Taking on the state
Published September 14, 2015
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, September 9, 2015.
Greensboro’s bill for fighting legislative changes to its City Council election system is $136,000, so far. That’s the city’s price for defending its rights. Not a dime of it would be necessary if the legislature had left the city to manage its own affairs.
Charlotte and Asheville have also gone to court to protect an airport and water system, respectively, from state intrusion. They’ve been successful so far.
Some counties may be in a similar position in regard to natural gas drilling. Stokes County commissioners will consider imposing a two-year moratorium on fracking later this month, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. Chatham County took a similar step last month, and Lee County is looking at zoning changes that would restrict where fracking could occur.
The question is whether these local actions are allowed under the Energy Modernization Act, the 2014 state law designed to introduce the natural gas industry to North Carolina. The law bars local governments from enacting their own regulations to prohibit natural gas exploration, development and production.
Chatham County’s resolution says oil or gas extraction “poses a significant threat to the health, safety and welfare of residents, neighborhoods, environment and natural features.” It adds that state regulations don’t provide adequate protections and says the county needs more time to study the potential impact and costs. It claims the authority under state law to impose a temporary moratorium.
Lee County sought a legal opinion from the Institute of Government in Chapel Hill and was told that proposed zoning changes “are not, on their face, preempted by the recent state laws on hydraulic fracturing.” But there’s uncertainty about “how the administrative process the legislature has created for review of local ordinances might affect the interpretation of ‘prohibiting oil and gas exploration.’ ”
The legislature might mean to bar counties from putting any area off limits to fracking. Counties might have to battle in court for their right to enforce zoning restrictions as well as rules to regulate noise, dust and damage to roads and water supplies. The law also blocks counties from imposing any special “taxes, fees, or charges,” even though fracking may add to local costs.
Anson County imposed a moratorium two years ago, noting in its resolution that it “cannot afford to provide additional funding for services such as regulatory compliance monitoring, emergency services, maintenance of roads and bridges, and increasing policing and other social services.”
While the legislature is eager to welcome the energy industry, it may find that local governments won’t be willing partners if they’re not given any regulatory authority or allowed to recover their costs.
With energy prices down, fracking may not happen in North Carolina soon. When conditions change, however, the legislature should recognize that counties want to look out for their own interests — or it may see them in court.
