to help pay for water system cleanup upgrades whenever they are found responsible for discharges that contaminate drinking water beyond acceptable levels, under legislation advanced by a state House committee Tuesday.
”It is not fair for the ratepayers to have to pay this bill while the people who are actually responsible for making this stuff from scratch that got into those utilities aren’t having to foot the bill,” Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County told the House Environment Committee. The panel approved the measure with bipartisan support.North Carolina driver’s license backlog may soon end, DMV commissioner saysThe bill, if ultimately enacted, certainly would threaten more costs for The Chemours Co.
Davis pushed unsuccessfully in 2022 for a similar bill, which at the time also ordered state regulators to set maximum acceptable levels of “forever chemicals.” This year’s measure leaves that out, and sets the standards for action based onA Chemours lobbyist told the committee that the company was being targeted by the bill, even as the company has taken actions to address the PFAS release.
The North Carolina Manufacturers Alliance opposes the bill, while the American Chemical Council expressed concerns about details, their representatives said. They pointed to how the measure would apply retroactively to expenses incurred since early 2017, based on contamination standards that were just finalized in April.