Bill Summary for H 119 (2011-2012)

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Summary date: 

Jun 15 2011

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View NCGA Bill Details2011-2012 Session
House Bill 119 (Public) Filed Wednesday, February 16, 2011
TO AMEND CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES LAWS TO (1) CLARIFY THE PROHIBITION ON DISPOSAL IN LANDFILLS OR BY INCINERATION OF BEVERAGE CONTAINERS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE RECYCLED BY CERTAIN ABC PERMITTEES; (2) DIRECT THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO INCORPORATE STORMWATER CAPTURE AND REUSE STANDARDS AND BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES INTO STORMWATER RUNOFF RULES AND PROGRAMS; AND (3) AMEND THE WATER USE STANDARD FOR PUBLIC MAJOR FACILITY CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION PROJECTS TO REQUIRE THE INSTALLATION OF WEATHER BASED IRRIGATION CONTROLLERS AND AUDITS OF EXISTING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS BY AN IRRIGATION CONTRACTOR LICENSED UNDER CHAPTER 89G OF THE GENERAL STATUTES.
Intro. by Gillespie, McElraft.

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Bill summary

Senate committee substitute makes the following changes to 2nd edition. Rewrites GS 62-133.8(g), concerning control of emissions, to clarify that the subsection does not apply to facilities that qualify as certain new renewable energy facilities.
Provides that the open burning for land clearing or right-of-way maintenance is permissible without an air quality permit if the location of the burning is at least 500 feet from any dwelling, commercial or institutional establishment, or other occupied structure not located on the property on which the burning is conducted. Provides and details exceptions which the regional office supervisor may grant. Provides that the location of the air curtain burnings be at least 300 feet from any dwelling, commercial or institutional establishment, or other occupied structure not located on the property on which the burning is conducted. Provides and details exceptions which the regional office supervisor may grant. Rewrites GS 113-60.29 to provide it is not a violation if a person unintentionally fails to comply with a setback requirement so long as the difference between the required setback and the actual setback is no more than 5% of the required setback. Directs the Environmental Management Commission to adopt specified rules.
Enacts new GS 130A-310.60(c) providing that for the purposes of the statute, concerning the program for the removal of products containing mercury from public buildings, a local government is using state funds when it receives grant funding from the state for the construction or operation of a public building.
Amends proposed GS 143-214.7(b1) to direct the Environmental Management Commission (Commission) to develop model practices for incorporation of stormwater capture and reuse into stormwater management programs and to make information on those model practices available to state agencies and local governments.
Amends GS 143-214.7A(b) to prohibit the Division of Water Quality from requiring water quality permitting for any Type I solid waste compost facility, unless required by federal law.
Amends GS 143-135.37(c1) to remove provisions concerning the engagement of an irrigation contractor to perform an audit of any irrigation system.
Enacts new GS 143-215.1(a5), providing that no permit is required to contract to construct, alter, or change the operation of any sewer system, treatment works, or disposal system when the system’s or work’s principle function is to dispose of industrial waste or sewage from an industrial facility and the discharge of the industrial waste or sewage is authorized under a permit issued for the discharge of the industrial waste or sewage into the waters of the state.
Amends GS 143-215.94B(b) to include the cost of a site investigation by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the purpose of determining whether a release from a tank system occurred, whether or not the investigation confirms that a release has occurred, as a Commercial Fund expense. Amends GS 143-215.94B(b1) to include additional criteria to use when calculating the multiple discharge amounts. Amends GS 143-215.94B to add new subsection directing DENR to use up to $1 million of the funds in the Commercial Fund, each fiscal year, to clean up discharges or releases when a responsible party demonstrates it would be a severe financial hardship for such party to do so. Directs the Commission to adopt rules defining severe financial hardship, and establish a process for evaluation and determinations of eligibility with respect to applications for assistance due to severe financial hardships. Amends GS 143-215.94C(b) to provide that the annual operating fee is due and payable in equal installments on a quarterly basis on the first day of the month of each quarter in accordance with a staggered schedule established by DENR in order that the total amount of fees collected by DENR is about the same each quarter.
Amends GS 143-215.94T to specify that the statute is not to be construed to limit the right of an owner or operator to repair any existing component of an underground storage tank system. Provides that if an existing tank or piping is replaced, the secondary containment and interstitial monitoring requirements apply only to the replaced tank or piping. Creates new subsection directing DENR to allow non-tank unprotected metallic components that are visible or accessible for visual inspections to have corrosion protection added as an alternative to replacement, if the component does not have visible corrosion and passes a tightness test. Amends GS 143-215.94V(b) to provide additional language stating that rules that use the distance between a source area of a confirmed discharge or release to a water supply well or private drinking well, as defined, must include a determination of whether a nearby well is likely to be affected by the discharge or release as a factor in determining levels of risk.
Provides that DENR must not prohibit the use of tanks that are constructed of steel and cathodically protected as provided under federal law (40 CFR §280.20(a)(2)) in order to meet external corrosion protection standards of that rule. Directs the Environmental Management Commission to adopt rules to carry out this provision no later than January 1, 2014. Specifies effective dates for the amendments. Provides that all UST systems installed after January 1, 1991, are not required to provide secondary containment until January 1, 2020. Directs the Commission to establish a process for the grant of variances from the setbacks required for UST systems from certain public water supply wells if the Commission finds facts to demonstrate that such variance will not endanger human health and welfare or groundwater. Requires that, no later than January 1, 2014, the Environmental Management Commission must adopt rules consistent with the above provisions. These provisions are effective when they become law and apply to discharges or releases reported on or after that date, except that the provisions concerning GS 143-215.94B(b1) apply to discharges or releases reported on or after January 1, 2009.
Enacts new GS 153A-145 and 160A-202 to provide that no county or city may prohibit the installation and maintenance of cisterns and rain barrels.
Rewrites Section 5 of SL 2007-438, as amended, to provide that the nutrient offset payment schedule will expire when the rules establishing the new payment schedule become effective.
Delays the implementation of the rules under SL 2009-216, the Jordan Lake Rules. Provides that compliance for certain dischargers, such as wastewater treatment plants, is delayed from 2016 to 2020 and compliance for existing development would be delayed from 2017 to 2020.
Requires that employees of establishments regulated under subsections (a) and (a2) of GS 130A-248 be certified in food protection in accordance with the United States Food and Drug Administration Food Code 2009.
Establishes and details a process for the issuance of variances from the setback requirements for public water supply wells under certain circumstances.
Enacts new GS 143-214.18 to provide that, absent certain conditions, certain temporary rules adopted and the permanent rule concerning the protection and maintenance of existing riparian buffers in the Neuse River and Tar-Pamlico River Basins do not apply to certain tracts of land.
Provides for the collection and sale of ginseng, and that there is no charge for a ginseng export certificate.
Rewrites Section 6 of SL 2007-523 to change the sunset for the Methane Capture Pilot Program from September 1, 2017, to September 1, 2011.
Directs and provides details to DENR to study the stormwater management requirements for airports in the state.
Directs DENR to transfer certain grant funds for the control of nonpoint source pollution to the Division of Forest Resources and the Division of Soil and Water Conservation in the same amounts that those grant funds have been transferred during the two most-recent fiscal bienniums.
Rewrites GS 130A-290(a)(35) to make the definition of solid waste conform to the federal definition of solid waste. Makes other clarifying and conforming changes. Unless otherwise noted, the act is effective when it becomes law.
Changes the bill title to reflect new bill content.