ACTION: Stop the NCGA from Stripping Local Governments of Authority to Fight Plastic Pollution

Breaking News: A draft conference report of the state budget released to the media includes language that would prohibit counties (§ 153A-145.11) and cities (§ 160A-205.6) from passing ordinances, resolutions, or rules that would restrict, tax, or charge a fee on auxiliary containers — the definition of which includes bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging.

This language would preempt local control and undermine existing provisions of the NC Solid Waste Management Act that give counties and cities the authority to ban single-use plastic bags and other forms of packaging and the use of plastic foam (e.g., styrofoam) in foodware.

Plastic pollution is a threat to our environment and to the health of North Carolina residents. Email your legislators and let them know that our right to protect ourselves from dangerous pollutants is too important to be traded away to fossil fuel and retail industry lobbyists in backroom deals.

Language in NC Budget Would Strip Local Governments’ Ability to Pass Plastic Bag Bans and Other Waste Reduction Efforts to Protect Environment, Public Health, Landfills and Recycling Centers

Media Contacts:

Karim Olaechea, Deputy Director of Strategy & Communications at MountainTrue
(828) 400-0768, karim@mountaintrue.org

Katie Craig, State Director at NCPIRG
kcraig@ncpirg.org

Ken Brame, President of the Sierra Club’s Western North Carolina Group
(828) 423-8045,kenbrame10@gmail.com

Michelle B. Nowlin, Co-Director at Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic
(919) 613-8502, nowlin@law.duke.edu

For Immediate Release

Raleigh, September 19 — A draft conference report of the state budget released to the media includes language that would prohibit counties (§ 153A-145.11) and cities (§ 160A-205.6) from passing ordinances, resolutions, or rules that would restrict, tax, or charge a fee on auxiliary containers — the definition of which includes bags, cups, bottles, and other packaging.

This language would preempt local control and undermine existing provisions of the NC Solid Waste Management Act that give counties and cities the authority to ban single-use plastic bags and other forms of packaging and the use of plastic foam (e.g., styrofoam) in foodware. The inclusion of the preemption in the budget comes as both Asheville and Durham are considering ordinances to reduce plastic pollution, and the towns of Woodfin and Black Mountain have passed resolutions in support of a Buncombe County-wide ordinance. In 2021, Wilmington also passed a resolution encouraging the reduction of plastic waste.

Efforts to reduce plastic waste are popular among citizens and businesses. A survey from the City of Asheville received nearly 7,000 resident responses and showed support at 80%. Among 57 businesses surveyed in the Asheville area, there was widespread support for a waste reduction ordinance banning single-use plastic bags, plastic takeout containers, and styrofoam products.

The following are statements from representatives of organizations working to reduce plastic pollution:

Hartwell Carson, French Broad Riverkeeper (a program of MountainTrue):
“Plastic pollution is a threat to our environment and the health of North Carolina residents. Our right to protect ourselves from dangerous pollutants is too important to be traded away to fossil fuel and retail industry lobbyists in backroom deals. We urge our elected officials to remove any such language and pass a clean budget.”

Sarah Ogletree, Director of the Creation Care Alliance of WNC (a program of MountainTrue):
“This ban is about loving our neighbors—protecting the air and water we all need to survive and thrive. The General Assembly should not prevent us from living our faith by caring for God’s creation.”

Katie Craig, State Director of the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group:
“Plastic waste threatens our health, environment, and communities. Our cities and counties often bear the impacts of our plastic waste problem, from managing recycling and landfill facilities to cleaning up litter in our parks and waterways. So, they should have a say in how their communities address the problem too. By preempting local authority to regulate single-use plastic bags, this provision threatens to undermine the ability of cities and counties in North Carolina to take meaningful steps towards sustainability, environmental protection, and the wishes of their own communities.”

Ken Brame, President of the Sierra Club’s Western North Carolina Group:
“At a time when we are seeing record heat waves and flooding due to Climate Change, why would the NC General Assembly prevent local governments from reducing carbon-intensive plastic bags? Microplastics from plastic bags are being ingested and are becoming a health risk. The General Assembly should care more about the health of its citizens than the profits of the plastic industry.”

