River Buffers Under Fire From Group

About 80 N.C. legislators and legislative candidates have signed pledges to repeal state buffer rules for the Catawba and two other river basins, an anti-tax group says.

N.C. Citizens for a Sound Economy sent letters asking for the buffer pledges, and a second pledge to not raise taxes, to 330 incumbents and candidates, director Jonathan Hill said. The group says river buffers infringe on private property rights.

The state Environmental Management Commission required buffers on the main stem of the Catawba, from Lake James to the S.C. line, in 2001. But faced with criticism from property rights advocates, the commission has put off a vote on requiring buffers on streams in the basin.