We all deserve safe water to drink and healthy rivers and streams to enjoy. But a joint House and Senate committee in the North Carolina legislature is redrafting a bill that would dramatically weaken the power of the state agency tasked with protecting our waters and wetlands.

HB 600, the Regulatory Reform Act of 2023, undermines the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s authority to enforce the Clean Water Act by drastically shortening the amount of time the agency has to review projects that impact our waterways, drinking water and endangered species and arbitrarily limiting what the agency can consider.

This is especially important now because the NCDEQ may need to review a new permit application from the developers of Mountain Valley Pipeline's Southgate extension. Since 2018, Southgate’s water crossing permit application has been denied three times by NCDEQ due to the strong safeguards put in place by our state’s clean water standards.

Want to learn more about HB 600? Join us Thursday, Sept. 21, at 12 p.m. ET for a webinar on this devastating legislation!

The state legislators listed below are members of the committees that are considering this legislation. Please call or send an email to these legislators, especially the chair of the committee, Rep. Dennis Riddell. If you are a constituent of the legislator, please let them know!

Here is a script you can use in your communication:

“My name is ____. I live in North Carolina. I am concerned about the changes to water protections in Section 7.1 of HB 600. This bill makes it harder for the agency, which is already understaffed and underfunded, to do its job, especially in a state whose waters have been harmed by forever chemicals like GenX, coal ash and agricultural runoff.

Two-month time limits for agency reviews will make it harder for everyday people to weigh in and provide information about streams and wells on their property. DEQ needs time to review projects to best protect the quality of our waters and protect the people, businesses and wildlife that depend on clean water. Please strike Section 7.1 from HB600!”