16
Fall 2014
feature
– SECTION 14.17
re-wrote the Statutes related to the Clean Water
Management Trust Fund, Wastewater Reserve, DWSRF, and Drinking
Water Reserve to require a certification from all local governments
applying for loans or grants for water or wastewater purposes to
certify that no funds received from water or wastewater operations
have been transferred to the local government’s general fund for the
purpose of supplementing the resources of the general fund. This
prohibition in this section shall not be interpreted to include payments
made to the local government to reimburse the general fund for
expenses paid from that fund that are reasonably allocable to the
regular and ongoing operations of the utility, including, but not limited
to, rent and shared facility costs, engineering and design work, plan
review, and shared personnel costs.
In addition to Bills passed into law during the session, two items of
interest to our members include Senate Bill 734, which was ratified
by both chambers and awaits the Governor’s signature at the time
of this report, and Senate Bill 729 regarding coal ash management,
which is expected to be ratified and presented to the Governor.
•
SB 734 (presented to Governor):
The Regulatory Reform Act of 2014
(short title):
If signed into law, the following sections of this bill will
affect our members.
– SECTION 11.(a)&(b)
revises and removes some of the engineering
exemptions provided to local government and system personnel in the
course of their duties.
– SECTION 16.(a)
proposes a new law that would affect permit
applications. The law, called “Permit Choice” would give the
applicant of a permit regulated by local ordinance the ability to
choose whether they wanted the new or prior version of the rule or
ordinance to apply to the permit. This would apply when the rule
or ordinance changed between the time the permit application was
submitted and a decision was made regarding the permit.
– SECTION 29
reforms the process for the reviewing of engineering
work by NCDENR, NCDHHS or any unit of local government that
operates a program that grants permits, licenses, or approvals to the
public that is either approved or delegated by NCDENR or NCDHHS.
– SECTION 32
repeals the prior limitations on Local Ordinances in
Section 10.2 of S.L. 2013-413 and requires NCDENR to report
to the Environmental Review Commission on any local government
ordinances that impinge on or interfere with any areas subject to
regulation by the Department.
– SECTION 37
provides an expedited interbasin transfer process for
certain reservoirs that are either in the 15 counties designated as the
Central Coastal Plan Capacity Use Area, that serve the coastal counties
designated pursuant to NCGS 113A-103 or that withdraw water from
a multipurpose reservoir constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers
and is partially located in a state adjacent to North Carolina.
– SECTION 40
reforms on-site wastewater regulations.
– SECTION 43
standardizes local well programs.
– SECTION 47
modifies the rules related 15A NCAC 18A.1969(j)
to approved modifications to approved wastewater systems in the
state. Section 47.(c) specifically modifies the rule so as not to require
a survey or audit of installed modified accepted systems in order to
confirm the satisfactory performance of such systems.
– SECTION 53
expands the wastewater daily flow design exemptions
so that credit is given during the design phase where low flow fixtures
are used in households.
Note:
Many of the wastewater issues cited in Senate Bill 734
relate to septic systems.
Realizing that this is an enormous amount of information to digest, be
confident that we are representing your interests and will assist with
your understanding of these new laws to the best of our ability. Please
contact us anytime that we can be of assistance to you.
