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RALEIGH N.C. lawmakers put a moratorium on the state’s use of a report forecasting a 1-meter sea-level rise, asking a scientific panel to spend several more years studying how climate change will affect the coast.
The Senate voted 40-1 to agree to the compromise late Monday. The House is expected to follow, sending the bill to the governor this week.
The new language in House Bill 819 removes a proposal to put strict controls on the science of predicting how fast the seas will rise along North Carolina’s coast – a measure that made the state a punch line on late-night comedy shows.
In the new study, the Coastal Resources Commission’s science panel must also consider the economic cost to the state if it prohibits development based on sea-level regulations. The compromise also seeks different predictions for different coastal regions. The final report is due by March 31, 2015. No regulations are allowed to take effect until July 1, 2016.
