Studies Referred by the Legislative Research Commission 



STUDIES REFERRED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 

 COMMISSION BY THE LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH COMMISSION 



Environmental Impacts; Sources of Pollution 



The Legislative Research Commission referred the study of environmental 

 impacts and sources of pollution authorized by S.L. 1999-395, Sec. 2.1(6), to the 

 Environmental Review Commission (ERC). The ERC has heard and discussed a number 

 of reports on water and air pollution, as well as issues related to the cleanup and 

 redevelopment of contaminated sites. These reports identified urban and agricultural 

 runoff as the biggest contributors to surface water impairment, and dry cleaning solvents 

 as a major source of soil and groundwater pollution. The reports also identified electric 

 utilities and automobiles as the primary sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the air. NOx 

 combines with sunlight to form ground-level ozone, and the ERC was informed that 

 failing to meet national air quality standards for ground-level ozone could jeopardize 

 federal transportation funding for local highway projects. 



The ERC has voted to recommend several measures addressing these issues to the 

 2000 Regular Session of the 1999 General Assembly. These include amendments to the 

 Dry Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act and a tax incentive for dry cleaners that do not use 

 hazardous solvents, as well as tax incentives for the risk-based cleanup and 

 redevelopment of contaminated "brownfield" sites. The ERC is also considering 

 recommendations to modify the fee and technology required for automobile emissions 

 inspections. 



Wastewater System Construction Permits and Related Issues 



The Legislative Research Commission referred the study of wastewater system 

 construction permits and related issues that was authorized by SL 1999-395, Section 2.1, 

 Subsection 6, to the Environmental Review Commission (ERC). The ERC heard reports 

 from the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) and the Division of Water 

 Quality in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on the holistic 

 wastewater collection system permit program required by the Clean Water Act of 1999 

 (SL 1999-329) and the results of a study on the benefits and feasibility of requiring 

 privately-owned wastewater treatment systems to connect to publicly-owned systems. 

 This study was also required by SL 1999-329. 



The ERC was informed that on February 1 0, 2000, the EMC enacted temporary 

 rules to permit collection systems on a holistic basis, rather than permitting individual 

 sewer extensions as it had formerly. The new collection system permits will require 

 compliance with planning, operation and maintenance standards, which are intended to 

 reduce releases of untreated sewage. The ERC was also informed that there was strong 

 support for requiring that non-compliant wastewater treatment systems cormect to 

 regional systems, but that targeting privately-owned systems was not necessarily the most 

 advisable approach, because many small municipalities and schools have more 

 compliance problems than privately-owned systems. 



