THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160360
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Some of the state's top coastal and fisheries regulators say they will fight a proposal that would give the General Assembly the power to review administrative rules and regulations before they become law.
Opponents of the proposal, including state regulators and some state environmental groups, say the proposal would further muddy an already lengthy process. But proponents of the bill, including lobbyists for some development-oriented groups, generally favor legislative review of those rules, which, they say, are proliferating too quickly.
And with the new pro-business, anti-regulatory sentiment in the state House of Representatives this year, some legislative observers say that some version of the measure is likely to be approved by the legislature.
Legislation sponsored Wednesday would have state lawmakers looking more closely at rules and regulations approved by the commissions that oversee many of the state's environmental policies. The legislation was sponsored by Reps. E. David Redwine, D-Brunswick County, and George M. Holmes, R-Yadkin County.
A Senate version of the bill was introduced Wednesday by Sen. J.K. Sherron, D-Wake County.
Under this proposal, rules approved by boards such as the Coastal Resources Commission and the Marine Fisheries Commission, would not become effective until they were affirmed by the General Assembly.
``A lot of people feel like the General Assembly needs to have some review of the regulations so that what we intended to happen does indeed happen,'' said Redwine, co-chairman of a research committee that studied the economic effects of administrative rules and regulations.
The proposal drew sharp criticism from the chairman of the state Marine Fisheries Commission, who said the legislation, if approved, would ``ultimately lead to the demise of our environment and our fisheries.''
``It's insane,'' said Robert V. Lucas, a Selma lawyer who heads the marine fisheries panel. ``It just adds another layer of bureaucracy.''
Lucas said that to delay implementing some fisheries rules to allow legislative oversight could allow problems with the fishing industry or fish populations that prompted the rule could worsen until the proposed solutions would no longer be effective.
``If you're going to do that, you should eliminate the commissions and let the legislature take care of it,'' he said.
Some state environmental officials say the latest proposals could add at least a year to a regulatory process that already takes at least 18 months, in many cases.
Eugene B. Tomlinson Jr., a retired coastal engineer from Southport and the chairman of the Coastal Resources Commission, said that the panel does the best it can to ``walk a fine line'' between the state's development and environmental interests.
``I believe that the General Assembly, if they review our actions . . . will have no difficulty in approving the rules we have established and intend to establish,'' he said recently.
But Tomlinson also said he opposes any efforts by the General Assembly to erode the authority of the Coastal Resources Commission.
Other proposals filed recently in the General Assembly include:
A bill calling for a review of the economic effects of proposed rules that will have a financial impact of more than $1 million, sponsored by Redwine and Holmes.
A bill to modify the structure and appointment of the Halifax County Alcohol Beverage Control Board, sponsored by Rep. L.W. Locke, D-Halifax.
A bill creating a safety zone around Merchants Millpond State Park by prohibiting hunting in the vicinity of the park, sponsored by Rep. Howard J. Hunter Jr., D-Northampton.
A bill to appropriate $263,718 for the 1995-96 fiscal year for four Division of Marine Fisheries staff positions to oversee the state shellfish lease program.
``It's a good idea to assess the costs and benefits of rules but the legislation that's been proposed doesn't do that. It shuts down the rule-making process,'' said Bill Holman, lobbyist for the state chapter of the Sierra Club.
``Their approach is to take an already lengthy process and add several years on to that.''
Some legislators, such as Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, have called for a moratorium on administrative rules, similar to the one in place for the Marine Fisheries Commission, while state lawmakers study the administrative rule-making procedure.
But some coastal residents have said Basnight's proposal is a betrayal of the coastal environment.
``People we had looked to as statesmen are now being turncoats and are playing politics,'' said Sylvia Ross of the Friends of Roanoke Island.
Debate on the legislature's authority over administrative rules will continue in House and Senate judiciary committees who received the measure Wednesday. by CNB