NC lawmakers override veto of bill hobbling regulations for polluters

An aerial view of a ship harbored at Cape Fear River in North Carolina. (Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock)

By Public News Service

August 11, 2025

By Eric Tegethoff

Regulations will become harder to approve under a new law that North Carolina legislators passed, by overriding Gov. Josh Stein’s veto. House Bill 402, known as the REINS Act, requires the General Assembly’s approval for rules or regulations costing more than $20 million over five years. It also requires a unanimous vote from the relevant board or commission for rules costing more than $10 million, and two-thirds approval from those bodies for rules costing more than $1 million.The new law has raised concerns among environmental groups in the state, especially when it comes to the cleanup of chemicals in drinking water. Stephanie Schweickert, director of environmental health campaigns with the North Carolina Conservation Network, said rulemaking will grind to a halt under the law.”Our state is really dealing with the impacts of chemicals in our drinking water, including PFAS and 1,4-dioxane,” said Schweickert, “and the REINS Act will make it a lot less likely that we get strong rules in place that will give families safe water to drink.”The Environmental Management Commission would need to give approval on rules for regulations costing less than $20 million, but Schweickert said gaining approval will be especially hard because the board has become increasingly polarized.

Supporters of the REINS Act say it increases accountability and protects businesses from burdensome regulations.

PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and 1,4-dioxane have both been linked to poor health impacts and are listed as likely carcinogens. Schweickert said PFAS is especially troubling because it’s so widespread.

“North Carolina is really ground zero for PFAS contamination,” said Schweickert. “We have 3.5 million North Carolinians with unsafe levels of PFAS in their drinking water.”

Schweickert said this is an unfortunate time for North Carolina to step back from regulating industries that impact the environment, because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving away from regulating polluters under the Trump administration. She said this federal trend makes state-level rules even more important.

“They have known about PFAS contamination for eight years and they have yet to pass meaningful legislation to protect community members and families from the pollution,” said Schweickert. “They can step up and they can protect people over polluters.”

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