Annual can o' worms - reg reform bill - unveiled in Senate

By Cassie Gavin
Senior Director of Government Relations

On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved S 553, Regulatory Reform Act of 2019, sponsored by Senators Norm Sanderson (R - Carteret, Craven, Pamlico) and Andy Wells (R - Alexander, Catawba). The bill contains, among many provisions, a repeal of the ban on landfilling electronic waste like televisions and computers. Please thank Senators Harper Peterson (D - New Hanover) and Mike Woodard (D - Durham, Granville, Person) for speaking up in committee against this proposal. Sen. Peterson noted that mercury and lead can leach out of these products so the committee should prioritize public health by keeping the ban in place. Mercury can be easily “methylated” in landfills, and become an airborne source of pollution.

North Carolina has an electronic waste recycling program in place funded by fees on manufacturers. NC Sierra Club, along with allies, has successfully opposed efforts to repeal this recycling program in previous years. All of the first-generation flat panel televisions and monitors, known as LCDs, contain mercury lamps. This amounts to millions of devices spread in households, businesses, and government offices all over North Carolina. These devices are beginning to be collected in county programs. Additionally, according to DEQ the recycling of TVs and computers creates many jobs and investment in the state. Six counties (Anson, Iredell, Catawba, Granville, Stanly, Rowan and Rockingham) host electronic waste recycling facilities, worth $55 million in private investment. Check out this NC Policy Watch article to learn more about this issue.

S 553 will next be considered by the Senate Rules Committee, which may be called next week.

Opportunity for Action

Please ask your Senator to oppose Senate Bill 553 because of the repeal of the landfill ban on electronic waste.

The Regulatory Reform Act and the Farm Act of 2019 have other environmental provisions that the Chapter is reviewing and will share more about next week.

The other bills we’ve been following such as Senate Bill 559 (which would allow Duke Energy to seek multi-year rate increases) and Senate Bill 377 (Sen. Harry Brown’s wind energy ban) did not move this week.