| 15 | | - | STRUCTURES DAMAGED B Y HISTORIC FLOOD EVE NTS; AND EXEMPTIONS 4 |
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| 16 | | - | FROM SOLID WASTE COM POSTING RULES, STATE-ONLY STORMWATER AND 5 |
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| 17 | | - | SEDIMENTATION CONTRO L REQUIREMENTS, STAT E-ONLY AIR QUALITY 6 |
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| 18 | | - | PERMITS, SOIL AMENDM ENT OR COMPOST PRODU CT REGISTRATION, AND 7 |
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| 19 | | - | FIRE CODE LIMITATIONS ON MULCH PILE STORAGE, FOR THE PROCESSING OF 8 |
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| 20 | | - | TREE STUMPS AND OTHE R VEGETATIVE DEBRIS INTO MULCH OR SOIL 9 |
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| 21 | | - | AMENDMENTS IN THE COUNTIES AFFECTED BY HELENE FOR A PERIOD OF 10 |
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| 22 | | - | TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS. 11 |
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| 23 | | - | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 12 |
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| 24 | | - | SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 143-138 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 13 |
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| 25 | | - | "(e1) Exemption for Historic Flood Event. – Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 14 |
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| 26 | | - | contrary, including subsection (e) of this section, the North Carolina State Building Code, any 15 |
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| 27 | | - | floodplain regulation established under Part 6 of Article 21 of this Chapter, a development 16 |
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| 28 | | - | regulation established pursuant to authority in Chapter 160D of the General Statutes, or any other 17 |
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| 29 | | - | local ordinance, the following shall apply: 18 |
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| 30 | | - | (1) Replacement or reconstruction. – The owner of a lawfully established building 19 |
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| 31 | | - | or structure damaged by a historic flood event may replace or reconstruct the 20 |
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| 32 | | - | building or structure within the base floodplain, as defined in 21 |
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| 33 | | - | G.S. 143-215.52(a)(1b), to the same or lesser extent or volume existing 22 |
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| 34 | | - | immediately before the historic flood event, without regard to changes in State 23 |
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| 35 | | - | or local regulations adopted after the building or structure was lawfully 24 |
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| 36 | | - | established, subject to the limitation of subdivision (2) of this subsection. 25 |
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| 37 | | - | (2) Limitation. – Replacement or reconstruction that increases the extent or 26 |
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| 38 | | - | volume of the building or structure within the base floodplain shall not be 27 |
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| 39 | | - | authorized unless hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, prepared in accordance 28 |
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| 40 | | - | with standard engineering practice by a registered design professional, 29 |
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| 41 | | - | demonstrate that the proposed replacement or reconstruction will not result in 30 |
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| 42 | | - | any increase in the base flood elevation. 31 |
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| 43 | | - | (3) Definitions. – For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions apply: 32 |
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| 44 | | - | a. 200-year flood. – A flood having a one-half of one percent (0.5%) 33 |
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| 45 | | - | probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, resulting 34 |
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| 46 | | - | in floodwater elevations higher than the base flood elevation 35 |
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| 47 | | - | associated with a 100-year flood. 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
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| 48 | | - | Page 2 Senate Bill 266-Second Edition |
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| 49 | | - | b. Historic flood event. – A flood event that meets or exceeds a 200-year 1 |
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| 50 | | - | flood." 2 |
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| 51 | | - | SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 143-215.54(a) reads as rewritten: 3 |
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| 52 | | - | "(a) A Subject to G.S. 143-138(e1) and G.S. 160D-108, a local government may adopt 4 |
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| 53 | | - | ordinances to regulate uses in flood hazard areas and grant permits for the use of flood hazard 5 |
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| 54 | | - | areas that are consistent with the requirements of this Part." 6 |
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| 55 | | - | SECTION 1.(c) No later than August 1, 2025, the Department of Insurance shall 7 |
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| 56 | | - | prepare and submit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for approval by that 8 |
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| 57 | | - | agency the proposed changes set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. 9 |
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| 58 | | - | SECTION 1.(d) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section become effective on the later 10 |
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| 59 | | - | of the following dates: 11 |
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| 60 | | - | (1) October 1, 2025. 12 |
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| 61 | | - | (2) The first day of a month that is 30 days after the Commissioner of Insurance 13 |
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| 62 | | - | certifies to the Revisor of Statutes that FEMA has approved the proposed 14 |
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| 63 | | - | changes set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, as required by 15 |
