Source: PRESS RELEASE, 12/9/11
 

As part of her ongoing effort to stimulate job growth by reducing the costs on businesses, Gov. Bev Perdue today asked the Obama administration to oppose a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The ruling could threaten jobs in North Carolina by imposing new, unnecessary regulations on the forestry and forest products industry.

The Governor, in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, urged the administration to continue following current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy nationally and to seek a review of the 9th Circuit decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit’s decision, which does not yet apply in North Carolina, would require a water discharge permit for every forest road, reversing 35 years of EPA policy of allowing states to regulate forestry and forest roads. The ruling ignores scientific and practical evidence of successful forest management and would treat drain pipes and storm water ditches along thousands of forest roads the same as the discharge pipes from an industrial power plant.

“My top priority is creating jobs,” Gov. Perdue said. “North Carolina was rated as the top regulatory environment in the country because we understand how to balance the need to grow jobs with a firm commitment to protecting our air and water.”

Gov. Perdue’s opposition to the court ruling follows her regulatory reform efforts in North Carolina in which she has eliminated hundreds of unnecessary regulations and imposed a more rigorous process for enacting new rules.

Congress could take action as early as next week with bipartisan support for continuing the longstanding EPA approach of best management practices.