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Success at the NC General Assembly
Thursday, July 07, 2005

Success at the NC General Assembly:
Drinking Water Reservoir Protection Act &
Global Warming/Climate Change pass the House!

Thanks in part to your hundreds of emails the Drinking Water Reservoir Protection Act, S981 and Global Warming/Climate Change, S1134 passed out of the NC House of Representatives this week! Thanks to your committment and the committment of North Carolinian's across the state we can celebrate two huge successes for the environment this year.

Yesterday the NC House approved the Drinking Water Reservoir Protection Act! This bill will help to protect North Carolina's 160 drinking water lakes from further pollution. It has been ratified and sent to the Governor to be signed into law. If you'll recall, this bill had overwhelming support in the Senate with a unanimous vote. This week the bill passed with 113 legislators voting in favor of the bill, and only 2 dissenting. For more information on this bill, visit: NC Citizens for Clean Water

Today the NC House approved Global Warming/Climate Change become the first state in the southeast to deal with Global Warming! The bill establishes a 32 member Legislative Commission to evaluate potential impacts on the state from rising temperatures, consider recommending a global warming pollutant reduction goal, and prepare the state's economy to capitalize on emerging economic markets associated with addressing global warming. The bill now goes to the Senate for agreement on minor changes made by the House-once approved it will be sent to the Governor to be signed into law. For more information on this bill, visit: NC Conservation Network.

Thank you again for all of your continued support in helping protect North Carolina's environment.

The North Carolina General Assembly schedule. North Carolina’s state legislature convened for its 2005 session on Wednesday, January 26. Since then, the session has gathered momentum slowly, with few important bills being considered. But, like a broad, flat river flowing into a narrow gorge, the session is now speeding up. Bill proposals had to be introduced in the Senate by March 23, and in the House by this week, April 20. Whitewater is visible ahead: to remain alive, most bills must pass either the NC House or the NC Senate by May 19. The next five weeks will be a wild ride, as legislators work to move their bills by the deadline. On the other side of the May 19 bottleneck, the pace will slow again until the end of the legislative session in July.

Six coalition campaigns. This year, environmental groups across the state have highlighted six top priorities – three air, two water, and one land conservation. While you may not see action alerts on all of these, you will almost certainly see alerts on several, along with information about bad bills we need to defeat. The six priorities are:

1. Global warming. Global warming will ultimately require that the United States , the world’s top contributor to global warming, join other nations in limiting emissions of heat-trapping pollutants. In the short term, there are sensible steps North Carolina can take now to curb emissions and prepare our economy for a world with warmer temperatures. Two bills in the NC General Assembly – S.1134 and H.1191 – take the modest first step of calling for a legislative study of global warming and setting a voluntary goal for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

2. State Energy Office funding. North Carolina ’s State Energy Office funds programs across the state to promote energy efficiency and a variety of efforts to develop sources of renewable energy (solar, wind, landfill methane, biodiesel, animal waste to energy). However, the fund that invests in these programs will run out in 2006, so funding for the State Energy Office must be added to the recurring budget enacted by the legislature this year, or these programs will end. This issue has no bill number because it will be part of the 2005-2006 budget.

3. Clean cars. Under the federal Clean Air Act, states must choose to adopt either federal lowest common denominator standards for auto emissions or the “Cleaner Car” standard adopted by several states, covering 27% of the nation’s passenger and light duty truck fleet. S.1006, Low Emissions Vehicles, would adopt the ‘cleaner car’ standards in North Carolina, delivering greater reductions in smog-forming and cancer-causing pollution than the federal standard without noticeably increasing vehicle costs. Because air pollution currently places an economic burden on North Carolina’s cities, this bill helps both public health and the economy.

4. Oyster restoration and protection. North Carolina’s oyster harvest has dropped precipitously from 138,000 bushels in 1988 to around 40,000 bushels per year today. In 2003, coastal advocates joined with state policymakers and universities to launch a multiyear effort to rebuild oyster populations and protect oyster habitat. This year, NCCF advocates are seeking – and the Governor’s budget request includes – funding to double the number of oyster sanctuaries and restorations, create a state oyster hatchery, expand oyster shell recycling to restaurants in the Piedmont , prohibit all pollution discharges to shellfish waters, and form an Institute for Shellfish Research. The proposals are split between several different bills, but the main parts are in S.925, Oyster Restoration & Protection Act.

5. Land for Tomorrow. More than one million acres of land are developed in North Carolina every decade and the loss of farm and forest land and historic properties is hurting North Carolina ’s economy, public health, quality of life, native plants and wildlife. Land conservation advocates are urging the NC General Assembly to provide $1 billion for land conservation over five years. The proposal has been introduced in the Senate as a part of S.1046, Infrastructure Foundation for 21st Century NC.

6. Clean Drinking Water. Roughly one-third of North Carolinians get their drinking water from surface reservoirs. Strong federal and state laws require cleanup of polluted reservoirs; unfortunately, these laws often are not triggered until water quality is impaired. This year, clean water advocates are urging that the state move to address pollution before reservoirs are degraded. The proposal has been introduced as S.981 and H.1134, Drinking Water Reservoir Protection Act, in the Senate and House; the bill would require a statewide study of drinking water reservoirs, a report on efforts to clean up Jordan Lake (a reservoir that is already impaired), and a requirements to control pollution entering Falls Lake (another reservoir that serves over 350,000 people). Legislation may also be introduced to address problems with pollution trading.

We look forward to kicking off this Legislative Session with you and are excited about your participation in these environmental campaigns!