Dive Brief:
- North Carolina lawmakers have given final approval to House Bill 630, a compromise measure that would dictate new cleanup policies for coal ash facilities in the state, the AP reports. Legislators passed the revised measure after Gov. Pat McCrory (R) vetoed an earlier bill that would have revived an independent oversight commission for the cleanup of the generation byproduct.
- The new legislation gives oversight to McCrory's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for dictating how Duke Energy cleans up its coal ash. The governor had claimed the coal ash commission was an unconstitutional overreach into executive authority, prompting his veto and an earlier court challenge.
- The bill would give Duke Energy the option of changing the risk classification for their sites from intermediate to low, meaning that the utility could expand its timeline for clean up. The bill now heads to McCrory's desk and he is expected to sign it.
Dive Insight:
Gov. McCrory's veto of coal ash legislation has prompted legislators to do an about face.
Earlier this year, the state's independent Coal Ash Management Commission shut down after the governor informed officials it was "no longer a legal entity." In May, he vetoed Senate Bill 71, legislation that would have reestablished that commission with compromises for his administration's concerns.
House Bill 630 abandons the attempt to revive the commission altogether and hands over oversight authority back to the DEQ, whose leaders are appointed by the governor.
Lawmakers previously sought to make the committee independent from gubernatorial oversight over concerns the McCrory administration has been soft on coal ash enforcement. The governor, a former Duke executive, and his team argue they have put in place more vigorous ash regulations than any previous administration.
Though the legislature has enough votes to override the veto, policymakers decided to work with his administration to avoid a court battle over the commission and begin the process of providing clean water to communities within the near vicinity of Duke Energy's coal ash ponds, reports the Raleigh News & Observer.
The legislation would make cleanup timelines more lenient for Duke. In May, the DEQ directed the utility to excavate all its holding ponds in the state and move the ash to lined landfills by 2024, though some high-priority sites held a 2019 deadline.
The new bill would allow Duke to reclassify ponds labeled "intermediate risk" by the DEQ to "low risk," a classification that allows it to cap coal ash storage facilities in place. The utility would still be required to provide a new, permanent water supply for people living close to its coal ash sites by 2018.