DEQ Agency Bill.-AB

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 2
HOUSE BILL 873
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/30/25

Short Title: DEQ Agency Bill.-AB (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
April 10, 2025
*H873-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIO US CHANGES TO THE ST ATUTES GOVERNING THE 2
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRO NMENTAL QUALITY, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE 3
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
6
USE OF TAX-MAINTAINED PROPERTIES FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS 7
SECTION 1.(a) Article 7 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by 8
adding a new section to read: 9
"§ 143B-279.21. Use of schools and other public buildings for public hearings. 10
(a) The governing authority having c ontrol over (i) public buildings or (ii) schools 11
governed by the governing body of a public school unit which have facilities for group meetings 12
is hereby authorized and directed to permit the use of such buildings without charge, except 13
custodial and utility fees, by the Department for public hearings. Provided, that the use of such 14
buildings or schools by the Department for public hearings shall not be permitted at times during 15
the school day or which would interfere with normal school activities or functions normally 16
carried on in such school buildings, and such use shall be subject to reasonable rules and 17
regulations of the governing body of the public school unit and other governing authorities. 18
(b) The Department of Environmental Quality shall be entitled to use any school 19
governed by the governing body of a public school unit or other State, county, or municipal 20
building, or a part thereof, or any other building, or a part thereof, which is supported or 21
maintained, in whole or in part, by or through tax revenues; provided, however, that this section 22
shall not be construed to permit the Department to use any tax-exempt church property for such 23
purposes without the express consent of the individual church involved for the purpose of 24
conducting public hearings." 25
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 115C-47 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 26
"(70) To Provide Access to Scho ol Facilities to the Department of Envi ronmental 27
Quality. – A local board of education shall adopt policies to allow the 28
Department of Environmental Quality to have access to facilities that can 29
facilitate group meetings on school property of a school governed by the local 30
school board pursuant to G.S. 143B-279.21(a)." 31
SECTION 1.(c) Part 2 of Article 14A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is 32
amended by adding a new section to read: 33
"§ 115C-238.35A. Provide access to school facilities to the Depa rtment of Environmental 34
Quality. 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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A charter school shall adopt policies to allow the Department of Environmental Quality to 1
have access to facilities that can facilitate group meetings on charter school property consistent 2
with G.S. 143B-279.21(a)." 3
SECTION 1.(d) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section are effective when they 4
become law and apply beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. 5
6
CLARIFY REQUIREMENTS FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE RECYCLING 7
SECTION 2. Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes i s amended by 8
adding a new section to read: 9
"§ 130A-295.07. Requirements for hazardous waste recycling. 10
(a) For purposes of this section, "off-site recycling facility" means any facility receiving 11
shipments of hazardous waste from off-site to be recycled or processed for recycling through any 12
process conducted at the facility. A facility owned or operated by a generator of hazardous waste 13
to recycle their own waste is not an off-site recycling facility. 14
(b) An off-site recycling facility shall comply with the requirements of this Article and 15
with 15A NCAC 13A .0113. 16
(c) A hazardous waste facility that (i) accepts hazardous waste from off-site for recycling 17
and (ii) meets the definition of "commercial" in G.S. 130A-290 is subject to the requirements of 18
this Article and rules adopted by the Commission applicable to commercial hazar dous waste 19
facilities." 20
21
MODIFY PAYMENT OF BROWNFIELDS PROPERTY REUSE ACT FEES 22
SECTION 3.(a) G.S. 130A-310.39 reads as rewritten: 23
"§ 130A-310.39. Fees. 24
(a) The Department shall collect the following fees: 25
(1) A prospective developer who submits an application for a proposed 26
brownfields agreement for review by the Department shall pay an initial fee 27
of two thousand dollars ($2,000). 28
(2) A prospective developer who enters into a br ownfields agreement with the 29
Department shall pay pay, on a schedule that the Department may specify, a 30
fee in an amount equal to the full cost to the Department and the Department 31
of Justice of all activities related to the brownfields agreement, includin g but 32
not limited to negotiation of the brownfields agreement, public notice and 33
community involvement, and monitoring the implementation of and 34
compliance with the brownfields agreement. agreement and requirements of 35
