Latest news with #8-1-1Amendments
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Agriculture committee considers Wilson for DEQ secretary
North Carolina Legislative Building (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) The North Carolina Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee reviewed Reid Wilson's appointment as secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality during its hearing on Wednesday. The hearing was billed as 'discussion only.' Lawmakers will take a vote at their next meeting. Wilson formerly served as secretary for the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources from 2021 to 2024. Before that, he was DNCR's chief deputy secretary from 2017 to 2020. Following his appointment earlier this year by Gov. Josh Stein, he's been serving as DEQ secretary on an interim basis while awaiting confirmation. At the national level, Congress has been working on a federal budget that would include cuts to some of the areas under DEQ's purview. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) asked what the cuts would mean to DEQ and how Wilson would respond. About half of DEQ's budget comes from federal sources, Wilson said. In particular, the proposed budget would remove $31.5 million from operating grants. 'We would have to let a whole lot of people go, and the consequences of that are that our permitting processes would take longer, our responses to spills and other problems would take longer, our responsiveness and assistance to businesses would not be as strong,' Wilson said. 'Everything we do, we would do less well.' Chaudhuri jokingly followed up with, 'Do you still want this job?' Wilson answered in the affirmative. Sen. Jim Burgin (R-Harnett, Lee, Sampson) asked about water quality, specifically microplastics. Wilson said DEQ staff are looking into the issue, and the department also collaborates with others like university researchers to learn more. 'Water quality is a huge priority,' he said. 'It is a significant health concern, so we're gonna' be involved with that.' After Hurricane Helene swept through the western portion of the state, DEQ worked closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide mobile programs testing the quality of drinking wells. Wilson said the agencies found out how polluted the drinking water was, how to get it cleaned, and tested it to make sure it was healthy before people drank it again. 'For folks with a well in the yard or on their property, they're more vulnerable, so we want to make sure we are doing as much testing,' Wilson said. 'We have a [fund] which helps pay for additional private well tests around the state when we determine that that is needed.' Lawmakers also voted to approve two pieces of legislation at Tuesday's meeting, which they discussed yesterday: House Bill 247 ('8-1-1 Amendments') and House Bill 694 ('Study Water/Wastewater Regionalization'). The former heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the latter proceeds to the Senate Rules Committee.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Agriculture Committee reviews zoning, excavation, wasterwater bills
(Photo: NC Department of Agriculture 2018 Pesticide Report) The Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee approved one bill and discussed two others during its hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers voted to pass House Bill 126, titled 'Revise Voluntary Ag. District Laws,' without any discussion or testimony. This measure would require government agencies considering condemning or rezoning property within a voluntary agricultural district to hold a public hearing. There would be 45 days to set up the hearing and 120 days for the local agricultural advisory board to submit its findings and recommendations to the agency. 'At this point, I've heard no opposition to this bill,' primary sponsor Rep. Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin, Wayne) said. The bill now heads to the Senate Rules Committee. Legislators also reviewed two bills for discussion only: House Bill 247 ('8-1-1 Amendments') and House Bill 694 ('Study Water/Wastewater Regionalization'). Sen. Michael Lazzara (R-Onslow) presented HB 247 to the panel, explaining the language would be replaced with text from Senate Bill 328, which updates the Underground Utility Safety and Damage Prevention Act. 'We just made the corrections to some of the language, but essentially, it's a consensus,' he said. Sen. Tom McInnis (R-Cumberland, Moore) said he appreciated the bill, seeing as he's had a lot of complaints about 8-1-1. That's the number individuals should call prior to excavating to ensure they don't encounter any buried utilities. 'We can't move forward in our state unless we have a cohesive unit of construction,' McInnis said. If this bill passes the panel, it will proceed to the Senate Rules Committee. It's the same case for HB 694, which would direct the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina to study wastewater and water regionalization efforts. Sen. David Craven (R-Anson, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Union) presented the legislation. Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) asked about the Department of Environmental Quality's role in the process of transferring water between basins. 'This starts with a notice, then DEQ works with the water applicant to develop a draft environmental statement that looks at environmental impacts, it looks at alternatives to the water withdrawal, as well as several other things of that nature,' legislative analysis Kyle Evans said.
