Category Archives: Currituck County

Climate Change Must Be Addressed in Bridge Studies

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New climate change guidelines make for better decision-making

New federal guidelines require agencies to consider climate change when evaluating proposals, providing a vital tool to inform and improve public decision-making. (© Robert Llewellyn)

Today the Obama Administration released guidelines on how federal agencies should consider climate change when assessing proposed projects.

The guidelines, which apply to all federal projects reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act, will impact decisions involving everything from transportation projects to power plants, pipelines, and oil drilling. Until now federal agencies have been inconsistent in how they considered climate change in project reviews, often ignoring it completely.

When reviewing any new project, the agencies must consider both the direct and indirect impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. For a proposed new highway, for example, federal agencies will need to consider the greenhouse gas impacts of building the highway, as well as the emissions that would result from additional sprawl or traffic. Perhaps most significantly in informing decision-making, agencies are now required to quantify and compare the climate changing effect of different alternatives, allowing the public an easy way to see which alternatives will have the least impact.

“This guidance will allow us to better tackle the challenges of climate change,” said Kym Hunter, attorney in SELC’s Chapel Hill office. “But it also provides greater transparency and more information to help make decisions about where our limited federal dollars are spent. These guidelines give all taxpayers a better accounting of the impacts and costs of federal projects.”

SELC has commented on the adminstration’s draft guidelines multiple times as they have been in development the past eight years, particularly asking for a greater focus on transportation. In the Southeast, transportation is now the leading contributor to climate change-causing pollution.

In addition to transportation, the guidelines have significant implications for coastal spending and development. The guidance specifically refers to transportation projects on coastal barrier islands, such as proposed bridges in the Outer Banks, and directs agencies to consider the consequences of rebuilding with sea level rise and more intense storms. It also discusses how chemical facilities near the coast could have increased risk of spills or leakages, putting local communities at risk.

While draft versions of the guidelines had set a greenhouse gas emissions threshold to trigger consideration—something SELC urged against—the final version removed that and now requires climate change analysis for all projects.

“We know Southeastern coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, so this is a huge step forward for better decision making in our region,” said Hunter. “Just asking the question of how each project will affect and be affected by climate change could lead to better decisions about transportation, coastal development, and energy production.”

Source: www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed/new-climate-change-guidelines-make-for-better-decision-making

Bridge ‘Idea-Gathering’ Meeting NOT Advertised to Public

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Bridge ‘idea-gathering’ meeting not advertised to public

By Cindy Beamon

The Daily Advance

Sunday, September 18, 2011

 

CURRITUCK — The behind-the-scenes “idea gathering” meeting earlier this month on the mid-Currituck bridge’s design was not intended for the public, says a spokeswoman for the state agency overseeing the project.

The session hosted by the N.C. Turnpike Authority in Currituck included commissioners from three counties, two state legislators and a host of other business and county leaders.

Despite the high profile invitation list and the span’s $660 million price tag, the meeting was not advertised to the public.

A public meeting on the bridge’s design will be advertised later when the Turnpike Authority is ready to present its ideas, said Greer Beaty, communications director for the N.C. Department of Transportation, the agency which oversees the Turnpike Authority.

“They are not even to the point where they have pictures or designs for people to respond to,” Beaty said.

State law did not require that the meeting be publicly advertised because the group is not a decision-making body.

Neither was a majority from any of the county boards present, which would have required public notice. Three commissioners attended from Currituck.

Had four attended, the county would have been legally required to advertise the session. Elected officials from Duck and Southern Shores also attended.

In addition to the elected officials, the invited group represented a mix of interests, including wildlife, economic development, the Currituck Chamber of Commerce, the Currituck Historic Society, tourism, engineers, the sheriff, county manager, other county staff members, and the project’s private investor, ACS Infrastructure Development.

State Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said he didn’t know that the meeting had not been advertised.

Currituck Commissioner Paul O’Neal said he would have welcomed the public to the meeting. The state, not the county, set up the session, and O’Neal said he was not aware who would be attending until he got there.

Beaty said nothing was decided at the meeting.“It really was not a meeting intended to come up with long-term decisions that would be set in stone. It was just a starting point to get some ideas,” she said.

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How do the “invited” attendees know what Aydlett, Coinjock and Corolla Locals would want to look at every single day if, and that’s a big IF, this project gets built. I, as well as others in the Aydlett community, want to know why our county district representative, Butch Petrey, didn’t insist on having representatives from Coinjock and Aydlett invited to attend the design idea session. Since he stabbed us in the heart with his vote for the bridge project,  he has done nothing for the Aydlett or Coinjock communities to help us through this process.  Then again,  NOTHING about this project has been open or honest.  Webmaster.