this Part regarding the Notice of Brownfields Property. The procedure by 36
which the amount of this fee is determined shall be established by agreement 37
between the prospective developer and the Department and shall be set out as 38
a part of the brownfields agreement. The fee imposed by this subdivision shall 39
be paid in two installments. The first installment shall be due at the time the 40
prospective developer and the Department enter into the brownfields 41
agreement and shall equal all costs that have been incurred by the Department 42
and the Depart ment of Justice at that time less the amount of the initial fee 43
paid pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. The Department shall not 44
enter into the brownfields agreement unless the first installment is paid in full 45
when due. The second installment shall be due at the time the prospective 46
developer submits a final report certifying completion of remediation under 47
the brownfields agreement and shall include any additional costs that have 48
been incurred by the Department and the Department of Justice, including all 49
costs of monitoring the implementation of the brownfields agreement. 50
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House Bill 873-Second Edition Page 3
(3) Any prospective developer or owner of properties subject to a recorded Notice 1
of Brownfields Property who is out of compliance with the requirements of 2
this Part regardi ng the Notice shall pay a fee to the Department and the 3
Department of Justice sufficient to cover the costs to the State to enforce or 4
otherwise seek to correct the noncompliance. 5
(b) Fees and interest imposed under this section shall be credited to the Brownfields 6
Property Reuse Act Implementation Account. 7
(c) If a prospective developer fails to pay the full amount of any fee due under this 8
section, interest on the unpaid portion of the fee shall accrue from the time the fee is due until 9
paid at the rate established by the Secretary of Revenue pursuant to G.S. 105-241.21. A lien for 10
the amount of the unpaid fee plus interest shall attach to the real and personal property of the 11
prospective developer and to the brownfields property until the fee and intere st is paid. The 12
Department may collect unpaid fees and interest in any manner that a unit of local government 13
may collect delinquent taxes." 14
SECTION 3.(b) G.S. 105-277.13 reads as rewritten: 15
"§ 105-277.13. Taxation of improvements on brownfields. 16
(a) Qualifying improvements on brownfields properties are designated a special class of 17
property under Article V, Sec. 2(2) of the North Carolina Constitution and shall be appraised, 18
assessed, and taxed in accordance with this section. An owner of land subject to a recorded Notice 19
of Brownfields Property under G.S. 130A-310.35 is entitled to the partial exclusion provided by 20
this section for the first five taxable years beginning after completion of qualifying improvements 21
made after the later of July 1, 2000, or the date of the upon which the Department of 22
Environmental Quality provides written confirmation that the prospective developer of that land 23
and the proposed improvements are eligible to receive a brownfields agreement. After property 24
has qualified for the exclusion provided by this section, the assessor for the county in which the 25
property is located shall annually appraise the improvements made to the property during the 26
period of time that the owner is entitled to the exclusion. 27
(b) For the purposes of this section, the terms "qualifying improvements on brownfields 28
properties" and "qualifying improvements" mean improvements made to real property that is 29
subject to as prescribed in a brownfields agreement entered into by the Department of 30
Environmental Quality and the owner recorded Notice of Brownfields Property pursuant to G.S. 31
130A-310.32.The Brownfields Property Reuse Act of 1997, Part 5 of Article 9 of Chapter 130A 32
of the General Statutes, as amended. 33
(c) The following table establishes the percentage of the appraised value of the qualified 34
improvements that is excluded based on the taxable year: 35
Year Percent of Appraised Value Excluded 36
Year 1 90% 37
Year 2 75% 38
Year 3 50% 39
Year 4 30% 40
Year 5 10%." 41
SECTION 3.(c) Subsection (a) of this section becomes effecti ve January 1, 2026. 42
Subsection (b) of this section is effective for taxes imposed for taxable years beginning on or 43
after July 1, 2025. 44
45
SOLID WASTE BENEFICIAL REUSE CLARIFICATION 46
SECTION 4.(a) G.S. 130A-309.05 reads as rewritten: 47
"§ 130A-309.05. Regulated wastes; certain exclusions. 48
(a) Certain Wastes Regulated as Nonhazardous. – Notwithstanding other provisions of 49
this Article, the following waste shall be regulated pursuant to this Part: 50
(1) Medical waste; and 51
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(2) Ash generated by a solid waste management facility from the burning of solid 1
waste. 2
(b) Management of Ash Generated from Burning of Solid Waste. – Ash generated by a 3
solid waste management facility from the burning of solid waste shall be disposed of in a properly 4
designed solid waste disposal area that complies with standards developed by the Department for 5
the disposal of the ash. The Department shall work with solid waste management facilities that 6
