Senator Bill Cook - October 6 Legislative Update | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Press Release:

    HB 56 and SB 16 Veto Overrides

    Continuing our strong record of eliminating and simplifying job-killing rules, both the Senate and House of Representatives voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes of House Bill 56 and Senate Bill 16 this past week. Too often the focus has been on creating new programs instead of eliminating or reforming programs which are no longer operating effectively.

    Highlights of House Bill 56

• Amend the Rule for Pool Lighting - clarifies that the required lighting on the deck of a public pool should be sufficient to illuminate the entire deck area, but without a specific level of brightness.
• Storm Damage Mitigation Fund - establishes the Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Fund as a special revenue fund for particular beach nourishment or damage mitigation. Thus, revenue credited to the fund may only be used for costs associated with beach nourishment, artificial dunes, and other projects to mitigate or remediate coastal storm damage to our ocean beaches and dune systems.
• Mining Permitting Revisions - creates a life of site permit for mining operations that is similar to the life of site permitting program for landfills. This will assist PotashCorp in Beaufort County.
• Repeals Unconstitutional Plastic Bag Ban - pursuant to Article II Section 24 (1) (a) of the State Constitution: "the General Assembly shall not enact any local, private, or special act or resolution: relating to health, sanitation, and the abatement of nuisances." Thus, the ban on plastic bags along certain areas of the Outer Banks clearly violated the State Constitution as it was a local bill on sanitation. Not to mention, at least 130 businesses WERE impacted by this ban - which costs these businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in increased expenses. Thus, the millions of dollars spent by businesses over the life of this ban could have been used to hire additional employees or invest in their businesses.
• Cape Fear Region GenX Issue - directs $250,000 to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to quantify the amount of GenX in the Cape Fear River and determine the impact it could have on public health and safety. Provides $185,000 to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and other local public utilities to develop treatment technologies to remove GenX from public water supplies, and to make sure that treatment is working through ongoing monitoring.

    Highlights of Senate Bill 16

• Amend Periodic Review of Rules Process - ensures that all objections to agency rules are recorded as public comment, expanding the impact of citizens and businesses who wish to file on-the-record complaints about state regulations. Additionally, expands public notice requirements of proposed rule changes to keep North Carolinians more informed and allow citizens time to submit comments and have input on the regulatory process.
• Clarify Contested Case Policy - removes hurdles to petition for judicial review of regulations by eliminating the requirement that a person or party petition an agency through the rules review process before seeking relief in court.
• Clarifies Stormwater Laws - eases duplicative requirements on coastal redevelopment of residential projects and proposes several legislative studies.
• Vehicle Inspection Requirements - adds a new requirement that vehicle backup lamps be in working order to pass annual safety inspections.

    Lastly, Senate Bill 16 also reforms regulations that oversee state agencies, bed and breakfasts, alarm system salespeople, and businesses that provide critical solid waste disposal services.

    Golden LEAF Grants

    On Thursday, Golden LEAF awarded a grant of $133,665 to Dare County to reimburse for part of the cost related to the emergency dredging project of the Wanchese Channel following Hurricane Matthew. Additionally, a grant was approved to provide the Ocracoke Foundation $175,820 in disaster recovery grant funding for repairs at the historic Will Willis Fish House and Dock. Earlier in the year, the County of Dare was also awarded a state grant of $162,000 for the repair, restoration, and stabilization of a cemetery on Hatteras Island. For more information about Hurricane Matthew Recovery efforts, please visit the following websites: https://www.ncdps.gov/hurricane-matthew-2016 or https://rebuild.nc.gov/HurricaneMatthew

    Coastal Pregnancy Center Grant

    Last Thursday, it was an honor and privilege to award the Coastal Pregnancy Center of Beaufort County a state grant of $100,000. In order to empower and encourage families who face an unplanned pregnancy, the Coastal Pregnancy Center is in our community providing first-class counseling and medical services to those families. Our culture must affirm the value of the weak and vulnerable in our society, beginning with our children. The Declaration of Independence declares that everyone is endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including and especially life. We must never stop speaking up to protect the most basic of all human rights - the right to life.


    Clean Water Management Trust Fund Grants

    The year, 2017, marks the 21st Anniversary of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF). Several notable milestones have been reached during those two decades, including more than $1B allocated in grants to conserve, enhance or restore the State's water system, and more than 500,000 acres placed into perpetual conservation easements. In September 2017, nearly $20 million in CWMTF grants were awarded to help fund 50 projects that will conserve lands as well as protect waterways, clean drinking water, natural and cultural resources, and the U.S. military mission within North Carolina. Additionally, this year, our state budget provides an additional $4.3 million to the CWMTF for the 2017-19 biennium. The following projects in Northeastern North Carolina received grant funding last month:

• Bertie County: N.C. Coastal Land Trust - Salmon Creek Initiative - U.S. Dept. of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program - (flight path protection) - $1,209,075.
• Dare County: The Nature Conservancy - Acquisition for Nags Head Wood Preserve (Loesch Tract) - $161,943.
• Dare County: The Conservation Fund - Acquisition of a tract near Fort Raleigh National Historic Site - $353,500.
• Pasquotank & Perquimans County: Albemarle Resource Conservation and Development Council - Albemarle Sound Water Quality Plan - $45,000.
• Washington County: The Nature Conservancy - U.S. Dept. of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program (flight path protection) - $287,835.

• Contact: Bill Cook
•     bill.cook@ncleg.net