Both versions aim to give the Department of Environment Quality access to equipment it says it needs to check water supplies for pollution.
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In the budget passed last summer, DEQ’s budget was set to be $78 million this year, and then cut to $77 million next year.
Roy Cooper.
The version of the bill that passed the House had extra money to buy the equipment DEQ says it needs – known as a mass spectrometer – and hire scientists to operate it, but Berger objected to that, saying DEQ should try to borrow one instead.
Berger said there’s equipment available that the agency can access for free.
This new version of the bill that might come up in the Senate on Wednesday doesn’t call for DEQ to buy a mass spectrometer, but it does dedicate $1 million a year for the next two years from the UNC collaboratory’s budget to work on the GenX problem.
Senate Republicans said in a news release that their bill would make available more than 100 mass spectrometers.
“The health of my constituents in Southeast North Carolina, neighbors and family depend on what we do, and I am pleased this bill will leverage the expertise of our university system’s world-renowned scientists and utilize state-of-the-art equipment that already belongs to our taxpayers to research ways to improve and protect our drinking water.” Correction: A previous version of this story said the Senate bill would provide money to the NC Policy Collaboratory.
Will Doran: 919-836-2858, @will_doran