Conference report makes the following changes to the 4th edition.

Deletes Section 2, which amended GS 7B-323(f).

Section 8 

Further amends GS 106-549.21 by making clarifying changes.

Section 12

Adds that if Senate Bill 195, Motor Vehicle Service Agreement Amendments, becomes law, then the changes to GS 66-372(e) are repealed.

Deletes Section 32.7, which amended GS 7A-45.1 by adding in a provision concerning special superior court judges designated as a business court judges whose term expired.

Deletes Section 34.5, which amended GS 14-288.8 (Manufacture, assembly, possession, storage, transportation, sale, purchase, delivery, or acquisition of weapon of mass death and destruction; exceptions) to provide that the statute did not apply to persons who lawfully purchase, acquire, possess or own a weapon in compliance with federal law (was, possess or own); and deleted the provision stating that the subdivision does not limit the sheriff’s discretion in executing required paperwork. Deletes the same changes made to GS 14-409 (Machine guns and other like weapons).

Deletes Section 35 which amended GS 14-404, concerning sidearms of retiring probation or parole officers, to allow such officers to purchase their service weapons upon retirement without being required to obtain a purchase permit. Deletes the conforming changes that were made to GS 20-187.2.

Section 37

Amends GS 17C-10.1 to allow waiver of the training course for current or honorably discharged former military police officers upon evaluation of the applicant's combined training and experience (was, combined training or experience or both). Deletes the changes to GS 17C-10.1(c)(5) which required supplemental training decisions for former military police officers to be made on a case by basis based on documented deficiencies. 

Deletes Section 38.5, which amended GS 20-62.1 concerning the purchase of vehicles for scrap or parts, by deleting the provision giving law enforcement the right to inspect any records that a secondary metals operator is required to maintain; also removes the deletion of the provision making the information submitted to the Division of Motor Vehicles available to law enforcement agencies only.

Section 44.5

Makes new GS 58-36-87, affiliate transfer of policies, expire on June 30, 2016.

Deletes Section 49, which amends GS 97-2 by amending the definition of employee.

Deletes Section 50, which amended GS 97-87 to provided that requested de novo evidentiary hearings do not have to be heard before the full Industrial Commission.

Deletes Section 51, which amended GS 97-92 concerning accident reports by employers, providing that such reports must report wages, if available.

Section 54.5

Deletes the previous content of this section, which amended GS 105-330 and GS 105-330.9 concerning antique automobiles and pass-through entities.

Instead, amends GS 105-129.100 by adding that a taxpayer is eligible for a credit under the statute concerning historic rehabilitation for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, for qualifying rehabilitation expenditures that were incurred in 2014 and 2015 if all of the five specified conditions are met. Makes clarifying changes to the effective date provision. Applies to credits that may be claimed for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016.

Section 56.2

Amends GS 113-415.1, which invalidates local ordinances that prohibit oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities, to broaden its application to local ordinances that regulate oil and gas production and not simply to those that prohibit it outright. Removes from the statute references to local ordinances that prohibit the siting of wells or the use horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing. Provides for a petition and review process when oil and gas would be regulated under a generally applicable development ordinance, such as buffers or setbacks; the 4th edition provided for petition and review when production activities would be prevented from operation. Removes a subsection declaring that future acts and resolutions may not be construed to repeal the article absent clear intention. Replaces references to the Mining and Energy Commission with references to the Oil and Gas Commission. Makes technical and clarifying changes. This section is effective retroactive to June 4, 2014.

Amends GS 130A-309.205 to render local ordinances regulating coal combustion invalidated and unenforceable (was, invalidated). This section is effective retroactive to August 20, 2014. 

Section 56.5

Amends GS 115C-47 to allow local boards of education to establish, control, and operate a nonprofit corporation to further their authorized purposes. If a nonprofit is established, requires a report annually to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee. Deletes a similar provision found in Section 57.

Deletes Section 58, which enacted new GS 115C-150.15, requiring the local superintendent to report deaf and blind children.

Deletes Section 59, which amended GS 115C-174.11 and GS 115C-174.22 concerning college admission tests.

Deletes Section 61 which amended GS 115C-218.15 concerning charter school operation, and GS 115C-47 concerning anti-nepotism policies.

