increased funding for land conservation and trails.
And we’re asking legislators and activists to be on the lookout for any of these harmful proposals:
- Gas: Legislation to promote mythical "renewable natural gas" has been proposed in other states. Fossil gas alternatives such as biogas and synthetic gas are being marketed as "renewable,” but neither is clean energy.
- Hydrogen: Legislation promoting hydrogen as fuel can be harmful unless it’s only to promote “green hydrogen” (produced from clean energy). Utilities seem to be counting on hydrogen as a future fuel source, but if it’s generated using fossil fuels, it’s not clean energy.
- Solar: Legislation placing overly burdensome requirements on solar development can be harmful.
- Water: The Environmental Management Commission (EMC) approved a DEQ-proposed rule to protect certain isolated wetlands that would otherwise fall into a gap between state and federal protections. Sierra Club supports the approved rule. Some stakeholders oppose the rule; watch out for and oppose a rule disapproval bill.
- Waste: Watch out for any "chemical recycling” legislation; this is an effort that we’ve seen in some other states to exempt the incineration/burning of plastic from normal regulations that prohibit it.
- Transportation: Oppose any additional fees at registration for EVs or hybrids. As vehicles become more efficient, gas tax revenue is falling but raising fees on EVs is not the solution. N.C. already has a fee on EVs.
- Cryptocurrency mining: Oppose efforts to promote crypto mining that neglect to address environmental and energy use issues. Crypto mining is very energy-intensive and produces large amounts of electronic waste.