Susannah Knox, Senior Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center:
“This is a short-sighted attempt to take control from local governments trying to serve their communities by protecting public health and cleaning up their streets and creeks. Citizens and businesses across the state have expressed overwhelming support for reducing plastic pollution, and politicians in the General Assembly should not stand in their way.”

If you or your organization, club, or business would like to voice their support for a Plastic-Free WNC, please contact karim@mountaintrue.org.

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Take Action: Manage Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests in line with our Climate Reality

Public Comments Due by July 20, 2023

Our national forests are public treasures and should be managed to maintain the health of our environment and best serve our communities’ current and future needs. The Forest Service is soliciting public feedback on how it should adapt current policies to protect, conserve, and manage mature and old-growth forests on public lands for climate resilience.

Climate change will significantly impact our region, our uniquely bio-diverse ecosystems, and our watersheds. Yet, here in Western North Carolina, the Forest Service has maintained an outdated focus on exploiting our forests for commercial logging, and this year they finalized a new Forest Management Plan that could allow logging on 60% of the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests’ one million acres, including thousands of acres of old-growth forest.

Please provide public comment to the Forest Service asking that they update their policies to prioritize the preservation of old-growth and mature forests, which provide critical functions as wildlife habitats, carbon sinks, and pristine watersheds and sources of clean drinking water.

Need help drafting public comments? Try Nick’s Comment Generator.

MountainTrue Board Member Nick Holshouser has developed a Comment Generator Tool that uses OpenAI to generate a short, meaningful, and unique comment. By selecting from a menu of topics, you can easily generate a first draft that you can review, edit, and further personalize. Then, all you have to do is copy and paste your comment into the Regulations.gov comment portal.

Try the Comment Generator Now.

Public comments are due by July 20, 2023. (Note that the original June due date is still listed on the public feedback page, but the comment deadline has been extended.)

Action Alert: Protect Our Trout Streams

Support the Amendment to the Sediment Pollution Control Act of North Carolina

Take action to safeguard our mountain trout waters and preserve the delicate balance of our state’s aquatic ecosystems. The North Carolina Senate has passed an important new amendment, S613, which aims to strengthen the protection of our mountain trout waters and tighten the agricultural exemption that poses a significant threat to our state’s aquatic ecosystems. Now we need your help to get it passed through the House of Representatives.

TAKE ACTION

In 2021, a Sparta-based developer called Bottomley Farms tried to unlawfully use North Carolina’s agricultural exemption to stream buffer requirements to clearcut land in Allegheny and Surry counties. The developer removed all the trees, shrubs, and vegetation all the way down to the edge of Ramey Creek. The result was severe erosion, sediment pollution, and a total collapse of the ecosystem in the creek — once a thriving spawning ground for native brook trout. NC Wildlife Resource Commission staff were only able to save 13 individual trout out of the hundreds previously documented in that stream.

In the end, Commission staff were able to relocate the surviving trout to an adjacent watershed, and the report submitted by our Watauga Riverkeeper with the help of Southwings led to the NC Department of Environmental Quality issuing a notice of violation followed by one of the largest fines ever levied by the department.

But this tragedy underscores the need for stronger buffer protection of mountain streams and a tightening of the agricultural exemption provided by the Sediment Pollution Control Act of North Carolina. This exemption shields agricultural operations from fundamental water quality safeguards, such as leaving small vegetative buffers along streams—a requirement imposed on nearly all other land-disturbing activities.

To tighten the agricultural exemption and prevent such future calamities, the NC Senate has passed S613, which would amend the Sediment Pollution Control Act to require a 25-foot buffer along DEQ-designated trout streams for new agricultural operations. MountainTrue supports this amendment, and we believe that this is a big step in the right direction.

To get S613 across the finish line, it must pass the North Carolina House of Representatives. We need you to act today by emailing your Representatives, asking them to protect our trout streams by passing this bill.