Deletes Section 62 which amended GS 115C-333.1 concerning teacher observations and evaluations.

Deletes Section 65 which amended GS 116-11 to allow the UNC BOG or President to use private counsel.

Section 65.5

Amends GS 116-143.3A, waiver of 12-month residency requirement for certain veterans and other individuals entitled to federal education benefits, by amending the definition of veteran to no longer require that the person have been released from the specified service under conditions other than dishonorable.

Deletes Section 67 which enacted new GS 116-235.5 and amended GS 116-69 concerning advanced courses taken by students at the School of Science and Mathematics or the School of the Arts.

Section 68.5

Amends GS 120-36.13 concerning the Program Evaluation Division’s (PED) work plan deleting language that required the work plan to be completed on an annual basis.

Amends GS 120-36.14 concerning reports generated by the PED, making previous content requirements of such reports permissive instead of required.

Makes conforming changes to GS 120-36.16(2) and GS 120-36.17(a) reflecting the divergence above from annual work plans.

Deletes Section 71, which amended GS 131E-21 concerning conflict of interest for commissioner or employees of a hospital authority.

Deletes Section 75, which amended GS 143-136 concerning the Residential Code Committee and the Building Code Committee.

Deletes Section 76, which amended GS 143-166.13 add to the individuals who are entitled to benefits under Article 12B, Salary Continuation Plan for Certain State Law-Enforcement Officers.

Deletes Section 77, which amended GS 143-548 concerning the terms of member of the Vocational Rehabilitation Council.

Section 85.5 amends Section 2 of SL 2015-138 by prohibiting Greensboro from altering or amending the form of government for the City until after the return of the 2020 federal decennial Census.

Section 86.2

Amends Section 1 of SL 2015-196 to require the Environmental Review Commission's study on the uses of groundwater and surface water in or affecting the Cape Fear River Basin to include a summary of the current and 50 year projected water use demands along with the available water supplies within the Basin, deleting references to water supplies for specified counties.

Deletes Section 86.3 which allowed the Department of Public Instruction to use no more than 5% of the funds available to it to implement the DPI Flexibility Reduction for 2015-16.

Section 86.5 

Amends new Section 12A.5 of SL 2015-241 to no longer require the State CIO to certify that the HIE Network connection is operational before requiring covered entities to submit demographic and clinical information through the Network.

Section 89

Amends Section 12H.30 of SL 2015-241 by making clarifying changes. Adds that the State Plan amendment required by this section is not subject to the 90-day prior submission.

Deletes Section 90 which made concerning changes to reimbursements for prescription drugs and professional pharmaceutical services, effective October 1, 2016 instead of 2015.

Section 90.2

Makes Section 20.3 of SL 2015-241 effective August 1, 2016, instead of January 1.

Section 90.5

Deletes all the previous provisions found in Section 90.5 concerning a sales factor study and replaces them with the following.

Amends Section 29.17E of SL 2015-241, concerning the study and improvement of safety on secondary roads, making clarifying changes and adding language that creates a new unpaved road survey and improvement pilot program, which directs the Department of Transportation to survey public paved and unpaved roads in NC that are not currently part of the State road system. Directs the Department of Transportation to report its findings from the survey to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee by June 30, 2016. Provides that $1 million in nonrecurring  funds for the 2015-16 fiscal year must be used to establish a pilot program for the improvement of the paved or unpaved roads, with the pilot program being implemented by December 1, 2015. Requires a report to the above oversight committee on the results of the pilot program by December 1, 2016. Sets out additional limitations of the survey and pilot program. 

Section 90.7

Amends Section 2.45 of SL 2015-254 by correcting the an appointment to the NC Railroad Company Board.

Section 91.2

Deletes the previous content and instead adds that if House Bill 318 becomes law, then Section 16 is amended to prohibit DHHS from submitting a new request for a wavier of time limits concerning food and nutrition benefits unless the period covered by the waiver will not extend beyond July 1, 2016 (was, March 1).

Section 91.4

Adds that the section, concerning the study of the use of electronic supervision devices as an alternative means of supervision during sleep hours at facilities for children and adolescents with a diagnosis of mental illness and/or emotional disturbance expires on June 30, 2016. 

The conference report deletes the changes made to the 4th edition by House floor amendments #4, 6, 7, 10, and 11.