Attorney General Josh Stein is Busy Working with EPA and on Identity Theft

By FRAN FARRER

On January 5, 2018 Attorney General Stein took action to stop EPA from opening the dirty truck loophole. He stood in strong opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to allow more high polluting trucks on the roads by repealing protections on “glider trucks.” In 2016, the EPA required that gliders – new heavy duty truck bodies without engines or drive trains – be installed with clean engines that meet present-day emission standards. Now, the EPA wants to repeal its own 2016 rule, opening a loophole that will exempt these new trucks installed with older, dirtier engines.

“Protecting the air we breathe means keeping our families healthier and happier,” said Attorney General Stein. “That is why I oppose the EPA’s dirty truck loophole. It will not only make our air dirtier, it also will be unfair to the truck manufacturers, like Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks in Greensboro, and trucking companies that play by the rules and use up-to-date, cleaner truck engines.”

Gliders that do not comply with the 2016 Glider Rule produce 20 to 40 times more emissions of hazardous pollutants that are linked to asthma, low birth weight, infant mortality, and lung cancer. The EPA has estimated that opening the loophole for a single year of unregulated “glider truck” production could result in up to 1,600 premature deaths, 415,000 tons of additional nitrogen oxide emissions, and 6,800 tons of additional particulate matter emissions.

In North Carolina and elsewhere, the rest of the trucking industry has already made substantial investments to comply with stringent emissions standards. Repeal of the 2016 rule could put them at a competitive disadvantage by having to compete against unregulated glider manufacturers who avoid such investments.

Joining Attorney General Stein in filing comments were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Monday, AG Stein and Rep Jason Saine announced legislation to strengthen protections against identity theft. Stein also released annual reports of data breaches in North Carolina in 2017 were up more than 15 percent since 2016.

Attorney General Josh Stein and Rep. Jason Saine unveiled legislation to strengthen North Carolina’s laws to prevent data breaches and to protect affected victims.

“Last year, more than 5.3 million North Carolinians were estimated to have been affected by a data breach,” said Attorney General Stein. “This number is staggering and unacceptable. North Carolina’s laws on this issue are strong – but they need to be even stronger. Rep. Jason Saine and I are partnering to do something about it.”

“As more and more of our daily activities involve digital interactions, ensuring the safety of North Carolina’s citizen’s data is of critical importance,” said Rep. Jason Saine. “When there is a breach, we need to ensure that consumers are notified in a timely fashion and that they have the tools they need to protect their personal identity from bad actors.”

In addition to announcing this legislation, Attorney General Stein also released an annual report detailing the data breaches reported to his office in 2017. That report provides detailed information about the 1,022 data breaches that may have impacted more than 5.3 million North Carolinians.

More information on data breaches in 2017:

· Hacking breaches accounted for about half of all breaches this year, nearly doubling from five years ago.

· Since 2006, reports of hacking have increased by more than 3,500 percent.

· Phishing scams also increased in 2017, from 1.76 percent to 24 percent.

· The most commonly stolen information includes full names, dates of birth and Social Security, driver license, credit card numbers.

AG Stein advices citizens to learn how to protect themselves by visiting: www.ncdoj.gov/identitytheft.