A state lawmaker who represents a part of North Carolina hit hard by Hurricane Helene said the state environmental agency’s rules would allow sandbags to be recovered.

State Rep. Jake Johnson of the North Carolina General Assembly told Fox News Digital that current Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regulations would hamper rebuilding efforts after Helene ravaged parts of the northwest of the state.

He said the General Assembly has already targeted rules on debris removal through burning, but policies such as those dictating proximity to a river can also hamper rebuilding after the storm.

“Where a lot of the rebuilding will have to be done – and a lot of the cleanup, obviously, will take place near the river – one thing we need to consider is, you know, at least temporarily suspending some of the (regulations) .), how far you can work from a river and make sure that, you know, they’re not cracking down on that,” Johnson said.

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“They’ve got enough on their plate. … You’re going to have people working in areas where they wouldn’t normally work,” Johnson said of recovery teams in the area. “And, I mean, it would just be insult to injury for them to come and crack down on these contractors when they’re just there trying to do a good job and clean things up.”

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He suggested that the GOP-held General Assembly would work to overturn several regulations that Johnson sees as obstacles to rebuilding.

“But ultimately the enforcement mechanism and the granting of permits is still handled by a department head appointed by Roy Cooper, a very liberal Democratic governor,” he said. “I don’t really see them doing this on their own without us directing it.“

However, Johnson admitted that Cooper would likely put politics aside to sign several regulatory rollbacks if they were brought to his desk.

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“We had, I believe, a unanimous vote in both houses for the first bill, and that bill included lowering the regulatory limits on burning,” he said. “So, yeah. I mean, I think – if we have something to speed up the cleanup, I think he would sign.”

North Carolina State Rep. Ray Pickett did not name a specific policy that concerned him most, but expressed concern about DEQ’s permitting and approval process in general.

“I absolutely share those concerns,” Pickett told Fox News Digital. “I see it with some of our infrastructure that is going to have to be replaced. DEQ…hasn’t always been the fastest agency we have.

“We have wastewater treatment plants that are going to have to be rebuilt. They’re going to have to accelerate these things and they’re going to have to come to terms with the program.”

DEQ told Fox News Digital, however, that it requested the recently passed regulatory relaxations and would use the “flexibility” to evaluate other needs.

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“The Department is using all available flexibility and discretion in regulatory, funding, and enforcement decisions to ensure the focus is on restoring essential infrastructure and services to the people of North Carolina . DEQ has requested the regulatory changes contained in the recent legislative package and will continue to do so. as well as necessary to support recovery efforts,” an agency spokesperson said.

But Johnson also told Fox News Digital that he was “frustrated” by the delays in DEQ staff getting to parts of the state after Helen, particularly during the first week after the storm, which which DEQ denied.

“That’s generally the case with the department – ​​if you’re doing any type of construction or development… if there’s even just mud on the road or something like that, you know , any type of minor erosion, they’re everywhere,” he said.

Johnson said he didn’t see DEQ personnel on the ground for at least the first week after the storm.

“Ideally, they would have staff to help clean it up. But even something as simple as measuring how toxic the water is, the estimated amount of spill that’s in it and helping to get some quote for cleaning – I mean, all of those things would be good first steps that would definitely be at least helpful,” he said.

Pickett said of his experience the week after the storm: “I had to make a few phone calls to get things moving a little faster. …I shouldn’t have had to make those phone calls. They should have understood that we had to go fast.”

DEQ told Fox News Digital, however, that its staff were “on the ground during the storm and in the days immediately following it to provide emergency response, support and assessments.”

“Our staff have worked – and will continue to work – directly with water and wastewater systems, along with our federal and state partners, to assess damage, coordinate resources and provide technical assistance to restore services in western North Carolina,” the agency said. .

The DEQ’s mission is “to provide science-based environmental management for the health and prosperity of all North Carolinians,” according to its website.

The agency is dedicated to helping the state improve air and water quality, as well as issuing and overseeing permits for development, water storage and other initiatives.

“The governor has taken significant steps to strengthen the state’s unprecedented response to this storm, including issuing an executive order that waives regulations to ensure water systems and environmental needs can be met quickly during the resumption,” Cooper spokesman Jordan Monaghan said. Fox News Digital in response to Johnson’s comments.

Cooper’s executive order authorizes DEQ to expedite repairs related to drinking water and wastewater problems. It also grants DEQ discretion to waive certain requirements related to projects “that require individual water quality certification” in order to expedite rebuilding.

Original article source: North Carolina environmental rules are ‘insult to injury’ to Helene’s recovery efforts, lawmaker says