Environmental regulator gets approval from NC senators who rejected Cooper’s last pick
On Tuesday, Elizabeth Biser sat in the same auditorium in front of the same N.C. Senate committee answering many of the same questions that Dionne Delli-Gatti did less than four months ago.
But a day later, the Senate Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee voted to confirm Biser as secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality where it had voted to deny Delli-Gatti’s confirmation to the same job. Biser’s confirmation will next head to the Nominations Committee before heading to a vote of the full Senate.
Biser, a former lobbyist for the state’s environmental agency and other environmental groups, told the Senate committee that if confirmed, she would not bring predetermined conclusions to the job.
“I believe strongly in the power of building consensus, getting everyone around the table to work through tough issues,” Biser said in her opening remarks. “I also strongly believe that we don’t have to ever choose between a good environment and a good economy, and those two support each other so well.”
If the Senate ultimately confirms Biser, she would become the first woman to lead the state’s environmental agency in a full capacity. She is now the acting secretary, as Delli-Gatti was before her.
Biser said her top priority as secretary would be protecting the state’s natural resources.
“We have to get our basic job right. We have to make sure that we’re protecting and safeguarding the state’s air, water and land,” Biser said.
Other priorities Biser outlined include increasing North Carolina’s resilience against flooding and other severe weather, as well as updating how permit applications to DEQ are tracked and decreasing delays before the agency makes a decision.
Previous choice rejected
Biser’s nomination marks the second time Cooper has tried to fill the DEQ secretary’s chair this year. Michael Regan, who served as the agency’s secretary during Cooper’s first term as governor, was chosen by President Joe Biden to serve as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Shortly after Regan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Cooper appointed Delli-Gatti as secretary. The Senate’s vote on Delli-Gatti marked the first time it had denied an appointment since setting up the confirmation process after Cooper defeated Pat McCrory in 2016 but before Cooper took office.
Hours after the Senate denied Delli-Gatti’s appointment, Cooper hired her as DEQ’s N.C. clean energy director. In that role, Delli-Gatti is expected to work toward clean energy goals and implementing Cooper administration climate targets such as increasing the number of electric vehicles and reducing energy consumption in state buildings.
Republican senators explained their vote by citing Delli-Gatti’s answers to Sen. Paul Newton about expanding natural gas and permitting the MVP-Southgate pipeline, which would extend from southern Virginia into Alamance County.
Under Regan’s leadership, DEQ denied a stream crossing permit for the pipeline, saying it didn’t make sense to start construction on the North Carolina portion when permits for the project’s main branch in West Virginia and Virginia remain uncertain. Two days after Delli-Gatti’s confirmation hearing, DEQ upheld that decision.
On Tuesday, Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican, asked Biser about the role DEQ should play in permitting a project like MVP Southgate.
“I’m not in the business of making policy out of permitting,” Biser said. “We look at the regulations that we operate under, whether they’re state or federal, and we operate based on that regulatory framework.”
Energy sources
Newton also asked about the Cooper administration’s stance on building new natural gas-fired power plants. Biser said her approach to energy is to look for sources that are “clean, affordable and available.”
“Natural gas is part of that mix,” Biser said, adding that she believes the Utilities Commission is best poised to make decisions about the state’s energy future.
The Senate committee Biser was appearing in front of has twice discussed House Bill 951, an energy bill that would require Duke Energy to replace some coal-fired power plants with natural gas facilities at some sites. Environmental groups are staunchly opposed to the legislation, in part because natural gas power plants release methane, a high-powered, short-lived greenhouse gas that many scientists say is inconsistent with emissions targets.
Asked about her stance on HB 951, Biser said, “I did observe from last week’s hearing that you all held that there’s number of folks who have a lot of concerns with the bill, and I think the administration falls in that camp, as well.”
From September 2006 to November 2010, Biser worked as director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs at what was then the Department of Environment & Natural Resources.
“I think one of the strongest assets you have is the fact that you were with the agency when it was known as DENR,” said Sen. Natalie Murdock, a Durham Democrat before asking Biser what had changed since she was in the agency.
Biser responded by saying that the budgets of the divisions that have remained in DEQ since she was there have been cut by about 22% since 2010, making it harder to keep up with the pace of permit applications.
After leaving the environmental agency in 2010, Biser worked in law firm Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard’s Raleigh office where she worked as a lobbyist, primarily representing clients in the environmental and media sectors. During her time at the law firm, Biser’s clients included Friends of State Parks, Tesla and the N.C. Press Association, of which The News & Observer is a member.
Biser then spent two years working for The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit agency that helps bring the public sector and private companies together to boost recycling efforts.
Toward the end of Tuesday’s meeting, Newton raised concerns about how solar panels will be disposed of as many of them stop working in 10 to 15 years. He said he is worried about the panels simply being left to degrade in the farm fields where many of them have been installed, and whether the fields could ever be returned to their former state.
After Biser said she is hopeful that there is a path toward recycling or re-powering solar panels, Newton said, “I don’t believe there’s anyone better suited to think through and plan for effective recycling of solar panels, and hopefully a market does exist.”
This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Environmental regulator gets approval from NC senators who rejected Cooper’s last pick."