Falls Lake Rules Delay

The Environmental Management Commission (EMC) was required to write nutrient management rules for Falls Lake by an act (section 3 of Session Law 2005-190) of the General Assembly that was signed into law on July , 2005. That act required that the rules be implemented by July 1, 2008. In August, 2006 an act, SB 1523, SL 2006-259 of the General Assembly extended the deadline by one year. So under current law the rules must be developed by July 1, 2009. That is only one month from the date of this post.

The EMC adopts rules written by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

DENR has now asked the General Assembly for another extension. Early this past April, HB 1099, then in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, was amended to extend the deadline by 2 years 5 months, until November 30, 2011. The extension was then changed to one year, with a requirement that the rules be developed by July 1, 2010. HB 1099 has passed the House with the one year extension; it is expected that attempts will be made in the Senate to increase the extension.

Falls Lake is already impaired and is getting worse. The rules should have been adopted long ago; any extension will allow the lake to become even more polluted. The rules will not go into effect on the date set by the General Assembly. That date is for the EMC to adopt rules. After the EMC adopts the rules they are then reviewed by the Rules Review Commission, a several month process. After the RRC reviews and approves the rules, they are reviewed and perhaps modified by the General Assembly. If the July 1, 2010 date is kept, the rules will be presented to the General Assembly in January of 2011 and will likely not get fully adopted until the summer of 2011