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Latest report on the toxic things the General Assembly is up to (why don't they just go homee!)</div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> NC Sierra Club Legislative Update <NC-LEGISLATIVE-UPDATE@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG> on behalf of Cassie Gavin <cassie.gavin@sierraclub.org><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, August 12, 2021 3:46 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> NC-LEGISLATIVE-UPDATE@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG <NC-LEGISLATIVE-UPDATE@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [NC-LEGISLATIVE-UPDATE] NC Sierra Club Legislative Update</font>
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<div class="x_gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><span id="x_gmail-docs-internal-guid-300430e8-7fff-5273-f16c-0526704cffc7">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Good
afternoon, </span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">This
week was a busy one at the N.C. General Assembly as the House passed the budget and a Senate committee hosted a public hearing on the controversial energy bill. The legislature also began holding joint House and Senate redistricting committee meetings in preparation
for redistricting with new census data.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">House
Sends Mixed Messages on Resilience with Budget</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">The
House passed a state budget (</span><a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/s105" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; text-decoration-line:underline; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">S
105</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">) with a vote of 72-41 on Thursday afternoon,
mostly along party lines with a handful of Democrats voting yes along with all Republicans present. Since the Senate and House versions of the budget vary greatly, the bill will next go to conference where a conference committee made up of legislators appointed
by leadership will work out the differences in private. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">While
there is strong funding in the budget for conservation and resilience, the House inserted numerous environmental policy provisions that normally would have to be passed as bills. The budget is supposed to be about allocating funding but, year after year, environmental
rollbacks show up in the budget because the legislators championing the provisions hope policies that didn’t pass in individual bills may succeed as part of the budget. </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Opportunity
for Action</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Please
contact your state representative and senator ask them to prioritize removal of four harmful environmental budget provisions from the budget: </span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Anti-tree Bill:</span><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">
Earlier this year, t</span><span style="font-size:12pt; color:rgb(34,34,34); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">he House passed
</span><a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/h496" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; text-decoration-line:underline; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">H
496</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt; color:rgb(34,34,34); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">, which would prohibit communities from adopting tree
protection ordinances that regulate the removal of trees from private property without the express authorization of the General Assembly. The Senate has not taken up the bill but provisions from H 496 were added by the House to the budget. This is harmful
because we should be helping, not hindering, local efforts to protect trees. North Carolina is losing urban tree cover at a fast rate. Tree cover provides shade during increasingly hot summers, lessens the impact of stormwater runoff and improves the aesthetic
beauty of neighborhoods. </span></p>
</li></ul>
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<span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">More Protections for Billboard Industry</span><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">:
The billboard industry regularly seeks giveaways from the legislature to limit local government controls over signage. N.C. Sierra Club supports local government efforts to regulate billboards to protect trees and community aesthetics. This provision includes
language that was in a 2019 billboard bill (</span><a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2019/h645" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; text-decoration-line:underline; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">H
645</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">) that was vetoed by Governor Cooper. It would ease billboard relocations at
the expense of local government control, and it may threaten local ordinances that ban digital billboards. </span></p>
</li></ul>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc; font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt">
<span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Disallow Local Stormwater and Buffer Protections</span><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">:
A provision would bar all local stormwater ordinances and riparian buffer protections that are not required by federal or state law. This would hamper local flexibility, and makes no sense at a time when many N.C. communities are trying to protect residents
from intensifying storms and flooding.</span></p>
</li></ul>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc; font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt">
<span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Less Funding for Environmental Projects in Eastern N.C.:
</span><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">North Carolina’s attorney general awards grants annually to projects to improve and
protect natural resources through the </span><a href="https://ncdoj.gov/protecting-the-environment/eeg/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; text-decoration-line:underline; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Environmental
Enhancement Grant (EEG) program</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">. Funds for the EEG program came from a legal agreement
with Smithfield Foods, a hog company. The AG has awarded almost $34M to more than 150 projects, resulting in the closure of 240 abandoned hog waste lagoons and the restoration or conservation of more than 31,000 acres of land, wetland restoration, stormwater
remediation, and stream stabilization, as well as environmental education and research initiatives. Since addressing pollution from hog farms was the subject of the Smithfield agreement, projects in eastern N.C. are prioritized because more hog farms are in
that area of the state. A budget provision would direct EEG funds to a new program at the Division of Public Instruction to be spent on "environmental enhancements" by schools. The funding is already being used as intended by the AG and should not be reallocated.</span></p>
</li></ul>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-weight:700; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Senate
Hears Broad Opposition to Energy Bill</span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">The
Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources committee held a hearing Tuesday to hear from the public on H 951, the omnibus energy bill. Most speakers voiced opposition to the bill, other than Duke Energy, the Chamber of Commerce and a few others.
Concerns voiced included new gas plants, increased costs, and limiting Utilities Commission authority over energy policy. N.C. Sierra Club’s comments focused on the need to retire coal but not replace it with fracked gas and the need to improve the securitization
section of the bill to save ratepayers money when coal plants retire. Check out this
</span><a href="https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2021/08/10/5-takeaways-from-todays-hearing-on-the-energy-bill/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; text-decoration-line:underline; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Policy
Watch article</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap"> about the hearing. </span></p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">A
reminder that it’s timely to reach out to your senator about the energy bill - please use
</span><a href="https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/ncenergybill?_ga=2.190917226.1781903167.1628697459-1835934188.1596136205&_gac=1.61273566.1628264220.Cj0KCQjwu7OIBhCsARIsALxCUaM2k1y6erK-k_uyD4F-uoRG57Xla78OdJSHegZAc1f3QJmfPjnzGy4aAk9qEALw_wcB" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; text-decoration-line:underline; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">our
action alert</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap"> to do so! </span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt; font-family:Arial; color:rgb(0,0,0); background-color:transparent; font-variant-numeric:normal; font-variant-east-asian:normal; vertical-align:baseline; white-space:pre-wrap">Thank
you for your advocacy!</span></p>
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<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Cassie Gavin, Senior Director of Government Relations</font>
<div><font size="2" color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">NC Sierra Club</font></div>
<div><a href="mailto:cassie.gavin@sierraclub.org" target="_blank"><font size="2" face="arial, sans-serif">cassie.gavin@sierraclub.org</font></a></div>
<div><font size="2" color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">19 W. Hargett Street, Suite 210</font></div>
<div><font size="2" color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Raleigh, NC 27601</font></div>
<div><span style="line-height:27.6719px"><font size="2" color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Phone: </font></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0); font-family:arial,sans-serif">919.360.8803</span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgba(0,0,0,0.9)"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassiegavin" target="_blank"><font face="arial, sans-serif">https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassiegavin</font></a></span><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000"><br>
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