Pricey Harrison's newsletter August 7, 2008

Greetings,

Last week, Gov. Mike Easley signed into law a bill that is expected to help our state better manage its water resources, particularly during times of drought. The bill is one of several items from this session intended to help the state protect our natural resources and our environment. We also continued our efforts to protect clean water, preserve open space and farmland, and move our state towards energy independence. These initiatives are particularly important as our state grows and there is increasing development pressure. Overall it was a good session for environmental and energy issues.

Drought Management

Last week, I attended the governor's signing of a bill to give the state's chief executive more authority during a drought. The bill, House Bill 2499*, gives the governor more ability during a drought to work with local governments to address water shortages and makes other changes to improve how we manage droughts. The new law also requires public water providers to develop drought and water shortage plans at least once every five years. Heavy water users will be subject to stricter reporting requirements. During the worst droughts, the state could require weekly reports from public water systems. The bill was the result of collaboration between many different interests, including municipalities, business, farmers, and private residents. The law will be phased in between October, 2008 and July, 2009.

The state's budget includes $2.1 million for agricultural drought response and a drought reserve. Most of the money, $1.5 million, will be used to help farmers recover from the damage caused by our ongoing drought. The state has budgeted $1.15 million for renovation of pastures destroyed by the lack of rain, $200,000 for drilling and repair of wells that were damaged or dried up during the drought, and $150,000 to renovate or build farm ponds. The state's Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has also awarded a grant of $6 million for this effort.

Energy

The General Assembly has created a sales-tax holiday for the purchase of efficient appliances in hopes of helping people reduce their energy use (I was a sponsor of the legislation). The exemption will apply to all Energy Star products. These products meet the energy efficient guidelines set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Energy. They include clothes washers, freezers and refrigerators, air conditioners, heat pumps, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, and programmable thermostats. The state estimates the holiday will save consumers $1.4 million in taxes. The three-day holiday will begin on the first Friday of November and run through the following Sunday.

We also extended a tax credit for the purchase of renewable energy equipment to donors to local governments. I sponsored this measure which expands a tax credit we enacted last year which applies the tax credit to donors to non profits.

We extended the Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change, which I chair, through October, 2009, so that it can finish its work and make recommendations for the long session. We will be looking at establishing a cap on carbon emissions, adopting cleaner standards for automobile emissions, proposing greater efficiencies in construction standards, and adapting to sea level rise and climate change.

We passed Senate Bill 1878 making property tax modifications, including a significant property tax reduction for solar systems.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up House Bill 2720*, which Representatives Thomas, Martin, and I sponsored, which would have required that the State's passenger vehicles be in the top 15% in fuel efficiency, saving the state more than $1 million the first year and continued savings annually after that. We were unable to overcome the car dealers' lobby. We will push again next year.

Environmental Cleanup

North Carolina has improved its program for the monitoring and cleanup of underground petroleum tanks through a new law improved in the General Assembly this session. The bill, House Bill 2498, increases the fees paid by the owners and operators of these tanks to raise additional money for the assessment and clean up of leaks. It also requires better secondary protective measures for regulated underground tanks and requires the state to establish a pilot program that would evaluate the use of site-specific cleanup standards rather than the broader standards in use now. The results of the pilot study are due in September 2009. The bill also establishes time limits on some actions that can be taken by state environmental regulators.

Land Preservation

The General Assembly appropriated $50 million this year for the Land for Tomorrow initiative, for a total of $150 million this biennium. The Land for Tomorrow program was created to help preserve the state's land, water and historic places and wants to help the state work toward its goal of conserving 1 million acres. The state also budgeted $4 million for farmland preservation (for which I pushed hard). The Farmland Preservation Trust Fund was created to purchase agricultural conservation easements and conservation agreements that will allow the production of food and other agricultural products to continue. Since 2002, North Carolina has lost 6,000 farms and 300,000 acres of farmland, the most in the nation during that time span.

Governor Easley signed into law this week House Bill 1889*, sponsored by Representatives Brubaker, Gibson, Hill, and me, which would provide a lower present use value tax rate for land managed for wildlife. Conservation advocates and I have been working on this issue for a number of years and this is a significant step in providing incentives to land conservation.

Clean Water

The state again dedicated $100 million to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. The fund was created to help local governments, state agencies and conservation non-profit groups finance projects to protect and restore water quality. Between 1997 and 2007, the fund gave out more than 1,100 grants worth more than $830 million. The money has been used to expand state parks and gamelands, protect waterways and develop better agricultural practices. It has also leveraged more than $1.4 billion in private money.

I pushed for a measure included in Senate Bill 845, which would require testing for commonly found known and probable human carcinogens in new wells. Unfortunately, Senate Bill 845 also contained a troubling provision which would handcuff the EMC in rulemaking authority. The bill, which contained other important environmental improvements, passed both chambers the last week of session.

We also passed Senate Bill 1967, which makes significant improvements to the coastal stormwater program. We are losing thousands of acres of shellfishing areas on our coast due to the number one water quality problem, runoff.

Bad Bills Stymied

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, the House stopped three bad environmental bills in the closing days of session: House Bill 822 would have weakened setback standards between hog lagoons and residences, churches, schools, and hospitals; Senate Bill 150 would have doubled the amount of vegetation, mostly trees, that could be removed from the right of way by the billboard industry; and Senate Bill 599 which would have allowed Figure 8 Island to build a jetty at its northern end in contravention of our state coastal management policy. All will no doubt be back in the long session and we will need to continue the fight on behalf of the public interest in these issues.

Studies

I pushed for a number of measures to be included in the annual studies bill, most of which will be considered by the Environmental Review Commission, the equivalent of an environmental oversight committee that meets in the interim. These include: clean cars standards, wind permitting, hazards disclosure in coastal real estate transactions, date certain phaseout of hog lagoons, protection of conservation land from eminent domain, recycle/phaseout of plastic bags, ban on toxic flame retardants (PBDEs), establishing fuel efficiency in the state motor fleet, and recycling program for fluorescent lamps. Unfortunately, my bill to ban the use of coal in NC extracted by mountain top destruction did not make it into the study bill, but I will continue to push this effort and have encouraged colleagues in other states to file similar bills.

* Denotes bills for which I am either a sponsor or co-sponsor.

The complete text, status, and history of bills referenced in the newsletter can be accessed by clicking on the bill (in blue).

Notes

Earlier this week, I attended a meeting in Washington, DC, organized by the British Embassy as a follow up to our trip to the UK in April. State and federal policy makers from all over the United States participated in a discussion of carbon reduction opportunities. The British have found that measures taken to substantially reduce carbon emission are showing a net positive economic benefit and are encouraging the federal government and states to consider similar steps.

Please continue - even during the interim - to keep in touch regarding your concerns so that we may work together to improve the quality of life for all of our citizens.

Cheers,

Pricey