Senate committee substitute makes the following changes to 1st edition and changes the bill title accordingly.
Amends GS 143-214.11 by adding new subsection (a)(1a) defining a compensatory mitigation bank as either a private or existing local compensatory mitigation bank; adding a new subsection (a)(1b) defining an existing local compensatory mitigation as a mitigation bank operated by a unit of local government that is a party to a mitigation banking instrument executed on or before July 1, 2011; clarifying the definition of governmental entity in subsection (a)(2) to include a unit of local government that was a party to a mitigation banking instrument executed on or before July 1, 2011; changing the definition of a mitigation banking instrument in subsection (a)(4a) to refer to the legal document for the establishment, operation, and use of a mitigation bank; clarifying the definition of a private compensatory mitigation bank in subsection (a)(4b) to refer to a site created by a private compensatory mitigation provider and approved for mitigation credit by state and federal regulatory authorities through the execution of a mitigation banking instrument; deleting subsection (a)(4c) (defining a private compensatory mitigation bank site); deleting requirement added in 1st edition to subsection (b) that DENR bid and award contracts for compensatory mitigation contracts in accordance with GS 143-129.2A; and adding new subsection (h) requiring that the sale or transfer of mitigation credits by an existing local compensatory mitigation bank comply with property disposal requirements of Article 12 of GS Chapter 160A.
Deletes in their entirety Sections 1.2 – 2.2 (establishing specific requirements for design and construction of compensatory wetlands mitigation projects; directing Program Evaluation Division to review the efficiency of the Ecosystem Enhancement Program; and making changes to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund).
Rewrites in its entirety Section 1.2 to direct the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program to use the following mitigation procurement programs in order of preference: Full Delivery/Bank Credit Purchase, Design/Build Program, and Design-Bid-Build Program.
Rewrites in its entirety Section 1.3 to provide that the regulatory requirements for establishing, operating, and monitoring a compensatory mitigation bank or full delivery project vests at the time the mitigation banking instrument is executed or the full delivery contract is awarded.