smithenvironment blog's 2015 nc senate budget highlights
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SmithEnvironment Blog (http://www.smithenvironment.com)—an environment law and policy blog of lawyer Robin W. Smith, former Assistant Secretary for Environment at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR)—published a summary of the recent 2015 NC Senate Budget.More here: http://www.smithenvironment.com/the-nc-senate-budget-2015/TRANSCRIPT
Environmental Law and Policy from a North Carolina Point of View
June 18, 2015. Yesterday, the N.C. Senate took a first vote to approve a Senate version of House Bill 97 (
2015 Appropriations Act). The Senate received H 97 from the House of Representatives on May 22. The Se-
nate released its alternative draft of the appropriations bill three days ago and quickly moved H 97
through Senate appropriations committees. The Senate takes a very different approach to funding state
government than the House, but the Senate version of H 97 also contains many more “special provisions” —
changes to existing law that go beyond finance and appropriations. Some of the more significant environ-
mental provisions in the Senate budget bill (not by any means a complete list) below.
First, the Senate revisits the organization of state natural resource programs. Sec. 14.30 of the Senate bill
would combine DENR’s natural resource programs (Division of Parks and Recreation, State Parks, Aquari-
ums, the N.C. Zoo and the Museum of Natural Sciences) with cultural resource programs (such as the Mu-
seum of History and state historic sites) in a new Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. DENR
would become the Department of Environmental Quality. Sec. 14.31 requires the two departments to study
whether the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, state Coastal Reserves, the Office of Land and
Water Stewardship, the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs, the Division of Marine Fish-
eries and the Wildlife Resources Commission should also be moved to the new Department of Natural and
Cultural Resources.
Other changes proposed in the Senate bill by subject (parenthetical descriptions are mine) :
COAL ASH
Sec. 29.18 (Beneficial use of coal ash) requires the Utilities Commission to report to several legislative
committees by January 2016 on “the incremental cost incentives related to coal combustion residuals sur-
face impoundment for investor-owned public utilities” including:
(1) Utilities Commission policy on incremental cost recovery.
(2) The impact of the current policy on incremental cost recovery on utility customers’ rates.
(3) Possible changes to the current policy on incremental cost recovery that would promote reprocessing
and other technologies that allow the reuse of coal combustion residuals stored in surface impoundments
for concrete and other beneficial end uses.
Although a bit opaque, the Senate seems interested in the possibility of allowing electric utilities to recover
(through charges to consumers) the costs associated with making coal ash in surface impoundments avail-
able for beneficial use. Duke Energy has previously told legislators that much of the coal ash in North
Carolina impoundments would require additional processing to be usable in concrete manufacturing.
COASTAL ISSUES
Sec. 14.6 (Use of sandbags for temporary erosion control) amends standards installation of sandbags for
erosion control on ocean and inlet shorelines. State rules now allow installation of sandbags only in re-
sponse to erosion that imminently threatens a structure. The Senate bill allows a property owner to install
sandbags to align with existing sandbag structures on adjacent properties without showing an imminent
erosion threat on their own property.
Sec. 14.10I (Strategies to address beach erosion) requires the Division of Coastal Management to study
and develop a strategy “preventing, mitigating and remediating the effects of beach erosion”.
ENERGY
Sec 14.29 (Federal energy grants) prohibits DENR from applying for grants from two federal programs –
the State Energy Program Competitive Grant Program and the Clean Energy and Manufacturing Grant Pro-
gram.
FISHERIES
Sec. 14.8, Sec. 14.10A and Sec. 14.10C (measures to increase shellfish restoration and cultivation)
Sec. 14.8 directs the Division of Marine Fisheries to work with commercial fishermen, aquaculture opera-
tions, and federal agencies to open additional areas in Core Sound to shellfish cultivation leasing.
Sec. 14.10A directs DMF and the Division of Coastal Management to cooperate in development of a new,
expedited CAMA permitting process for oyster restoration projects. The provision also authorizes DMF to
issue scientific and educational activity permits to nonprofit conservation organizations engaged in oyster
restoration.
Sec. 14.10C Amends G.S. 113-202 to allow a lease for use of the water bottom to also cover fish cultivation
or harvest devices on or within 18″ of the bottom. (Devices or structures not resting on the bottom or ex-
tending more than 18″ above the bottom will continue to require a water column lease.)
Sec. 14.10F (Joint fisheries enforcement authority) repeals the Division of Marine Fisheries authority to
enter into a joint enforcement agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service. The joint agreement
allows DMF to receive federal funding to enforce federal fisheries regulations in state waters.
SPECIAL FUNDS
Sec. 14.16 continues a recent trend of eliminating “special funds” that hold fees or other revenue dedicated
for a specific purpose outside the state budget’s General Fund. The Senate bill eliminates special funds for
mining fees, stormwater permit fees, and UST soil permitting fees and moves the fee revenue into the Gen-
eral Fund.
STREAM AND WETLAND MITIGATION
Sec. 14.23 (Limiting the state’s role in providing stream, wetland, riparian buffer and nutrient mitiga-
tion) requires DENR’s Division of Mitigation Services to stop accepting fees in lieu of mitigation in the
Neuse, Tar-Pamlico and Cape Fear River basins within 30 months. The provision then allows DENR (with the
Environmental Management Commission’s agreement) to also eliminate the state in-lieu fee programs in all
other river basins after June 30, 2018.
