Effective July 1, 2024, establishes a Wetlands Restoration and Protection Fund (Fund) in the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Appropriates $15 million in recurring funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal from the General Fund to DEQ to establish the Fund. Specifies that the Fund can consists of contributions from public or private sources in addition to appropriations from the General Fund. Lists four purposes for the Fund, including wetland restoration, purchase of conservation easements, public awareness campaigns, and enforcement of wetlands protections laws. Designates $5 million of the appropriation for wetlands monitoring and research initiatives. Requires DEQ to submit an an initial report by September 1, 2025, and annually thereafter to the specified NCGA committee and division on the Fund’s activities, and include at minimum, four listed elements, including the beginning and ending balances for the Fund for the fiscal year. 

Repeals Section 54 of S.L. 2014-120 and Section 4.18 of S.L. 2015-286 (amending certain wetlands regulations pertaining to isolated wetlands).

Amends GS 143-212 (definitions pertaining to pollution control) to define isolated wetland as (2) wetlands confirmed to be isolated by the US Army Corps of Engineers prior to June 22, 2020, and (2) wetlands described as isolated in the North Carolina Wetland Assessment User Manual prepared by the North Carolina Wetland Functional Assessment Team, version 4.1, October 2010. Defines wetland as waters that are areas that are inundated or saturated by an accumulation of surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Amends definition of waters to include wetland.