RALEIGH – Small jetties, called terminal groins, could be built at all the inlets along the N.C. coast, under a bill that a state Senate committee passed yesterday, and state taxpayers could be asked to pay for all of them. The bill lifts the cap of four groins that was…
Search Results for: Kirk%20Ross
Busy Week Ahead at Legislature
RALEIGH — As the legislature enters a busy week with a key deadline for bill passage fast approaching, local officials on the coast continue to raise concerns about how the N.C. Senate’s latest proposal for changing environmental rules would affect their communities. Among the many provisions in the omnibus Senate…
‘Reform’ Bill Could Have Sweeping Effects
RALEIGH — The Senate wrapped up work last week leaving a host of stakeholders in environmental policy with a serious homework assignment: Try to decipher the implications of a revised omnibus bill that would make major changes to the state’s environmental regulations. Senate Bill 612, yet another “regulatory reform act,”…
Compromise on Committees Bill Goes Up in Flames
RALEIGH — Time will tell whether there’s some yet unknown backstory or whether as described on the floor of the N.C. House, a compromise worked out on a controversial government reorganization bill suffered a fatal technical flaw. Regardless of the reasons, the compromise on Senate Bill 10, which was closely…
New Bills Target Stormwater, Wind Energy
RALEIGH — As the N.C.General Assembly passes the halfway mark in the session, environmental organizations are tracking several key bills, including new legislation on stormwater rules, permitting and wind energy and old bills on hydraulic fracking and inlet dredging. House Bill 480 – the legislature’s latest version of permitting “reform”…
Opposition Brewing to Injection Wells
RALEIGH — A resolution up for a vote next week by the Dare County commissioners and a position paper from a regional water resources group in Onslow County are the latest indications of the fast-growing coastal opposition to using coastal aquifers to eliminate wastewater from hydraulic fracking. The position paper…
McCrory’s Budget Slashes Conservation Funds
RALEIGH — State trust funds dedicated to conservation, parks and clean water would take a big hit under Gov. Pat McCrory’s first budget proposal. McCrory unveiled his recommended $20.6 billion budget Wednesday at the old state Capital building in Raleigh. The budget, the first by a Republican governor in two…
State House to Go Slow on Injection Wells
RALEIGH – Coastal legislators are worried that a bill passed by the N.C. Senate to clear the way for fracking of natural gas could also allow fracking waste to be injected into coastal aquifers. The bill will get a thorough review in the N.C. House, said Rep. Rick Catlin, R-New…
House Committee Reworks Commissions Bill
RALEIGH – A bill that revamps the state’s regulatory commissions emerged from a N.C. House committee yesterday without many of the provisions that have drawn criticism since the bill first passed the state Senate almost three weeks ago. The greatly modified version of Senate Bill 10 that the House’s Commerce…
Renewable Energy, LID on Environmental Agenda
RALEIGH — Some hot-button issues will grab headlines during the first couple of weeks of the new legislative session, which began in earnest when the N.C. General Assembly convened last night. “Reforming” unemployment benefits and passing voter ID are among the top issues that the Republicans who dominate the legislature…
Some Want More Study of Wood Pellet Plans
Third of four parts Does North Carolina have an adequate supply of trees to feed the maws of European power plants? Does the state have policies and rules in place to ensure that its wood lands won’t be so cut up as to threaten water quality, wildlife and natural diversity?…
Can Our Forests Safely Power Europe?
Second of four parts The Many Benefits of Our Forests Water Quality Reduce flooding by intercepting runoff and encouraging infiltration Improve water quality by slowing the rate at which rainfall runoff flows to rivers and streams and trapping, using, or breaking down some of the pollutants and nutrients that are…