House committee substitute deletes all provisions of 4th edition and replaces it with AN ACT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE TRANSPORTATION LAWS OF THE STATE. Changes short title to "DOT/DMV Legislative Requests." 

Amends GS 136-19.6 to allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to prepare a Right-of-Way Claim Report instead of an appraisal of the value of the land when the DOT estimates that the land to be acquired has a value of $40,000 or less. The owner of the land to be acquired may request that the DOT provide an appraisal for any right-of-way claim of $10,000 or more. The DOT may contract with a qualified third party to prepare a Right-of-Way Claim Report so long as the third party has a sufficient understanding of the real estate market. Makes additional clarifying changes.

Amends GS 93E-1-3 to include a person who prepares a Right-of-Way Claim Report pursuant to GS 136-19.6 in those who are not required to have a registration, license, or certificate. Makes other clarifying changes.

Amends GS 136-18.05 (establishing a DOT report program) to require the DOT to post its monthly report on the Department’s performance dashboard website (currently report is provided to four separate committees). DOT must institute annual tracking to monitor pricing variances of transportation goods used in highway maintenance and construction projects (currently DOT must institute quarterly tracking).  

Repeals GS 136-12.1 (providing for a biennial report on off-premise sign regulatory program).

Amends GS 136-12.3 to require the DOT to provide a report on outsourcing and project delivery annually (currently report is required bi-annually). Reports are required by March 1 of each year.

Repeals GS 136-44.4 (providing for an annual construction program and related reporting).

Amends GS 136-12(a) to require that the annual highway and maintenance report be made to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee March 1 of each year. The report must detail how the previous fiscal year’s funds for maintenance and construction of highways were allocated and expended. The report must include expenditures of state and federal funds and must be in sufficient detail that the county can be identified (previously required report prior to each regular session of the General Assembly).

Amends GS 18B-108 to allow for the sale of alcoholic beverages on passenger-only ferries. Malt beverages, unfortified wine, and fortified wine may be sold and delivered by any licensed retailer to an agent of the DOT for sale on passenger-only ferries (previously allowed for sale of alcoholic beverages on trains only).

Amends GS 20-302 to require the Commissioner to make dealer manuals containing rules and regulations available on the DOT website 30 days prior to the effective date of such rules and regulations (previously required the Commissioner to mail a copy of the dealer manual to each motor vehicle dealer licensee).

Amends GS 20-37.13 to add new subsection (c3) allowing the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to waive the knowledge and skills test for qualified military applicants when the applicant has a military license to operate a vehicle of representative class and endorsements. The applicant must provide evidence that: (1) the applicant is a current or former member of an active or reserve component of the Armed Forces and holds a military vehicle license eligible for waiver as allowed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, (2) the applicant is or was regularly employed in a military position requiring operation of a vehicle representative of the license being sought, and (3) the applicant meets the qualifications listed in subdivision (2) of subsection (c1) of this section (requiring that the applicant has not, in the two years preceding the date of the application, had their license suspended or had any criminal convictions for motor vehicle offenses). Effective October 1, 2018.

Amends GS 20-7(e) to allow for release of a certificate signed by a medical authority regarding a driver’s ability to drive despite a disability or disease subject to GS 20-9(g)(4)h (making records and evidence collected by the DMV confidential and available to the public only upon court order).

Amends GS 20-9(g)(4)h to allow the DMV to release otherwise confidential records and evidence pertaining to drivers to any other state or federal government agency for the purposes of determining an individual’s ability to safely operate a commercial vehicle.

Amends GS 20-27.13A(a) to make conforming changes.

Enacts a new subsubsection to GS 20-79.4(b), creating an "Order of the Eastern Star Prince Hall Affiliated" registration plate. Establishes a special plate fee of $20 and requires $10 of that amount be transferred quarterly to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, Inc. Authorizes the Revisor of Statutes to reorganize the special registration plates listed in GS 20-79.4(b). Requires that if House Bill 223, 2017 Regular Session, becomes law, then Section 3.5 of that act is repealed. Effective February 1, 2019. 

Reenacts GS 20-63(b1)(47) and GS 20-79.4(b)(g) as they existed immediately before their expiration to authorize the Division of Motor Vehicles (Division) to produce and issue an Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity special registration plate. Reenacts and modifies the expired provisions regarding the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity special registration plate set out in subsections (a1) and (b) of GS 20-79.7 and subsection (b39) of GS 20-81.12, establishing a special plate fee of $30 and requiring that $20 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the Education Consortium of North Carolina Inc. for the benefit of scholarships for students attending accredited colleges and universities (previously, to the Association of North Carolina Alphamen Educational Foundation for scholarships for the benefit of African American males in the Association attending accredited North Carolina colleges and universities). Further amends GS 20-81.12(b39), as reenacted, eliminating the requirement that the Division must receive at least 300 applications for the special plate before it can be developed. Effective February 1, 2019. 

Amends GS 20-79.7, increasing the special registration plate fee for the Wildlife Resources plate from $20 to $30, and requiring that $20 instead of $10 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the Wildlife Conservation Account as specified in GS 20-81.12(b3).

Further amends GS 20-79.7, setting the special registration plate fee for the International Association of Fire Fighters special registration at $20, and requiring that $10 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the Professional Firefighters of North Carolina Charitable Fund in accordance with GS 20-81.12. Makes conforming changes. 

Amends GS 20-81.12 to exempt the Order of the Long Leaf Pine license plate from the required minimum number of plate applications.

Modifies GS 20-37.16, which exempts from the commercial drivers license (CDL) requirements certain classes of vehicles. Provides an exemption from the CDL requirements for any vehicle when used as firefighting or emergency equipment for the purpose of preserving life or property or to execute governmental functions (previously, to execute emergency governmental functions). Specifies that governmental functions include, but are not limited to, necessary maintenance, training, or required operation for official business of the department.

Repeals GS 20-190.2, which required the Department of Transportation to erect signs on highways entering the state that indicate highways are patrolled by unmarked police vehicles. 

Amends GS 20-58.4(e1), allowing an affidavit by the owner that the security interest has been satisfied, by defining owner, for purposes of (e1), as the owner of the manufactured home and the owner of real property on which the manufactured home is affixed or a title insurance company as insurer of an insured owner of real property. 

Amends GS 20-58.3A by providing that the Division of Motor Vehicles is not subject to a claim under Article 31 of GS Chapter 143 related to the failure to acknowledge or give effect to an expired perfection of a security interest on a certificate of title for a manufactured home if the claim is based on reliance by the Division on any application for renewal submitted to the Division by a third party or based on the automatic expiration of a perfection of a security interest. Effective October 1, 2018.

Amends GS 153A-357(e) and GS 160A-417(d), deleting requirement for a certificate of title when determining whether to exclude the purchase price of a manufactured home in determining whether the cost of the work is $30,000 or more for purposes of improvement permit issuance.  

Amends GS 20-118 by adding that a vehicle or vehicle combination that hauls unhardened ready-mixed concrete may be weighed with weigh in motion scales, but the vehicle or combination must be weighed static.

Amends GS 20-63 by amending the required appearance of the National/State mottos license plate to allow the Division to select an image that represents the American flag (instead of requiring that the American flag be contained in the background) and removes specification on the size and color of the mottos.

This act effective July 1, 2018, except as otherwise provided.