"EPA: NC Risking Federal Takeover of Environmental Regulation"

"RALEIGH -- "North Carolina’s recent tactic of blocking citizens from challenging state permits for industrial polluters could result in a federal takeover of the state’s regulatory program.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has put state officials on notice that North Carolina’s strategy is putting the state at risk of losing its authority to regulate industrial water pollution and air pollution. Since receiving the warning two weeks ago, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality is downplaying the incident as a misunderstanding.

EPA spokeswoman Davina Marraccini said by email that the EPA’s options wouldn’t start with a wholesale takeover of the state’s regulatory program, but rather would start with discussions between the attorney general and DEQ on “the steps the EPA will take in light of these impacts.”

In a letter dated Oct. 30, Heather McTeer Toney, a regional EPA administrator, cautioned department Secretary Donald van der Vaart that the state’s stance in several recent court decisions – that citizen groups did not have standing to challenge air and water quality permitting decisions – was troubling."

John Murawski and Anne Blythe report for the Raleigh News & Observer November 14, 2015.