The North Carolina General Assembly started its "long" session last week. As of today, they have not announced the committee assignments, but bills are being introduced.
Of course, the big issue this session is the economy. How can they have a budget that is balanced in spite of the economic situation without cutting too deep and without raising taxes too much.
Several important environmental issues will come before the General Assembly.
Transit
The legislators will be asked to give the counties the authority to raise sales taxes (or perhaps some other tax) to fund mass transit (rail and bus).
Jordan Lake
Recently the Environmental Management Commission and the Rules Review Commission adopted rules to protect Jordan Lake from pollution (specifically, nutrients that lead to algae problems).
Water Allocation
There will likely be an attempt to amend laws about how water in our rivers is allocated to communities and industries along the river. In the past there was sufficient water in the rivers for everyone to use what they needed. However, with growth we are reaching limits. It appears that we need to change the law to require that large water users (some industrial users and communities) to obtain permits before they can withdraw large volumes of water.
These issues and others will be discussed here as they are addressed by the General Assembly.
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