North Carolina House Bill 1012 provides 500 million dollars of funding to state agencies and grants to local governments for Hurricane Helene disaster recovery. While we applaud the additional funding for desperately needed relief to the mountain region of North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene last year, we have an issue in regards to Part III, Section 3.1(a) of the bill. This section requires local governments to use US Army Corp of Engineers (USACOE) contractors for waterway and riparian buffer cleanup. Our members in the affected areas report environmental degradation beyond the hurricane damage caused by USACOE contractors. USACOE contractors blatantly disregarded best practices communicated to them by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Local goverments who did not use USACOE contractors but those of their own choosing had much better outcomes in regards to maintaining aquatic and riparian habitat as well as water quality. House Bill 1012 was approved in the NC House and sent to the NC Senate before we were aware of the restrictive nature of this bill. We have asked the NC Senate Committee on Rules and Operations to remove the ironically titled Part III Section 3.1(a) Regulatory Flexibilities of NC H1012:
PART III. REGULATORY FLEXIBILITIES 19 SECTION 3.1.(a) Debris Removal in Affected Area. –
State agencies and units of local government shall use the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to remove and clear debris and other detritus from lands and waterways from Hurricane Helene in the affected area prior to using contractors hired by the State of North Carolina unless the USACE is not able to service the area, including in an expeditious or efficient manner, then the State agency or unit of local government may use the State or private contractors.
Read our letter to the NC Senate Committee on Rules and Operations on H.B. 1012.
We encourage our members and supporters to reach out to their state senators on the NC Senate Committee on Rules and Operations and ask them to remove Part III, Section 3.1(a) from HB1012.
Post Helene "clean up" for two different sections of the French Broad River.
If you have any questions or concerns please reach out the North Carolina Chapter of BHA at [email protected]
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