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| 64 | | - | subsection (c) of this section. The Commissioner shall provide this notice 16 |
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| 65 | | - | along with the effective date of this act on its website. 17 |
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| 66 | | - | SECTION 1.(e) The Department of Insurance shall report to the Joint Legislative 18 |
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| 67 | | - | Commission on Governmental Operations on the status of their activities pursuant to subsection 19 |
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| 68 | | - | (d) of this section quarterly, beginning September 1, 2025, until subsections (a) and (b) of this 20 |
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| 69 | | - | section become law. 21 |
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| 70 | | - | SECTION 2.(a) The Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of 22 |
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| 71 | | - | Agriculture and Consumer Services, and a unit of local government, as applicable, shall waive 23 |
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| 72 | | - | all of the following requirements, to the extent the requirements are State or local in origin and 24 |
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| 73 | | - | not otherwise required to satisfy federal law, as they may apply to activities to process tree stumps 25 |
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| 74 | | - | and other vegetative debris into mulch or soil amendments in the counties designated before, on, 26 |
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| 75 | | - | or after the effective date of this act under a major disaster declaration by the President of the 27 |
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| 76 | | - | United States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93-288) as a result of Hurricane Helene: 28 |
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| 77 | | - | (1) Solid waste composting rules for Type 1 facilities under 15A NCAC 13B 29 |
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| 78 | | - | .1400. 30 |
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| 79 | | - | (2) Stormwater and sedimentation and erosion control requirements. 31 |
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| 80 | | - | (3) Air quality permit requirements for vegetative debris processing equipment 32 |
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| 81 | | - | under 15A NCAC 02D. 33 |
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| 82 | | - | (4) Notwithstanding Article 2A of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes, and rules 34 |
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| 83 | | - | adopted thereunder, soil amendment or compost product registration required 35 |
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| 84 | | - | by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 36 |
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| 85 | | - | (5) State Fire Code limitations on mulch pile storage. 37 |
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| 86 | | - | SECTION 2.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and expires July 1, 38 |
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| 87 | | - | 2027. 39 |
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| 88 | | - | SECTION 3. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 40 |
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| 89 | | - | law. 41 |
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| 15 | + | STRUCTURES DAMAGED B Y HISTORIC FLOOD EVENTS. 4 |
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| 16 | + | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5 |
|---|
| 17 | + | SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 143-138 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 6 |
|---|
| 18 | + | "(e1) Exemption for Historic Flood Event. – Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 7 |
|---|
| 19 | + | contrary, including subsection (e) of this section, the North Carolina State Building Code, any 8 |
|---|
| 20 | + | floodplain regulation established under Part 6 of Article 21 of Chapter 143 of the General 9 |
|---|
| 21 | + | Statutes, a development regulation established pursuant to authority in Chapter 160D of the 10 |
|---|
| 22 | + | General Statutes, or any other local ordinance, the following shall apply: 11 |
|---|
| 23 | + | (1) Replacement or reconstruction. – The owner of a lawfully established building 12 |
|---|
| 24 | + | or structure damaged by a historic flood event may replace or reconstruct the 13 |
|---|
| 25 | + | building or structure within the base floodplain, as defined in 14 |
|---|
| 26 | + | G.S. 143-215.52(1b), to the same or lesser extent or volume existing 15 |
|---|
| 27 | + | immediately before the historic flood event, without regard to changes in State 16 |
|---|
| 28 | + | or local regulations adopted after the building or structure was lawfully 17 |
|---|
| 29 | + | established, subject to the limitation of subdivision (2) of this subsection. 18 |
|---|
| 30 | + | (2) Limitation. – Replacement or reconstruction that increases the extent or 19 |
|---|
| 31 | + | volume of the building or structure within the base floodplain shall not be 20 |
|---|
| 32 | + | authorized unless hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, prepared in accordance 21 |
|---|
| 33 | + | with standard engineering practice by a registered design professional, 22 |
|---|
| 34 | + | demonstrate that the proposed replacement or reconstruction will not result in 23 |
|---|
| 35 | + | any increase in the base flood elevation. 24 |
|---|
| 36 | + | (3) Definitions. – For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions apply: 25 |
|---|
| 37 | + | a. 200-year flood. – A flood having a one-half of one percent (0.5%) 26 |
|---|
| 38 | + | probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, resulting 27 |
|---|
| 39 | + | in floodwater elevations higher than the base flood elevation 28 |
|---|
| 40 | + | associated with a 100-year flood. 29 |
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| 41 | + | b. Historic flood event. – A flood event that meets or exceeds a 200-year 30 |
|---|
| 42 | + | flood." 31 |
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| 43 | + | SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 143-215.54(a) reads as rewritten: 32 |
|---|
| 44 | + | "(a) A Subject to G.S. 143-138(e1) and G.S. 160D-108, a local government may adopt 33 |
|---|
| 45 | + | ordinances to regulate uses in flood hazard areas and grant permits for the use of flood hazard 34 |
|---|
| 46 | + | areas that are consistent with the requirements of this Part." 35 |
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| 47 | + | SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law. 36 |
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