Thank you for your support and ongoing commitment to healthy waters in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

Find Your Swimming Hole: MountainTrue Urges Public to Use Swim Guide App To Find Clean Swimming Areas this Independence Day Weekend

MountainTrue, a leading local environmental group, is encouraging the public to use the Swim Guide app before heading out onto the water to ensure a healthy and happy Independence Day weekend. MountainTrue is the home of the Broad Riverkeeper, French Broad Riverkeeper, Green Riverkeeper, Watauga Riverkeeper, and a Western Clean Water Team based in Murphy, North Carolina, that are dedicated to protecting the waters of the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

Each week between Memorial and Labor Day weekends, MountainTrue’s staff and volunteers collect and analyze water samples from 96 popular recreation spots across western North Carolina and Towns and Union Counties in northern Georgia. These samples are processed and analyzed, and the results are posted on the Swim Guide website (theswimguide.org) and the smartphone app in time for the weekend. This resource-intensive program is made possible by donations from MountainTrue’s members and the generosity of local businesses and organizations that sponsor one or more Swim Guide recreation sites.

Our Swim Guide Sponsors include Animal Hospital of Boone. Appalachian Veterinary Ultrasound, Asheville Fly Fishing Company, Birdies Coffee & Treats on the Fly, Blue Ridge Tourist Court, Boone Cocoon, Boone’s Fly Shop, City of Hiwassee, Fabbit Customs, Green River Cove Tubing, Joy Pharr Realty, Lake Adger Property Association, Mellow Mushroom Boone, Pink Mercury, The Purple Onion, Rivergirl Fishing Company, Rutherford Outdoor Coalition, Shelby Women for Progress, The SPOT, Trophy Water Guide Service, The Speckled Trout Outfitters, Tennessee Valley Authority, Watauga Tourism Development Authority /Explore Boone, Towns County (GA), Union County (GA), Watauga River Lodge, and Zach Hobbs.

E. coli bacteria makes its way into our rivers and streams from sewer and septic leaks and in stormwater runoff — especially runoff from poorly managed animal agricultural operations. E. coli is an indicator of the presence of more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and Norovirus. Contact or consumption of contaminated water can lead to gastrointestinal illness, skin infections, respiratory issues, and other health problems.

MountainTrue tests mid-week, analyzes the samples, and posts the results in time for the weekend. These tests are a snapshot in time. If tests are conducted on a Wednesday after a dry spell, the results usually look pretty good, but conditions can change rapidly following heavy rains when stormwater runoff brings pollution into our waterways. MountainTrue encourages river recreators to take extra precautions after hard rains and not to ingest or expose any open cuts or abrasions to water.

The Swim Guide lists each testing site as either passing or failing based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria for primary contact of 126 CFU/100 mL. Waterways located in remote areas or near protected public lands with minimal agricultural and industrial pollution sources tend to be the cleanest and less impacted by stormwater runoff. Areas closer to development and polluting agricultural practices face greater risks, especially after heavy rainstorms that result in increased water runoff.

While the primary purpose of the Swim Guide is to inform the public about where it’s safe to swim, MountainTrue also uses the data collected to solve water quality problems, inform our advocacy, and push for science-based policy solutions aimed at protecting the health of our communities and supporting our river recreation economy.

The rivers of the Southern Blue Rigde are an important cultural, recreational, and economic resource for our region. In order to clean up the dirtiest rivers and protect the cleanest ones, Mountaintrue encourages policymakers to increase riparian buffers, encourage better building and farming practices and invest in upgrading aging sewer infrastructure to meet current and future needs.

To find the latest bacteria testing sites for your favorite swim area or to download the Swim Guide app, visit theswimguide.org.

2023 Western North Carolina Conservation Legislative Priorities

Protect Public Health – and the Jobs and Businesses that Rely on Clean Water

A recent report conducted by economists at Western Carolina University commissioned by the French Broad River Partnership found the total economic impact of the French Broad River and its tributaries is $3.8 billion annually, and river-reliant businesses create or maintain 38,554 jobs each year. In 2015, more than 55,000 people used a commercial outfitter to enjoy the French Broad, and thousands more used the river without an outfitter.

