Bill Summary for S 14 (2015-2016)

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Summary date: 

Mar 2 2015

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2015-2016 Session
Senate Bill 14 (Public) Filed Monday, February 2, 2015
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR CERTAIN EXPENDITURES AND TO CLARIFY AND MODIFY OTHER LAWS.
Intro. by Brown, Harrington, B. Jackson.

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Bill summary

House amendments to the 2nd edition make the following changes.

Amendment #1 makes the following changes. Deletes provision which transferred $100,000 of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2014-15 fiscal year to the Office of Administrative Hearings to be allocated for the litigation expenses of the Rules Review Commission. Makes a conforming change to the long title of the act.

Amendment #2 adds a new section to the act, as follows. Requires the State Auditor to conduct a performance audit of county departments of social services' administration of the North Carolina Medicaid program that examines the county departments of social services' accuracy in determining Medicaid eligibility and compliance with the requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state law. Requires the audit to consider the impact of the Department of Health and Human Services' policy decisions related to re-enrollment eligibility determinations. Requires the auditor, in conducting the audit, to ensure that a representative sample of counties, including both urban and rural counties, audited and that a statistically significant number of cases are audited in each county in the sample. Requires the audit to include the State Auditor's examination of at least: (1) the accuracy of Medicaid application eligibility determinations; (2) the timeliness of Medicaid application determinations; (3) the accuracy of Medicaid re-enrollment eligibility determinations; (4) the timeliness of Medicaid re-enrollment eligibility determinations; (5) the accuracy of presumptive Medicaid application determinations; (6) the timeliness of presumptive Medicaid application determinations; and (7) the controls and oversight county departments of social services have in place to ensure accurate and timely processing of Medicaid applications and re-enrollment. Requires the State Auditor to give a preliminary report on the performance audit to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and to the Fiscal Research Division by June 1, 2015, and complete the performance audit by February 1, 2016. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services and county departments of social services to give the State Auditor full access to all data necessary to complete the audit and the report.

Requires $300,000 of the funds appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance, for 2014-15 in SL 2014-100, 9 Section 12H.10(c), for a personal care services (PCS) study, to be transferred to the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor to be used for the required audit.

Makes conforming changes to the act's long title.

House Amendment #3 makes the following changes. Amends GS 113-391(a3), which identifies the purposes for which the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) must adopt rules after considering recommendations from the Mining and Energy Commission. Amends GS 113-391(a3)(2) to require the EMC to adopt rules for regulation of toxic air emissions from drilling operations, if the EMC finds that the state's current air toxics program and any federal regulations governing toxic air emissions to be adopted by the state are inadequate to protect public health, safety, welfare, and the environment. Effective retroactively to July 2, 2012. Makes a conforming change to the long title of the act.

Amendment #4 makes the following changes.

Deletes previous changes made to GS 89C-3, definitions regarding the practice of engineering.

Amends GS 143-215.31(a1), concerning the supervision over maintenance and operation of dams, adding language that provides that a downstream inundation map included as part of an Emergency Action Plan by a high or intermediate hazard dam owner does require preparation by a licensed professional engineer or a person under the responsible charge of a licensed professional engineer, unless the dam is associated with a coal combustion residuals surface impoundment, as defined.

Adds new Section 9(c) to the bill directing the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to study whether downstream inundation maps prepared pursuant to GS 143-215.31 should be prepared by a licensed professional engineer or a person under the charge of a licensed professional engineer. DENR must also consult with the State Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors in conducting this study. Requires DENR to report the results of the study to the Environmental Review Commission no later than March 31, 2016.

Makes conforming changes to the long title.