…incubate smart operational practices and good environmental stewardship on the university’s campus and across the state,” he said. The new center, he said, will have the same kind of faculty oversight as other research entities on campus. Dr. Bruce Cairns, faculty chairman at UNC-Chapel Hill, said he expects a review…
Search Results for: Kirk Ross
Wind Farm Bill Got Caught in Turbulence
RALEIGH – Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, confirmed Thursday that he’ll try again next session to pass restrictions on land-based wind farms that he says could be in conflict with military flight paths. Brown’s bill was one of several regulatory efforts that fell victim to a contentious end-of-session showdown between the…
Sunset Beach De-Annex Bill Fails to Survive
Update: July 2, 2016 — Sen. Bill Rabon succeeded late Thursday in convincing Finance Committee chairs to add his Sunset Beach de-annexation bill to a final meeting of the committee on Friday, but according to Rep. Susie Hamilton, the move was halted when Rep. Frank Iler asked that the bill…
Bill Marks Shoals as Sources for Beach Sand
Senate leaders hit the brakes last week on a fast-moving set of amendments to state environmental laws with several coastal-related provisions, including one that would for the first time target North Carolina’s three great capes as a sources of sand for beach re-nourishment. Systems of shoals extend seaward from, north…
Recycling Scrapped, New Rules Capped
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Senate approved a bill last night that would end the electronics-recycling program and set a hard financial cap on new regulations. The bill, H169, which includes measures recycled from bills that failed to win approval in the past, was approved with no further amendments in…
Conservation Funds Boosted in Budget
RALEIGH – More money for conservation trust funds and clean water projects and a number of special provisions supporting oyster revitalization efforts are among the adjustments in this year’s state budget approved by the N.C House of Representatives. N.C. Legislative Building, Raleigh, N.C. The House gave final approval for the…
Legislators Scrutinize DEQ Legal Fund
RALEIGH – Legislators want time to consider Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget request for $5 million to pay for private lawyers for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. Gov. Pat McCrory’s recommended spending plan totals $22.3 billion. Photo: N.C. Office of State Budget and Management The request is in McCrory’s $22.3…
Bills to Weaken Protections Are Ready
RALEIGH – Readied for introduction to this year’s session of the N.C. General Assembly, which starts next week, are a slew of bills that weaken or eliminate environmental protection, including a measure that could possibly end state requirements for some on-site stormwater controls and another that asks a federal agency…
Bond Includes $11 Million for Coastal Parks
Going into the 2015 legislative session supporters of state parks had rallied around a simple goal: raise $100 million for the 100th anniversary of the state park system. The plan was to raise $75 million from the state and $25 million from private sources. Although it has taken a long,…
EPA Gets Blame for Coal-Ash Delays
RALEIGH — With a March primary and an early start to the session, the N.C. General Assembly’s environmental oversight committees have begun prepping legislation for this year’s short session, including a potential revision to a coal-ash bill passed two years ago. Tom Reeder The legislature’s Environmental Review Commission devoted much…
First Come a Flood of Reports
RALEIGH — A study of plans to revert to previous, weaker stormwater rules, a long-range look at water resources in the Cape Fear region and a major study of beach erosion are among the dozens of coastal-related reports due ahead of the 2016 legislative session in April. Most of the…
Shellfish Studies Signal New Strategy
When it came to shaping coastal policy, the 2015 legislative session could go down as the year of the oyster. Legislation passed in 2015 calls for efforts to restore the N.C. oyster fishery. In a bid to jumpstart low, relatively static production levels, legislators added more than a half-dozen provisions,…