burn solid waste to identify and develop methods for recycling and reusing incinerator ash or 7
treated ash. 8
(c) Recovered Material. – Recovered material is not subject to regulation as permitting 9
requirements for solid waste under this Article. In order for a material that would otherwise be 10
regulated as solid waste to qualify as a recovered material, the The Department may require any 11
person who owns or has control over the material to demonstrate that the material meets the 12
requirements of this subsection. In order to protect public health and the environment, the 13
Commission subsection or may require the person to obtain a beneficial use determination from 14
the Department in accordance with subsection (d) of this secti on. The Department may adopt 15
rules to implement this subsection. Materials that are accumulated speculatively, as that term is 16
defined under 40 Code of Federal Regulations § 261 (July 1, 2014 Edition), shall not qualify as 17
a recovered material, and shall be subject to regula tion as solid waste. In order to qualify as a 18
recovered material, the material. The material shall be managed as a valuable commodity in a 19
manner consistent with the desired use or end use, and all of the following conditions shall be 20
met: 21
(1) Seventy-five percent (75%), by weight or volume, of the recovered material 22
stored at a facility at the beginning of a calendar year commencing January 1, 23
shall be removed from the facility through sale, use, or reuse by December 31 24
of the same year. 25
(2) The recovered material or the products or by -products of operations that 26
process recovered material shall not be discharged, deposited, injected, 27
dumped, spilled, leaked, or placed into or upon any land or water so that the 28
products or by-products or any constituent thereof may enter other lands or be 29
emitted into the air or discharged into any waters including groundwaters, or 30
otherwise enter the environment or pose a threat to public health and safety. 31
Facilities that process recovered material shall be operated in a m anner to 32
ensure compliance with this subdivision. 33
(3) The recovered material shall not be a hazardous waste or have been recovered 34
from a hazardous waste. 35
(4) The recovered material shall not contain significant concentrations of foreign 36
constituents that render it unserviceable or inadequate for sale, or its intended 37
use or reuse. 38
(d) Beneficial Use Determination. – For the purposes of preservation of landfill capacity, 39
economic development, energy savings, and reduction of greenhouse emissions, the Department 40
may determine whether nonhazardous solid waste may be used or reused for a particular site or 41
application as an alterna tive to disposal at a permitted solid waste management facility as set 42
forth in this subsection. 43
(1) A person seeking a beneficial use determination shall submit an application to 44
the Department. The Department, after a review of an application submitted 45
under this subsection, may take any of the following actions: 46
a. Authorize management of a specified type of nonhazardous solid 47
waste at a site other than a permitted solid waste management facility. 48
b. Issue a beneficial use determination with appropriate conditions for 49
use of specific types of solid waste in construction, land application, 50
or other projects and applications. 51
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(2) An applicant for a determination under this subsection shall submit 1
information on forms prescribed by the Department and any additional 2
information required by the Department necessary for a determination under 3
this subsection. In its review of the application and additional information, the 4
Department shall also consider internal research or information submitted by 5
any person or entity concerning the potential hazard to public health or the 6
environment of any type of solid waste. 7
(3) The Department may require submittal of a demonstration that the solid waste 8
is being managed in a manner to protect public health or the environment and 9
may include any of the following as a part of an authorization under 10
subdivision (1) of this subsection: 11
a. Requirements for periodic testing of solid wastes. 12
b. Conditions to ensure that the products or by -products of a material 13
recovered or diverted for beneficial use shall not be discharged, 14
deposited, injected, dumped, spilled, leaked, or placed into or upon 15
any land or water so that the products or by -products or any 16
constituents thereof may enter other lands or be emitted into the air, or 17
discharged into any waters, including groundwaters, or otherwise enter 18
the environment or pose a threat to public health and safety. 19
(4) Approvals granted under this subsection are valid for no longer than five 20
years. Requests for renewal shall be made at least 60 days in advance of the 21
expiration date of the approval. 22
(5) The applicant for a determination unde r this sub section shall submit to the 23
Department on an annual basis a report detailing the usage of material under 24
the approval and certifying compliance with this Article and any applicable 25
rules adopted under this Article. 26
(6) The Department may suspend or revoke an authorization and may modify an 27
