House committee substitute to the 1st edition makes the following changes.

Amends GS 130A-335 concerning wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal to make technical change referring to “this subsection” instead of subsection (a5) when referring to the evaluation that the Authorized On-Site Wastewater Evaluator (Evaluator) is required to submit.  Expands on the type of site conditions that would warrant a delay of construction by the Evaluator or the other authorized parties to delay construction, as follows: soil wetness, grading or landscaping that damages the soil evaluation, soil compaction, or landscape position. States that the owner or certified on-site wastewater contractor is to notify the authorizing agent and is responsible for contacting the authorizing agent, as applicable, and the certified on-site wastewater contractor prior to the start of system construction of any known changes to the site that alter the site evaluation or conditions. Now specifies that a unit of local government (was, municipality) cannot prohibit or regulate by ordinance or enforce an existing ordinance regulating the use of off-site wastewater systems or other systems approved by the Department under rules adopted by the Commission when the proposed system meets the specific conditions of the approval.

Amends GS 130A-336.1, concerning alternative process for wastewater system approvals, as follows. Allows the owner or engineer who wishes to utilize the engineered option permit to apply for the permit for the project upon submitting a complete Notice of Intent to Construct using the Engineered Option Permit and required fee (was, just the notice) to the local health department (was, could apply upon receipt of the notice by the local health department).

Amends GS 130A-336.2, concerning alternative wastewater system approvals for nonengineered systems, as follows. Allows the owner to apply for a building permit for the project upon submitting a complete Notice of Intent to Construct and required fee (was, just the notice) to the local health department. Amends provisions pertaining to repair of malfunctioning systems by specifying that an owner may apply for an Improvement Permit and a Construction Authorization (was, or a Construction Authorization) from the local health department or obtain a Notice of Intent to Construct to repair a malfunctioning wastewater system initially established under GS 130A-336.2.

Amends GS 130A-337, allowing an applicant to contract with a certified Authorized On-Site Wastewater Evaluator to conduct any required verifications or inspections, as follows. Now requires the Evaluator to give the applicant written verification that all conditions of the Improvement Permit and Construction Authorization have been met, including an as-built drawing meeting the standards and scale of the local health department issuing the Construction Authorization as certified by the evaluator (was, including a sketch of the wastewater system as verified by the evaluator).

Amends GS 130A-343, adding that the Commission is prohibited from including more restrictive conditions and limitations established in the approval of a wastewater system as Accepted that are not included in the approval in system as Innovative, or otherwise approved by the rule (prior version did not reference otherwise approved by rule).

Deletes new Article 6 in GS Chapter 90A, which would have established the nine-member North Carolina On-Site Wastewater Code Council to: (1) develop and amend on-site wastewater system rule proposals for submission to the Commission for Public Health for consideration and adoption and (2) confer with any relevant stakeholders at the discretion of the Council in developing proposed rules. 

Deletes amendments to GS 87-21, which would have exempted from Article 2 of GS Chapter 87, Plumbing and Heating Contractors, a person who is a certified on-site wastewater contractor when they are connecting waste plumbing from the facility stub-out to the inlet opening of a septic tank.

Deletes amendments to GS 113A-60 which would have amended the allowable fee for the review of an erosion and sedimentation control plan and related activities.

Deletes the requirement the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), by September 1, 2023, is to develop a plan for submittal to the US EPA that eliminates any program redundancies between the State's Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 (Act) and its implementation of requirements for stormwater discharges from construction activities under the 2022 Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for stormwater discharges from construction activities (Construction Permit), 87 Federal Register 3522, through NPDES General Permit NCG010000 (NCG01).

Deletes amendments to GS 160D-925 concerning a local government’s regulation of a stormwater control program necessary to comply with an NPDES permit, which would have no longer allowed adopting a regulation that requires financial arrangements to ensure that adequate funds are available for the maintenance and replacement costs of the project.

Makes organizational changes and conforming changes to act’s long title.