DENR’s in-lieu fee program allows a developer to pay a fee for mitigation required as a condition of state
and federal development permits. DENR then contracts with private mitigation providers for the necessary
mitigation. Payment of the fee transfers responsibility for providing the mitigation from the developer to
DENR. Under a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state’s in-lieu fee
program can be used to satisfy stream and wetland mitigation required as a condition of federal Clean
Water Act permits.
Eliminating the State in-lieu fee program seems to eliminate the fee-for-mitigation approach as an option
for developers. The burden would be back on the developer to find acceptable mitigation through a private
mitigation bank or to plan and manage an individual mitigation project. The change may slow some devel-
opment projects that can now move ahead based on the Corps of Engineers’ agreement to accept pay-
ments to the state in-lieu fee program as satisfying federal mitigation requirements.
UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS
Sec. 14.16A (Elimination of the Noncommercial UST Trust Fund) phases out the state’s Noncommercial
UST Trust Fund which reimburses property owners for the cost of cleaning up contamination from leaking
underground petroleum storage tanks. The Noncommercial UST Trust Fund has benefitted homeowners
with soil and groundwater contamination caused by home heating oil tanks and property owners with con-
tamination caused by USTs used to store fuel for personal use — as on a farm. Under the Senate provision,
the Noncommercial Fund could only be used for leaks reported before August 1, 2015 and claims for reim-
bursement filed by July 1, 2016. The Noncommercial Fund would be eliminated for any petroleum releases
reported or claims made after those dates.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Sec. 14.20 (Life of site landfill permits) amends G.S. 130A-294 to replace the current 5 or 10 year landfill
permits with a “life of site” permit to cover landfill operations from opening to final closure. The provision
would require permit review every five years.
Sec. 14.21 (Study of local government authority over waste collection and disposal services) directs
the legislature’s Environmental Review Commission to study local authority over solid waste management
including local fees; ordinances on waste collection and processing; cost to local government to provide
solid waste services; and efficiencies or cost reductions that might be realized through privatization. Solid
waste collection and disposal services are entirely financed and provided by local governments; many al-
ready contract with private entities for waste collection or landfill management. It isn’t clear what the study
might lead to since the legislature doesn’t have a role in providing or financing local waste management
services.
Sec. 14.22 (Privatizing landfill remediation) directs DENR to privatize the assessment and remediation of
at least 10 high priority pre-1983 landfill sites. For several years, DENR has received a percentage of the
state’s solid waste disposal tax to fund assessment and cleanup of contamination associated with landfills
and dumps that closed rather than meet environmental standards that went into effect in 1983. Some legis-
lators have expressed concern about the slow pace of remediation (and the resulting high fund balance).
Note: Most state-funded remediation programs have a slow ramp-up in spending since it takes time to set
up a new program and assess the sites.
WATER QUALITY
Sec. 4.5 (Nutrient management) earmarks $4.5 million from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund for
a DENR study of “in situ strategies beyond traditional watershed controls” to mitigate water quality impair-
ment. The provision specifically mentions impairment by “aquatic flora, sediment and nutrients”, suggesting
the study may be a continuation of the legislature’s effort to replace watershed-based nutrient management
programs with technological solutions.
In 2013, the General Assembly suspended implementation of watershed-based nutrient management rules
in the Jordan Lake watershed and funded a pilot project to test the use of aerators to reduce the impacts of
excess nutrients on water quality. Sec. 14.5 allows extension of the pilot project contracts for another two
years and delays implementation of the Jordan Lake watershed rules an additional two years or one year
beyond completion of the pilot project, whichever is later.
Sec. 14.25 (State Assumption of permitting under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act) directs DENR to
hire a consultant to plan and prepare a state application to assume the federal permitting program under
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Sec. 404 requires a permit to fill waters or wetlands that fall under
Clean Water Act jurisdiction. The U.S. Corps of Engineers issues Sec. 404 permits, but a state can assume
Sec. 404 permitting authority under certain conditions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees
404 permitting and would have to approve a state program. In a state that assumes Sec. 404 permitting,
EPA retains authority to review permit applications; a permit cannot be issued over an EPA objection.
Although several states have explored the possibility of assuming Sec. 404 permitting authority, only Michi-
gan and New Jersey have approved Sec. 404 programs. Individual states have reached different conclusions
about the costs and benefits for a number of reasons. One may be cost — there are no federal grant funds
to support a state 404 permitting program. The Clean Water Act also prohibits state assumption of permit-
ting in tidal waters; water bodies used for interstate and foreign commerce; and wetlands adjacent to both
categories of waters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would continue to have permitting authority in those
waters and wetlands.
Sec. 14.26 (Transfer Sedimentation Act implementation to the EMC) eliminates the Sedimentation Pollu-
tion Control Commission and transfers responsibility for implementation of the Sedimentation Act to the
Environmental Management Commission.
Once the Senate takes a final vote on House Bill 97, the bill goes to a conference committee to resolve the
(considerable) differences between Senate and House versions of the bill. Few of the environmental provi-
sions described above appear in the House version of the bill — although that doesn’t necessarily mean all
of the Senate additions will be opposed by the House in conference negotiations.
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This entry was posted in Coal Ash, Coastal Development, Energy, General Observations, Nutrient Pollution,
Parks, Waste, Water, Wetlands and tagged Budget, Coal Ash, Jordan Lake, Nutrient Pollution, UST, Waste Dis-
posal, Wetlands on June 18, 2015 [http://www.smithenvironment.com/the-nc-senate-budget-2015/] .