Clean water advocates slam veto override of NC environmental bill

The veto override effectively halts new environmental rulemaking, opponents say

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Environmental advocates say they’re outraged after state lawmakers voted to override Governor Josh Stein’s veto of House Bill 402. 

The General Assembly’s vote fell along party lines, with two Democrats joining Republicans in the house.  

Among other things, the bill requires unanimous approval from environmental rule making bodies for any new rules that cost more than $10 million, and a two-thirds majority for rules costing more than $1 million. Those limits will last for the next five years.  

Emily Donovan with Clean Cape Fear says those hurdles all but block the state from establishing emission limits on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and 1,4 dioxane.  

Both forever chemicals are regularly dumped into the Cape Fear River by polluters upstream and have been linked to adverse health effects.  

“The governor has been trying to do it, the DEQ has been trying to do it, and now our state legislators here in New Hanover County are telling them, ‘no, no you can’t. Let me make it harder for you, let me move the goalpost, let me protect the polluter,'” Donovan said. 

Despite having introduced PFAS-related legislation in the past, Representative Ted Davis (R) of New Hanover voted to override the veto. He says—because of accountability.  

“It’s really trying to make sure that any money that’s going to be spent for the purpose that’s intended, number one; and also being spent efficiently, because it’s taxpayer money,” Davis said. 

While lawmakers say the goal is to save taxpayer money, ratepayers in the Cape Fear are already paying for cleaner water.  

“Let’s look at Brunswick County for an example. Brunswick County spent over 100 million dollars to clean up PFAS from its tap water,” Donovan noted. 

Senator Michael Lee, who earlier this year introduced a bill to limit PFAS emissions also voted to override the veto.   

Lee’s office did not immediately respond to WWAY’s requests for comment. 

“Lawmakers in this area voted to make it harder for their own residents to access clean tap water,” Donovan expressed. “It is confusing, it is baffling, and the only thing at the end of the day that I can lean on is that the polluters get what they paid for, and the polluters have paid a lot into Raleigh to make sure that these laws favor them.” 

WWAY reached out to every lawmaker in the Cape Fear who supported the veto override to ask why they made their decision. 

The only lawmakers who responded to our question were Representatives Ted Davis (R) and Frank Iler (R).

Iler said he voted in favor of the override to hold regulators accountable.

“15 years ago, when we became the majority, rulemaking was out of control, and some of it still is,” Iler said. 

Rep. Iler agreed to be quoted for this story but asked not to use audio from our phone call. 

Representative Deb Bulter (D) voted against the veto override and sent WWAY the following statement: 

“We here in eastern NC have been at the front of the fight for clean water for many years, but especially since the discovery of GenX and other forever chemicals were discovered in our water. These chemicals are toxic and are known to have terribly damaging effects on health. Any politician who votes in a manner that would roll back regulations on clean water that are designed to protect us should be ashamed of themselves and the voters of NC should take notice and act accordingly.”