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Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
January 26, 2024. In North Carolina, adopting a new state rule involves many steps and multiple levels of review. But the rulemaking process has recently obstructed a water quality standard in ways not intended by the N.C. Administrative Procedure Act (APA). As a result, the rule setting a water quality standard for 1,4 dioxane — […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
December 19, 2023. The previous post covered significant water quality legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2023. This post briefly summarizes other 2023 environmental legislation. AIR QUALITY. The legislature put two provisions in the Appropriations Act of 2023 (House Bill 259) to prevent state agencies from adopting rules intended to reduce emissions […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
December 14, 2023. Having regained a veto-proof majority in the state legislature, the N.C. General Assembly returned to a very aggressive effort to influence environmental rules in 2023. The annual Appropriations Act (House Bill 259), the N.C. Farm Act of 2023 (Senate Bill 582) and the Regulatory Reform Act of 2023 (House Bill 600) all […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
October 30, 2023. An earlier post described the interaction of new state limits on wetlands protection and a U.S. Supreme Court decision reducing federal Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction over streams and wetlands. (See State Law: Removing Wetlands from "Waters of the State".) This post provides an update on federal implementation of the Sackett decision […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
June 7, 2023 — In an unfortunate sequence of events, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision significantly limiting federal Clean Water Act regulation of wetlands just as the N.C. General Assembly has been moving legislation to limit state water quality protection for wetlands. First, some background. Historically, states had the primary responsibility for protecting […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
January 22, 2023. A 2021 North Carolina law requires the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) to "take all reasonable steps" to achieve a 70% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electric generating units (EGUs) by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality for the utility generation system by 2050. More below on the requirements of Session […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
January 4, 2023. By coincidence rather than design, two different approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power sector have been under discussion by North Carolina agencies since 2021. This post will describe draft rules being considered by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission (EMC) in response to a petition for rulemaking submitted by […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
July 12, 2022 — On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision striking down an Obama era rule regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants. The decision in West Virginia v. EPA held the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan Rule exceeded EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act. The decision is […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
June 4, 2021. The NC. Senate voted yesterday to disapprove the nomination of Dionne Delli-Gatti as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Republican Senators continued to tie the disapproval to dissatisfaction with Delli-Gatti's earlier responses to questions about Cooper administration policy on natural gas in general and the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate project […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
June 2, 2021 — After a month long delay, the Senate Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee voted along party lines today to disapprove Governor Cooper's nominee to be Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality. The committee held a hearing on the nomination of Dionne Delli-Gatti a month ago, but took no action on the […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
January 6, 2020. On December 23, 2019, the UNC Policy Collaboratory released a legislatively mandated report on nutrient pollution in Jordan Lake. The short version: A three year, multi-million dollar study has confirmed the science and policy underlying the 2009 Jordan Lake water quality rules. Background. In 2002, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
December 27, 2019. A short list of environmental and energy law changes compared to recent years: Fisheries. As interest in shellfish aquaculture has increased, so have concerns about the impact of the rapidly evolving aquaculture industry on water recreation and navigation. Senate Bill 648 creates a new framework for management of aquaculture operations by […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
December 12, 2019. On December 5, the Environmental Integrity Project (a national nonprofit organization) issued a report on state funding for environmental protection programs. The report, The Thin Green Line, looks at staffing levels and funding for environmental programs between 2008 and 2018 in the lower 48 states. In addition to providing funding and position […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
December 4, 2019. The 2019 legislative session was distinguished by its slow pace and lack of movement on significant legislation until very late in the session. The session finally ended in late October — and then reconvened to take up redistricting. The session failed to produce a comprehensive two-year budget. Governor Cooper vetoed the budget bill […]
Blog: SmithEnvironment Blog
July 9, 2019. The 2019 legislative session got off to a very slow start. Few bills moved before the May 9 deadline for substantive bills to pass one chamber of the legislature to stay alive. The pace picked up in the last month as both the House and Senate passed versions of a budget bill […]