Legislature shouldn't let corporate lobbyists write state law

According to the AP report, which culled the information from documents and interviews, Duke lobbyists convinced Republican lawmakers last year to "tweak" a state law to save the utility from the cost of cleaning up coal-ash ponds that have a tendency to leak toxic metals into the groundwater. Just coincidentally, these changes came after the Southern Environmental Law Center and other watchdog groups took the state to court to force Duke to dig up the ash and bury it in lined landfills, where it would be far less likely to foul groundwater – or spill into rivers, a la the highly publicized Dan River coal-ash spill.

This revelation comes on the heels of another AP report suggesting that regulators at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources intervened to protect Duke Energy from more severe consequences. The public should demand that DENR remember that its loyalties should be to the public as a whole, not just special interests seeking favorable treatment.

At first glance, it's difficult to read anything suspicious into the language in the Regulatory Reform Act (formerly House Bill 74). Duke and DENR say the changes only clarified the law and that they have precedent and policy rulings on their side; environmentalists contend the changes are "sweeping" and effectively make it impossible for the state to force cleanup of leaking coal-ash ponds until after they do serious environmental damage.

The changes were added as senators rewrote a three-page House bill mandating periodic review and revisions to state regulations. The revamped version was a 59-page document covering a laundry list of topics – limiting cities' authority to regulate billboards, giving state university students the right to legal representation if facing disciplinary charges, and bed-and-breakfast regulations, to name a few.

Oh, and that "clarification" that applies to but never mentions coal-ash ponds.

The bill left a Senate committee in the final days of the 2013 legislative session, as lawmakers were pushing out bills at a frenetic pace, making it likely that the changes would go largely unnoticed. Gov. Pat McCrory, a 28-year Duke Energy employee, signed the bill into law, touting the jobs it would create by lightening the regulatory burden on businesses.

However the changes are interpreted, Duke Energy should step up and clean up the ash ponds that hold toxic residue from coal-fired power plants (including Wilmington's decommissioned Sutton Steam Plant) – without putting the burden on electricity customers. With every revelation, the company's reputation is further sullied. A federal criminal investigation is underway regarding the apparent too-close relationship between DENR and Duke officials, and now evidence that the company also has "helped" rewrite regulations that apply to its facilities.

Let's face it, Duke Energy could use a public relations makeover about now.

The public, meanwhile, should be outraged that lobbyists play such a prominent role in the legislative process – lawmakers of both parties are guilty of permitting this practice, to the detriment of the public's best interest. Why not just drop the facade and allow special interests to regulate themselves? It's pretty much the same thing.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140318/ARTICLES/140319643/1108/editorial?p=2&tc=pg