[Durham INC] Fw: Urgent: calls to your state senator needed today! -- More property rights taken away from citizens

Thu Jun 15 15:06:45 EDT 2017

The NC Senate is trying to slip a new clause into a bill:

Under current law, a person or a group that would be harmed by a permitted activity can challenge the permit issued

by DEQ. Under the change adopted in committee today, a person, group or community that could be hurt by a permit decision would be shut out of the Office of Administrative Hearings unless they had submitted a specific comment during the public comment period.

I'm sure Senators Woodard and McKissick will be working against this, so please get friends outside Durham to contact their senators too!

Thanks, pat

________________________________
From: North Carolina Chapter Leaders <NC-LEADERS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG> on behalf of Molly Diggins <molly.diggins at SIERRACLUB.ORG>
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2017 1:37 PM
To: NC-LEADERS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
Subject: Urgent: calls to your state senator needed today!

(Apologies for cross-postings)

This measure will be voted on next week by the full Senate. Please call or email your state senator and ask him or her to remove Section 12 (the contested case provision)-- or to vote against the bill, H 374.

Need your senator's contact info? Go to http://www.ncleg.net/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.aspx.

Who Represents Me? - North Carolina General Assembly<http://www.ncleg.net/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.aspx>
www.ncleg.net
Who Represents Me? All residents of North Carolina are represented in the United States Senate by both Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. Representation in the NC ...

Thank you!

Molly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Contact: Cassie Gavin, (919) 360-8803<tel:(919)%20360-8803>, cassie.gavin at sierraclub.org<mailto:your.email at sierraclub.org>

Senate Proposes Limiting Public Access to Courts for Environmental Cases

Impacts challenges to water, air, coastal development and interbasin transfer permits

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Citizens’ access to the courts in environmental cases would be cut back under provisions of a bill approved today (June 15) by the Senate Commerce Committee. The provision sought by the NC Chamber of Commerce was added to H374, Department of Labor Technical Corrections, in a PCS introduced yesterday.

Under current law, a person or a group that would be harmed by a permitted activity can challenge the permit issued by DEQ. Under the change adopted in committee today, a person, group or community that could be hurt by a permit decision would be shut out of the Office of Administrative Hearings unless they had submitted a specific comment during the public comment period.

This matters because notice of opportunity to comment early in the permit review process does not always reach affected citizens. The proposed change may also prevent review of conditions in the final permit that were never specifically put out for comment and therefore may be unknown to the public.

The provision could affect challenges to certain water, air, coastal development and interbasin transfer permits. Members of the public should be able to weigh in on state actions that are under judicial review, regardless if they were aware of and participated in a comment process at the time the permit was being drafted.

H 374 has already passed the House and is only scheduled to go to the Senate Finance Committee before reaching the full Senate. This means the provision could become law without ever being heard in a Judiciary committee in either chamber.

Statement of Molly Diggins, State Director, on today’s vote:

“This provision shuts out citizens, who don’t have lobbyists to represent their interests at every step of the permit process, from challenging permits to pollute that are harmful or wrongly issued.

“Public access to the courts is a core part of democracy. We urge the Senate to reject this provision.”

###

--
Molly Diggins, State Director
NC Sierra Club
19  W. Hargett Street Suite 210
Raleigh NC 27601
919.833-8467<tel:(919)%20833-8467>
molly.diggins at sierraclub.org<mailto:molly.diggins at sierraclub.org>
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