<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">FYI<br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';">Rural Advancement Foundation International <<a href="mailto:james@rafiusa.org">james@rafiusa.org</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';"><b>ACTION ALERT: Stop pre-approval of fracking regulations</b><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';">May 28, 2014 at 11:27:05 AM PDT<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';"><a href="mailto:lanny@lcotler.com">lanny@lcotler.com</a><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Reply-To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';"><a href="mailto:james@rafiusa.org">james@rafiusa.org</a><br></span></div><br><div><p><img src="http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51093/images/rafibanner.png" width="700" height="100" alt=""> </p>
<h2>Stop the pre-approval of fracking regulations.</h2>
<h2><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The NC House of Representatives could pre-approve fracking rules written by the Mining and Energy Commission </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">as early as today. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">SB 786, or the Energy Modernization Act, would pre-approve fracking regulations and allow fracking permits to be issued as soon as June 2015. This breaks the General Assembly’s promise to “get it right.”<br type="_moz">
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</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The rest of the bill is a mixed bag for landowners. It </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">weakens some existing protections and leaves out common sense.<br>
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</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Take action today!</span></span></span><span style="font-weight:normal;"><br>
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Tell your NC House Representative to stop the pre-approval of fracking regulations!<br>
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</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Details about SB 786:</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Weakened Protections</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">·</span><span style="font-size: 9px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Companies would be liable for water contamination within a one-half mile radius around a well. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">This nearly lets companies off the hook, reducing the area where they will be presumed responsible for contamination by more than 70% from current legal liability.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">·</span><span style="font-size: 9px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The burden of scheduling and conducting water testing would be shifted from the industry onto the landowner.</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Marginally Improved Protections</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">·</span><span style="font-size: 9px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Fracking chemical mixtures protected by trade secret law must now be disclosed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. By eliminating a third party, emergency response times will likely be reduced.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">·</span><span style="font-size: 9px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Companies are required to give 30-day notice before subsurface entry, which ensures landowners know when development begins under their property.</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">What the Bill Doesn’t Address</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Surface Use Agreements</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">: The bill does not require surface use agreements before any land disturbing activities can begin. Currently, mineral rights owners have the right to access and develop their minerals through the surface property, even if they do not own the surface. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Requiring surface use agreements would give the surface owner the right to say no.</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Forced Pooling</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">: The bill does nothing to protect landowners from forced pooling, also known as compulsory pooling. Current law allows companies to force landowners into a lease if enough of their neighbors leased voluntarily. This is an unfair and completely unnecessary practice when using unconventional methods of drilling for natural gas. Legislators should act to prevent the forced pooling of any landowner in North Carolina.</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Take action today! Tell your legislator that landowner protections must be a prerequisite for industry profit, and that pre-approving regulations for fracking is reckless.</span></div>
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