2016 Environmental Legislation: Place Matters!

How much the last legislative session impacted environmental management in your community largely depends on where you live in the state. It was a “short” legislative session and relatively few bills were passed, but several of the bills that were passed contained significant provisions likely to impact environmental quality in specific regions of the state. For example, the Drinking Water Protection/Coal Ash Cleanup Act requires that the owners of coal ash impoundments (ponds) that were shown to pollute groundwater provide impacted households with a permanent alternative water source. The Act also lays out the process and deadlines for dealing with coal ash ponds across the state to reduce further environmental impacts. This year’s budget contained several important environmental management and funding provisions that will have a major impact on a number of communities. The main purpose of an annual budget bill during the second year (short session) of a two year legislative session is to make adjustments (typically fairly modest) to the spending that was specified in the budget prepared in the previous year. However, budget bills both at the state and federal level have begun being the home for important environmental policies that do not make it into standalone environmental bills (the omnibus environmental regulations bill did not pass this year). This year’s budget bill delayed key aspects of the nutrient management rules that had been enacted to reduce nutrient pollution entering into Falls Lake and Jordan Lake. The budget also provided funding for a series of additional studies to inform future pollution management efforts. [...]