Bill > S653

This bill expands the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's authority to address water and air pollution by giving the Secretary of the Department broader powers to respond to pollution events that pose health risks. Specifically, the bill allows the Secretary to order polluters to immediately reduce or stop emissions or waste discharges when such pollution is causing danger to public health. The bill introduces a new provision that requires polluters to provide alternate or permanent water supplies to affected households when their water has been damaged by pollution. For permanent water supply replacements, the bill mandates connection to a public water supply, but allows affected households to choose a whole-house filtration system instead. In such cases, the responsible party must install the filtration system and remain liable for its periodic maintenance. The bill also allows the Secretary to assess polluters for the state's actual and necessary costs in removing, correcting, or abating adverse environmental effects, with the ability to pursue civil action to recover these costs if the polluter does not pay. These changes aim to hold polluters financially responsible for cleaning up environmental contamination and protecting public health by ensuring affected communities have safe water supplies.

https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/S653