2007 Legislative Review            

 

Below are summaries of important legislation from last year's session. Check back this summer for an updated 2008 legislative review.           

 

 

General Assembly passes landmark landfill bill

 

Environmentalists scored a major victory on the last day of session with the passage of the landfill bill, S1492, Solid Waste Management Act of 2007. The support of conservative Dems in the House was gained with the passage of a companion bill, S6, Amend Solid Waste Management Act 2007, which gave the industry something they wanted - compensation for expenditures on.... Read More.

 

 

NC Riverkeepers and Community Groups not pleased with Swine Farm Bill

 

The 2007 General Assembly passed a bill, Swine Farm Environmental Performance Standards, that will do little to rid eastern North Carolina of hog lagoons. The bill permanently bans new lagoons and sprayfields, unless failing; and provides financial aid (cost-share) to farmers who implement cleaner technologies on their farms.

 

Unfortunately, an amendment to the bill allows 50 farms to generate energy from their waste from existing lagoons without shifting to environmentally superior management systems. Read More.

 

 

Renewable Energy Portfolio bill falls short

 

At its heart, this very long and complex bill establishes a “Renewable and Efficiency Portfolio Standard” (REPS) requiring that 12.5% of electricity delivered to NC customers must come from renewable sources (7.5%) or energy efficiency measures (5%) by the end of 2021 – a landmark event, making NC the first southeastern state to enact a REPS. Also central to the bill are provisions added during negotiations which allow power companies to recover costs of construction for coal and nuclear plants from ratepayers before they are completed, and even if construction is abandoned, known as “construction work in progress" or CWIP. Read More.

 

 

Bill adds much needed sediment inspectors

 

According to the EPA, sedimentation (also know as polluted runoff) is the number one polluter of NC rivers and streams. The NC Division of Land Resources, the state office tasked with protecting our waterways from polluted runoff, currently has just 32 sedimentation inspectors for over 9,100 construction sites statewide. This is not enough. A modest increase of $15 (from $50 to $65 per acre of disturbance) on sedimentation permits will fund several additional sedimentation inspectors. Read More.

 

 

Nutrient offset bill sneaks in at the end of the session

 

In a surprise last minute bill, (H859); the General Assembly updated the fees developers must pay to offset their nutrient impact via polluted runoff. Under Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River rules, new development must limit the amount of Nitrogen and Phosphorus (Tar-Pam only) runoff to local streams. Read more.