Unfortunately, bacteria pollution threatens this economic engine by making the watershed unsafe for the thousands of people who play in it every year. Contaminated water poses health problems, including gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and infections.

Water quality testing in the heavily-used French Broad River watershed indicates the presence of E. coli and fecal coliform at levels that are unsafe for human exposure much of the time. One of the most popular areas for recreation, a 19-mile section of the French Broad River – from the Asheville Regional Airport, through the Biltmore Estate and the River Arts District in downtown Asheville – was added to NC’s list of impaired waterways in 2022.

To protect public health and the jobs and businesses that rely on safe recreational waters, MountainTrue supports the following initiatives to reduce bacterial pollution:

Increase local WNC funding to help farmers improve water quality. Agricultural waste is a significant source of E. coli and other bacterial pollution in WNC rivers and streams, especially the French Broad River which, as mentioned above, was recently listed as impaired for fecal coliform. Unfortunately, demand for state funding to help WNC farmers afford improvements that would reduce this pollution far outstrips the current budget. Expanding state funding for local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) to meet this demand is critical to improving recreational water quality in WNC. We would like to request a $2 million nonrecurring allocation to SWCDs in the French Broad Watershed, allocated through the existing Agricultural Cost-Share Program, specifically for livestock operation improvement projects.
Help property owners reduce stormwater pollution. The Community Conservation Assistance Program (CCAP) allows WNC’s SWCDs to help property owners reduce stormwater pollution in impaired waters. Like the cost share program for farmers, funding for CCAP assistance is insufficient to meet demand. Providing WNC SWCD’s with an additional $500,000 for the CCAP program will significantly reduce stormwater pollution in rivers and streams already impacted by bacterial pollution.

Other policy and funding initiatives that MountainTrue supports:

Abundant Housing Legislation – Opportunities for dense, energy-efficient housing located close to jobs reduce energy demand and transportation emissions. We support legislation to address housing availability and affordability.
Dam Removal Fund Implementation – The NCGA previously allocated $7.5 million to remove antiquated dams on waterways across WNC. MountainTrue is committed to advancing policies that give state agencies the support they need to advance dam removal projects efficiently.
Expand Transportation Funding – NC’s transportation funding relies on the gas tax, which is diminishing as people drive less and vehicles become more efficient. We support legislation that creates new sources of funding and expands the use to include stand-alone bike-ped projects.
Stormwater management reform for redevelopment projects – Recent amendments to G.S. 143‑214.7 deny local governments the option of requiring stormwater mitigation on redevelopment projects. We support legislation to repeal those changes.
Safe Passage Fund – As roadway construction creates new barriers to long-established wildlife corridors, inevitably, animals are increasingly encountering humans and their vehicles. We are joining a coalition of organizations seeking $10 million to support wildlife crossing projects.
Agency staffing needs and pay equity – State agencies across the board are struggling to hire and retain staff due to budget constraints and competition with the private sector. MountainTrue supports maximizing investments in state agency staff positions and salaries.

WNC Public Access and Recreation Investments:

Expand the Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail to include one publicly-accessible site in each WNC county, along with educational materials ($150,000 nonrecurring to Mainspring Conservation Trust).
Improve River Walk in downtown Murphy by building a boardwalk for Fisherman’s Loop, and extending the path to a housing development ($250,000 nonrecurring to the Town of Murphy).
Improve public access to the Watauga River Paddle Trail by purchasing an additional access point in Watauga County ($500,000 nonrecurring to Watauga County).
Expand access to the Green River and adjacent lands by developing a new access point at South Wilson Hill Road ($150,000 nonrecurring to Polk County Community Foundation).
Enhance Chestnut Mountain Nature Park by expanding paths and trails and improving the playground and creekside park ($450,000 nonrecurring to the Town of Canton).