authorization if it is determined that the activity is not in compliance with the 28
requirements of applicable laws or rules or if new information is provided to 29
the Department that impacts the determination of protection of public health 30
or the environment. 31
(7) The Department shall provide notice on its website of approved beneficial use 32
determinations. 33
(8) Facilities that manage source separated materials for the purpose of recycling 34
as defined in G.S. 130A-290 are not subject to the provisions of this 35
subsection. 36
(9) The Department may adopt rules implementing this subsection and 37
establishing application fees for a reuse determination under this subsection. 38
All fees collected under this subdivision shall be credited to the Solid Waste 39
Management Account established under G.S. 130A-295.8(a). In determining 40
the amount of the total application fee in rule, the Department shall have the 41
authority to establish separate fee amounts for annual fees for each year based 42
on the length of time for which the approval will be valid as requested by the 43
applicant." 44
SECTION 4.(b) This section becomes effective January 1, 2026. 45
46
EXPAND ELIGIBILITY F OR TARGETED INTEREST RATES ON WATER AND 47
WASTEWATER PROJECTS 48
SECTION 5. G.S. 159G-20(21) reads as rewritten: 49
"(21) Targeted interest rate project. – Either of the following types of projects: 50
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a. A project that is awarded a loan from the Drinking Water Reserve or 1
the Wastewater Reserve based on affordability. 2
b. A project that is awarded a loan from the CWSRF or the DWSRF and 3
is in a category for which the Department or federal law encourages a 4
special focus." 5
6
REVISE STEWARDSHIP LAWS 7
SECTION 6. G.S. 143-214.15 reads as rewritten: 8
"§ 143-214.15. Compensatory mitigation for diverse habitats. 9
(a) The Department of Environmental Quality shall seek more net gains of aquatic 10
resources through compensatory mitigation by increasing wetland establishment of diverse 11
habitats, including emergent marsh habitat, shallow open water, and other forested and 12
non-forested wetland habitats. 13
(b) The Department of Environmental Quality shall further establish with the district 14
engineer of the Wilmington District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers compensatory 15
mitigation credit ratios that incentivize the creation or establishment of diverse wetland habitats 16
to support waterfowl and other wildlife. 17
(c) The Department of Environmental Quality shall work in cooperation with the Wildlife 18
Resources Commission to ensure that all purchased mitigation lands or conservation easements 19
on these lands maximize opportunities for public recreation, including hunting, and promote 20
wildlife and biological diversity . prioritize management practices that prom ote wildlife and 21
biological diversity and, where feasible, provide opportunities for public recrea tion, including 22
hunting by property owners and lessees. The Department and the Commission shall pursue the 23
voluntary involvement of third -party groups to leve rage resources and ensure that there is no 24
additional cost to private mitigation bankers or the taxpayers in achieving these mitigation 25
credits. 26
(d) The Stewardship Program of the Department of Environmental Quality shall maintain 27
an inventory of all its l and holdings and determine how many of those holdings are potential 28
wildlife habitats, either as currently held or with some modification. The Stewardship Program 29
shall maximize use of these mitigation land holdings as ecological research sites and for hunting 30
leases when the Stewardship Program determines it is feasible to do so. 31
(e) If private individuals, corporations, or other nongovernmental entities wish to 32
purchase any of the inventory of land suitable for wildlife habitat, then the Stewardship Program 33
of the Department of Environmental Quality shall issue a request for proposal to all interested 34
respondents for the purchase of the land. The State shall accept a proposal and proceed to dispose 35
of the land only if the Department determines that the proposal meets both of the following 36
requirements: 37
(1) The proposal provides for the maintenance in perpetuity of management 38
measures listed in the original mitigation instrument or otherwise needed on 39
an ongoing or periodic basis to maintain the functions of the mitigation site. 40
(2) Where the functions of the mitigation site include provision of recreation or 41
hunting opportunities to members of the general public, the proposal includes 42
measures needed to continue that level of access. 43
The instrument conveying a property interest in a mitigation site shall be executed in the 44
manner required by Article 16 of Chapter 146 of the General Statutes, and shall reflect the 45
requirements of this subsection. 46
(f) The Department of Environmental Quality shall report to the Environmental Review 47
Commission by March 1 of each year in which there are changes in inventory during the 48
preceding year under the provisions of this section regarding the changes." 49
50
EFFECTIVE DATE 51
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SECTION 7. Except as o therwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 1
law. 2