RALEIGH (AP) — A rewrite of a bill that controls how North Carolina prepares for climate change along the coast is headed to the general assembly next week.
A conference committee met this morning to rework the bill and reject language lamented by the scientific community that would limit the state to using historic data to prepare for rising sea levels.
Committee Chair Republican Rep. Pat McElraft of Carteret County says the rewritten bill has two major changes. The bill would require more sea level studies over a period of up to five years.
The state in the meantime would not be allowed to use the state-sponsored scientific suggestions that North Carolina prepare for three-foot sea level rise by 2100.
McElraft says the revised version of the bill will be presented next week.