Conservation Insider Bulletin from Dan Besse, Jan 18

Conservation Insider Bulletin
Published weekly for the Conservation Council of North Carolina
Conservation News to Peruse & Use
Editor: Dan Besse, earthvote@ccnccpac.org


January 18, 2008

There's more on sonar, plus in-state decisions on coastal stormwater and beach-bagging, in this week's CIB:

--Judicial Watch: White House to Whales: Who Cares?

--Administrative Watch: EMC Strengthens Coastal Stormwater Rules; CRC Rejects Eternal Sandbagging

Judicial Watch: White House to Whales: Who Cares?

Last week, we reported that a federal judge in California concluded that concerns about the impacts of Navy sonar testing on whales and other marine life were well-founded. U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the Navy to adopt strict new safeguards limiting their training exercises using midfrequency sonar off the California coast.

Since then, President Bush has entered an executive order exempting the Navy from environmental laws so that the sonar testing can go forward as planned, without regard to the court-ordered restrictions. Bush's action is not the final word on the matter, but legal analysts indicate it may strengthen the Navy's hand in its appeal to the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. That court was expected to issue a ruling as early as today.

In addition, yesterday District Court Judge Cooper agreed to modify her original order to temporarily suspend two of its requirements which the Navy called most intrusive: to shut down sonar if a marine mammal is spotted within 2,200 yards of a sonar device, and to reduce sonar power under certain sea conditions that allow sonar blasts to travel farther than normal. She will hear further arguments from the Navy and attorneys for environmental groups challenging the testing next week.

The District Court judge's original order restricted exercises to areas more than 12 miles offshore, required monitoring for the presence of marine mammals, and directed sonar shutdown when marine mammals were spotted with 2,200 yards of the maneuvers. While the California Middle District Court order is not binding on activities in North Carolina, a federal judge here could view it as persuasive precedent in the case now underway challenging similar testing off the Carolina coast.


Administrative Watch: EMC Strengthens Coastal Stormwater Rules; CRC Rejects Eternal Sandbagging

EMC Strengthens Coastal Stormwater Rules: Last week the N.C. Environmental Management Commission voted unanimously to significantly strengthen its rules governing stormwater runoff in coastal counties. Among other provisions, the new rules increase the required setback of new development along coastal area waters from 30 to 50 feet of buffer. They also lower the threshold for commercial development to trigger the controls from one acre to 10,000 square feet, and remove most wetlands from the land area used in calculating allowable maximum impervious surface percentages. The rules adopted were recommended by a three-member panel of hearing officers including EMC vice chair Pete Peterson. To no one's surprise, the ever-cooperative Raleigh lobbyist for the N.C. Home Builders Association indicated that the developers group will challenge the rule changes before the Rules Review Commission (RRC). If the RRC checks off on the changes, the developer lobby is expected to further appeal to the legislature. Assuming the General Assembly does not elect to intervene, the rules changes could go into effect by late 2008. Anticipating the various appeals, the state Division of Water Quality has set up a website to explain and track the issues: http://h2o/enr.state.nc.us/su/coastal.htm. (Thanks to Erin Kimrey of NCCONNET for a good summary of the action.)

CRC Rejects Eternal Sandbagging: Meanwhile, over at the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission (CRC), the normally patient CRC declared that it has had enough of The Riggings. (CIB Editor's Note: As I recall, the Riggings' huge sandbag wall was in place when I was first appointed to chair the CRC in 1985.) This Kure Beach condominium complex has fought all efforts to require it to remove its massive sandbag escarpment and move back from the receding shoreline for more than 20 years. Like other similarly-situated developments that are now nearly sitting in the surf line, it had its sandbags approved as a temporary permit, to allow it time to move the structures. Recently, the Riggings' property owners rejected a federal buyout deal which would have included a $2.7 million FEMA hazard mitigation grant to help relocate the structures across U.S. 421.

After the owners rejected the deal, state coastal regulators pulled the project's final permit. Yesterday, the CRC rejected the Riggings' request to retain the sandbag wall indefinitely. Next stop, probably, the state courts.