Tweaked GenX bill clears North Carolina Senate

RALEIGH -- Despite the continued objections of state Senate Democrats, a GenX bill spearheaded by a New Hanover County Republican cleared the chamber on Friday.

Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, crafted a substitute bill that allocated $2.4 million to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), largely to be used to conduct a review of its administration of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program since 1975.

Crucially, Lee amended his own bill so that $813,000 of $2.4 million appropriated to DEQ can be used for the collection of air and water quality samples and to address a much-discussed 40 percent backlog in NPDES permits.

“This will get us into the short session so we can evaluate that further, so we can see how this plays out,” Lee said.

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