The state budget passed this week by the N.C. General Assembly cuts the appropriation to the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund to the lowest level in the agency’s history, leading its director to wonder if the state’s leading conservation fund can survive.
Legislature
A Failing Grade on the Environment
Using the recession as its backdrop and rules cost jobs as its mantra, the Republican-led legislature has slashed environmental budgets, weakened laws and earned record low scores for protecting the state’s environment.
Bill Would Revamp Coastal Commission
A bill being considered in the N.C. Senate would reduce the number of members of the Coastal Resources Commission, a move some fear would weaken the panel.
Coastal Law: Mega-Dumps and Beaches
Two recent court cases — one dealing with a state law on large landfills and the other with condemned buildings on the public-trust beach — may have far-reaching implications.
State Marine Fisheries Division May Disappear
The state legislature is contemplating merging the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the Wildlife Resources Commission.
Environmental Agencies May Face Smaller Cuts
It looks like the N.C. General Assembly will spare the regional offices of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources but may cut its budget again.
Protecting Those Special Places Along the Coast
The N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund has spent about $255 million along the the N.C. coast. Here are just a few of the places that money has protected.
Clean Water Trust Fund Just Hanging On
Severe budget cuts have threatened the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the main source of money used to buy ecologically important land across the state.
Coastal Policy to Remain Intact… for Now
State Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, a Jacksonville Republican and co-chair of the committee that’s reviewing state regulations, said he doesn’t expect any quick changes to coastal policy.
Regulatory ‘Reform’ Starts to Take Shape
One person’s regulatory “burden” is often another’s protection. Striking the balance between the two is often difficult. North Carolina’s recent push to “reform” its regulations and rule-making processes is proving especially so.
Doctors Warn About Gutting State Air Program
The legislature’s “reckless attack” on the program to protect people from toxic emissions, they say, would end with more sick North Carolinians.
State’s Toxic Air Program Threatened
Industry is pushing legislators to drastically modify a state program that protects people from toxic air emissions.
Coastal Sketch: Harry Brown, the N.C. Senate’s ‘Fixer’
State Sen. Harry Brown of Jacksonville is the majority leader and the coast’s highest-ranking legislative leader. A well-known car dealer, Brown talks about juggling his business life with a hectic schedule in Raleigh and his ability as a “fixer.”
