| 12 | 12 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 13 | 13 | | AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE PROCESS FOR 401 WATER QUALITY 2 |
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| 14 | 14 | | CERTIFICATIONS ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL 3 |
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| 15 | 15 | | QUALITY. 4 |
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| 16 | 16 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1.(a) Definitions. – For purposes of this section and its implementation, 6 |
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| 18 | 18 | | "Water Quality Certification Rules" means 15A NCAC 02H .0500 (Water Quality Certification 7 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Rules). 8 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1.(b) Water Quality Certification Rules. – Until the effective date of the 9 |
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| 21 | 21 | | revised permanent rule that the Environmental Management Commission is required to adopt 10 |
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| 22 | 22 | | pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, the Commission shall implement the Water Quality 11 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Certification Rules as provided in subsection (c) of this section. 12 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1.(c) Implementation. – Notwithstanding 15A NCAC 02H .0502(a)(10), 13 |
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| 25 | | - | the Department shall begin review of permit applications immediately upon receipt. The 14 |
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| 26 | | - | Department shall inform an applicant of the requisite fee within five business days after receipt 15 |
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| 27 | | - | of the application. The 401 Water Quality Certification shall not be issued until the applicant has 16 |
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| 28 | | - | paid the requisite fee. 17 |
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| 25 | + | the Department shall not require payment of the fee at the time an application for a water quality 14 |
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| 26 | + | certification is submitted. Rather, the Department shall inform an applicant of the requisite fee 15 |
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| 27 | + | within five business days after receipt of the application. The application will not be deemed 16 |
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| 28 | + | complete for purposes of Department review until the applicant has paid the requisite fee. 17 |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 1.(d) Additional Rulemaking Authority. – The Commission shall adopt 18 |
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| 30 | 30 | | rules to amend the Water Quality Certification Rules consistent with subsection (c) of this 19 |
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| 31 | 31 | | section. Notwithstanding G.S. 150B-19(4), the rule adopted by the Commission pursuant to this 20 |
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| 32 | 32 | | section shall be substantively identical to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section. Rules 21 |
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| 33 | 33 | | adopted pursuant to this section are not subject to Part 3 of Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the 22 |
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| 34 | 34 | | General Statutes. Rules adopted pursuant to this section shall become effective as provided in 23 |
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| 35 | 35 | | G.S. 150B-21.3(b1), as though 10 or more written objections had been received as provided in 24 |
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| 36 | 36 | | G.S. 150B-21.3(b2). 25 |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 1.(e) Sunset. – This section expires when permanent rules adopted as 26 |
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| 38 | 38 | | required by subsection (d) of this section become effective. 27 |
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| 39 | 39 | | SECTION 2. The Department of Environmental Quality shall request that the United 28 |
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| 40 | 40 | | States Army Corps of Engineers approve a modification to the Programmatic Agreement 29 |
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| 41 | 41 | | executed between the agencies to reflect the review and decision time lines for water quality 30 |
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| 42 | 42 | | certifications set forth in 15A NCAC 02H .0507. 31 |
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| 43 | 43 | | SECTION 3. The Department of Environmental Quality shall adopt rules to establish 32 |
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| 44 | 44 | | an expedited review process for water quality certifications required for projects that have 33 |
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| 45 | 45 | | received a Nationwide Permit issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The 34 |
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| 46 | | - | expedited process shall require the Department to review and approve or deny an application for 35 |
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| 47 | | - | a water quality certification within five business days of receipt of the application and fee. Failure 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
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| 48 | | - | Page 2 Senate Bill 472-Second Edition |
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| 49 | | - | to take action within five business days shall result in a waiver of the certification requirement 1 |
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| 50 | | - | by the Director. 2 |
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| 51 | | - | SECTION 4.(a) No later than August 1, 2025, the Department of Environmental 3 |
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| 52 | | - | Quality shall prepare and submit to the United States Environmental Protection Agency 4 |
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| 53 | | - | (USEPA) for approval by that agency the proposed changes set forth in Section 3 of this act. 5 |
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| 54 | | - | SECTION 4.(b) Section 3 of this act become effective on the later of the following 6 |
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| 55 | | - | dates: 7 |
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| 56 | | - | (1) October 1, 2025. 8 |
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| 57 | | - | (2) The first day of a month that is 60 days after the Secretary of the Department 9 |
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| 58 | | - | of Environmental Quality certifies to the Revisor of Statutes that USEPA has 10 |
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| 59 | | - | approved the proposed changes set forth in Section 3 of this act, as required 11 |
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| 60 | | - | by subsection (a) of this section. The Secretary shall provide this notice along 12 |
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| 61 | | - | with the effective date of this act on its website. 13 |
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| 62 | | - | SECTION 4.(c) On the date that USEPA notifies the Department of Environmental 14 |
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| 63 | | - | Quality that it has approved the proposed changes set forth in Section 3 of this act, the Department 15 |
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| 64 | | - | of Environmental Quality shall request that the United States Army Corps of Engineers approve 16 |
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| 65 | | - | a modification to the Programmatic Agreement executed between the agencies to reflect the 17 |
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| 66 | | - | review and decision time lines for water quality certifications set forth in Section 3 of this act. 18 |
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| 67 | | - | SECTION 4.(d) The Department of Environmental Quality shall report to the Joint 19 |
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| 68 | | - | Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations on the status of their activities pursuant to 20 |
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| 69 | | - | subsection (c) of this section quarterly, beginning September 1, 2025, until the date this act 21 |
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| 70 | | - | becomes law. 22 |
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| 71 | | - | SECTION 5. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 23 |
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| 72 | | - | law. 24 |
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| 46 | + | expedited process shall require the Department to review and approve an application for a water 35 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
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| 47 | + | Page 2 Senate Bill 472-First Edition |
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| 48 | + | quality certification within five business days of receipt of the application. Failure to take action 1 |
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| 49 | + | within five calendar days shall result in a waiver of the certification requirement by the Director. 2 |
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| 50 | + | SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law. 3 |
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