Wetlands Protection and Restoration Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 555

Short Title: Wetlands Protection and Restoration Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Smith and Mayfield (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 26, 2025
*S555-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROTECT AND RESTORE WETLANDS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
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PART I. FUNDING 5
SECTION 1.(a) Establishment and Purpose of Fund. – The sum of fifteen million 6
dollars ($15,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2025 -2026 fiscal year is appropriated from the 7
General Fund to the Department of Environmental Quality. Funds appropriated by this section 8
shall be used by the Department to establish the Wetlands Restoration and Protection Fund 9
(Fund) as a special fund in the Department. The Fund consists of appropriations by the General 10
Assembly as well as contributions and grants from public or private sources. The purpose of the 11
Fund is to provide financial support for (i) wetland restoration pro jects, (ii) acquisition of 12
conservation easements, (iii) public awareness campaigns to educate citizens about the 13
importance of wetlands and the need for their protection and opportunities for volunteer wetlands 14
protection and restoration projects, through the Department's Office of Environmental Education 15
and Public Affairs, and (iv) enforcement of wetland protection laws as amended by Section 2 of 16
this act to restore protection of certain wetlands in the State that were removed from federal 17
protection under the Clean Water Act by the United States Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. 18
EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (2023). 19
SECTION 1.(b) Reservation of Funds for Monitoring and Research. – Five million 20
dollars ($5,000,000) of the funds appropriated by subsection (a) of this section are designated for 21
wetland monitoring and research initiatives. The Department, in collaboration with relevant 22
stakeholders and research institutions, will conduct comprehensive monitoring and research to 23
assess the health and ecological value of wetlands throughout the State. 24
SECTION 1.(c) Report. – The Department shall submit a report no later than 25
September 1, 2026, and annually thereafter to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on 26
Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources and the Fi scal Research Division on the 27
projects and activities funded by this act during the prior fiscal year. The Department shall 28
include in its initial report and may include in subsequent reports recommendations regarding 29
further legislative changes needed to provide comprehensive protection for isolated wetlands at 30
the State level in response to the Sackett decision. The reports shall also include, at a minimum, 31
the following: 32
(1) The beginning and ending balance of the Fund for the fiscal year. 33
(2) A listing of funding recipients, and the amount provided to each recipient. 34
(3) An overview of the use of funds by funding recipients, including a description 35
of projects constructed or planning milestones achieved. 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 555-First Edition
(4) The findings of the monitoring and research ef forts funded under subsection 1
(b) of this section and how they have informed wetland conservation strategies 2
and regulatory decisions by the Department. 3
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PART II. PROTECTION OF ISOLATED WETLANDS 5
SECTION 2.(a) Section 54 of S.L. 2014-120 is repealed. 6
SECTION 2.(b) Section 4.18 of S.L. 2015-286 is repealed. 7
SECTION 2.(c) G.S. 143-212 reads as rewritten: 8
"§ 143-212. Definitions. 9
Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following definitions apply to this 10
Article and Articles 21A and 21B of this Chapter: 11
… 12
(3a) "Isolated wetlands" means (i) wetlands confirmed to be isolated by the United 13
States Army Corps of Engineers prior to June 22, 2020 , and (ii) wetlands 14
described as isolated in the North Carolina Wetland Assessment User Manual 15
prepared by the North Carolina Wetland Functional Assessment Team, 16
version 4.1, October 2010. The term "isolated wetland" does not include an 17
isolated man -made ditch or pond constr ucted for stormwater management 18
purposes or any other man-made isolated pond. 19
… 20
(6) "Waters" means any stream, river, brook, swamp, lake, sound, tidal estuary, 21
bay, creek, reservoir, waterway, waterway, wetland, or other body or 22
accumulation of water, whether surface or underground, public or private, or 23
natural or artificial, that is contained in, flows through, or borders upon any 24
portion of this State, including any portion of the Atlantic Ocean over which 25
the State has jurisdiction. 26
(7) "Wetland" means waters that are areas that are inundated or saturated by an 27
accumulation of surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient 28
to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of 29
vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands do 30
not include prior converted cropland as defined in the National Food Security 31
Act Manual, Fifth Edition. Wetlands classified as waters of the State are 32
limited to (i) waters of the United States as defined by 33 C.F.R. § 328.3 and 33
40 C.F.R. § 230.3 and (ii) isolated wetlands." 34
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PART III. EFFECTIVE DATE 36
SECTION 3. Section 1 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2025. The remainder of 37
this act is effective when it becomes law. 38