The Farm Bill, vetoed by Governor Cooper, was passed with a veto override in the Senate last week. This bill leaves 2.5 million acres of wetlands with no protections, gutting our most effective tool against flooding, and essential habitat for sensitive wildlife. This bill also makes it nearly impossible to penalize buffer violations, limiting the financial penalty to the value of the timber that is cut. Some of the Representatives in the Haw watershed spoke out against this bill. “State Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat who has served in the legislature nearly 20 years, urged her House colleagues to sustain the governor’s veto. She called the measure “the most destructive environmental bill since I was elected in 2004.”” Meanwhile, other Haw representatives who could have helped to sustain the veto, chose to abstain from voting. Senator Mike Woodard, Durham, conveniently “took a walk” during the vote to override the veto.
Senator Mike Woodard was also thanked graciously by Representative Brody for doing most of the heavy lifting for the Regulatory Reform Act of 2023. This bill is horrible for water quality protections and would violate the Clean Water Act on several counts. For more information on this bill, read Lisa Sorg’s article here. This bill passed the Senate this week, but not without a fight. Thanks to the tireless efforts of advocates and environmental lobbyists across the state, Senator Micheal Lee made an amendment to remove a problematic section that would limit water quality standards to numeric only, not narrative. Narrative standards are held by the Clean Water Act for toxins that do not have numeric standards. This provision protects communities against PFAS and 1,4 dioxane especially, which have narrative standards based on the Toxic Substances Act.
Another amendment was made by Senator Applewhite, which ultimately did not pass and was tabled. Applewhite made amendments to remove the provisions limiting NCDEQ’s ability to enforce 401 permits, remove provisions changing water supply watershed protections, remove expedited permitting for Agricultural facilities, and add a section to establish drinking water limits for PFAS. This amendment was an effort that was encouraging, and we thank her, but these problematic provisions remain in the bill that was passed.
Representative Brody also clarified that he does support the Clean Water Act, right before introducing his House Bill 579, which guts sediment and erosion control protections. Two Representatives spoke out against the bill, but ultimately, the bill was passed with no amendments.
So what does all this mean for North Carolina?
Because the two bills, HB600 and HB579 had so many amendments, both have to go back to the House for another vote.
- Our wetlands have lost critical protections, and now it’s up to local governments and nonprofits to protect them. Local governments can have ordinances to limit development within their jurisdictions. Nonprofit organizations can work with communities to purchase and protect these lands.
If these two bill pass:
- The 401 permitting process will be extremely limited. NCDEQ, already understaffed and underfunded, will have incredibly short windows to review, approve, or deny permits that have negative impacts on water quality.
- Narrative standards will continue to be enforced, which immediately impacts wastewater treatment plant permits currently under review for 1,4 dioxane discharges. That standard will remain 0.35ug/L based on the narrative standard of a 1 in 1 million cancer risk.
State elections matter. If your representatives haven’t heard from you this legislative session, make sure they do soon. Remind them that they represent YOU, not special interests. If you do not trust that they are acting in your best interest, there will be an election in November. Stay involved.
