Rollback on environmental regulations clears NC Senate, with biggest concern removed
Lawmakers removed the most controversial section of a regulatory reform bill, but environmentalists still have concerns.
Posted — UpdatedA large package of regulatory reforms, described earlier this month as a “polluter’s wish list,” moved forward at the statehouse Wednesday, but with a key section removed.
Lee said Wednesday that lawmakers need more time to come up with language like that.
With this key section gone, the bill moved forward 31-13, with full support from Senate Republicans in attendance and three of 16 Senate Democrats voting for it.
The Southern Environmental Law Center earlier this month called House Bill 600 a “polluter’s wish list,” in part because of the now deleted language. By removing it, and approving a handful of other changes Wednesday, Senate Republicans addressed some concerns, but the measure “remains an environmentally damaging bill,” SELC Legislative Counsel Brooks Rainey Pearson said in a text message.
Republicans shot down a Democratic effort to amend the bill further Wednesday by beefing up state regulations on key pollutants like PFAS and PFOA chemicals, as well as 1,4 dioxane and chromium 6.
The Senate’s Republican majority voted to table her amendment, killing it.
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