Raleigh, N.C. – Governor Pat McCrory vetoed the General Assembly’s latest version of the Coal Ash Bill (Senate Bill 71) saying it weakens environmental protections, delays water connections for well owners, ignores dam safety, hinders efforts to reuse coal ash and violates the state constitution.

 “This legislation is not good for the environment or for the rule of law in North Carolina,” said Governor McCrory. “This bill lacks a firm deadline to connect well owners to alternate water supplies.”

 In addition to the veto, the governor said he will ask a court to require Duke Energy to meet an accelerated timeline for connecting alternate water supplies. The administration will also seek a court order to ensure that dam repairs are completed and coal ash is reused in an environmentally-sound way.

Senate Bill 71 delays the cleanup and closure of coal ash ponds across the state. The McCrory administration proposed a solution that would have provided water connections within 18 months and required Duke Energy to repair dams around its coal ash ponds.

Furthermore, the governor maintain that Senate Bill 71 disregards a recent and decisive 6-1 North Carolina Supreme Court ruling which declared the three commissions at issue in this bill unconstitutional. He said this bill violates the separation of powers by re-establishing unaccountable bureaucracies that have the power to make or overrule executive decisions.