GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	5 

SENATE BILL 733
Finance Committee Substitute Adopted 7/7/93
Third Edition Engrossed 7/9/93
House Committee Substitute Favorable 7/17/93
House Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 7/16/94 

Short Title:  Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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April 8, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A PARKS AND RECREATION TRUST  FUND.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 2C of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 113-44.15.  Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.
(a)	There is established a Parks and Recreation Trust Fund in the State Treasurer's Office.  The Trust Fund shall be a nonreverting special revenue fund consisting of gifts and grants to the Trust Fund and other monies appropriated to it by the General Assembly.
It is the intent of the General Assembly to dedicate an amount equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of the State's share of the deed stamp tax levied pursuant to G.S. 105-228.30 to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund and an additional amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the State's share of the deed stamp tax to the Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
(b)	 Beginning July 1, 1995, funds in the Trust Fund are annually appropriated to the Department and, unless otherwise specified by the General Assembly or the terms or conditions of a gift or grant, shall be allocated and used as follows:
(1)	Seventy-five percent (75%) for the State Parks System for capital projects, repairs and renovations of park facilities, and land acquisition.
(2)	Twenty percent (20%) to provide matching funds to local governmental units on a dollar-for-dollar basis for local park and recreation purposes.  These funds shall be allocated by the Secretary based on criteria patterned after the Open Project Selection Process established for the Land and Water Conservation Fund administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior.
(3)	Five percent (5%) for the Coastal and Estuarine Water Beach Access Program.
(c)	The Department shall report on an annual basis to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the appropriations committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Fiscal Research Division on allocations from the Trust Fund."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 105-228.30(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The register of deeds of each county shall remit the proceeds of the tax levied by this section to the county finance officer. The finance officer of each county shall credit one-half of the proceeds to the county's general fund and shall remit the remaining one-half of the proceeds, less the county's allowance for administrative expenses, to the Department of Revenue on a quarterly basis. A county may retain two percent (2%) of the amount of tax proceeds allocated for remittance to the Department of Revenue as compensation for the county's cost in collecting and remitting the State's share of the tax. Of the funds remitted to it pursuant to this section, the Department of Revenue shall credit fifteen percent (15%) to the Natural Heritage Trust Fund established under G.S. 113-77.7 and the remainder to the General Fund."
Sec. 3.  Article 5A of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"ARTICLE 5A.
" Natural Heritage Trust Program.
"§ 113-77.6.  Definitions.
As used in this Article:
(1)	 'Appraised value' means the price estimated in terms of money at which the property would change hands between a willing and financially able buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of the uses to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used.
(2)	'Fund' means the Natural Heritage Trust Fund created pursuant to this Article.
(3)	'Land' and 'lands' mean real property and any interest in, easement in, or restriction on real property.
(4)	'Secretary' means the Secretary of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources.
(5)	'Trustees' means the trustees of the Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
"§ 113-77.7.  Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
(a)	There is established a Natural Heritage Trust Fund in the State Treasurer's office that shall be used to finance the Natural Heritage Trust Program authorized by this Article.
(b)	The State Treasurer shall hold the Fund separate and apart from all other moneys, funds, and accounts.  Investment earnings credited to the assets of the Fund shall become part of the Fund.  Any balance remaining in the Fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward in the Fund for the next succeeding fiscal year.  Payments from the Fund shall be made on the warrant of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
(c)	When the State acquires land pursuant to this Article, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees shall direct a request to the State Treasurer to set aside an amount from the Fund not to exceed twenty percent (20%) of the appraised value of the land acquired, or the land affected if less than a fee interest was acquired, to be placed in a special stewardship account in the Fund.  The special stewardship account shall be a nonlapsing account, and income derived from investment of the account shall be credited to the account.  The special stewardship account shall be used for the management of land acquired pursuant to this Article, as directed by the Trustees, so long as such land remains in the Trust.
"§ 113-77.8.  Natural Heritage Trust Fund Board of Trustees.
(a)	Expenditures from the Fund shall be authorized by a nine-member Board of Trustees.  Three members shall be appointed by the Governor, three by the Lieutenant Governor, and three by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Persons appointed shall be knowledgeable in the acquisition and management of natural areas.  Each appointing officer shall designate one of his initial appointments to serve a two-year term, one to serve a four-year term, and one to serve a six-year term.  Thereafter, all appointments shall be for six years, subject to reappointment.  All initial appointments shall be made on or before January 1, 1988.  The Governor shall appoint one Trustee to serve as Chairman of the Board.  The Secretary shall provide the Trustees with staff support and meeting facilities using expenditures from the Fund.  The office of Trustee is declared to be an office that may be held concurrently with any other executive or appointive office, under the authority of Article VI, Sec. 9, of the North Carolina Constitution.
(b)	The Trustees shall meet at least once each year and may hold special meetings at the call of the Chairman or a majority of the members.
(c)	The Trustees shall receive the per diem allowed for other members of boards and commissions of the State as fixed in the Biennial Appropriations Act, and, in addition, the Trustees shall receive subsistence and travel expenses as fixed by statute for such purposes.  Travel and subsistence expenses shall be allowed while going to or from any place of meeting or when on official business.  Per diem payments shall include necessary time spent in traveling to and from their places of residence to any meeting place or while traveling on official business.  Per diem, subsistence, and travel expenses of the Trustees shall be paid from the Fund.
"§ 113-77.9.  Acquisition of lands from the Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
(a)	From time to time, but at least once each year, the Secretary, the Chairman of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Commissioner of Agriculture shall propose to the Trustees lands to be acquired from the Fund. For each tract or interest proposed, the Secretary, the Chairman of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Commissioner of Agriculture shall provide the Trustees with the following information:
(1)	The value of the land for recreation, forestry, fish and wildlife habitat, and wilderness purposes, and its consistency with the plan developed pursuant to the State Parks Act, the State's comprehensive plan for outdoor recreation, parks, natural areas development, and wildlife management goals and objectives;
(2)	Any rare or endangered species on or near the land;
(3)	Whether the land contains a relatively undisturbed and outstanding example of a native North Carolina ecological community that is now uncommon;
(4)	Whether the land contains a major river or tributary, watershed, wetland, significant littoral, estuarine, or aquatic site, or important geologic feature;
(5)	The extent to which the land represents a type of landscape, natural feature, or natural area that is not currently in the State's inventory of parks and natural areas;
(6)	Other sources of funds that may be available to assist in acquiring the land;
(7)	The State department or division that will be responsible for managing the land;
(8)	What assurances exist that the land will not be used for purposes other than those for which it is being acquired; and
(9)	Whether the site or structure is of such historical significance as to be essential to the development of a balanced State program of historic properties.
(b)	The Trustees may authorize expenditures from the Fund to acquire:
(1)	Land that represents the ecological diversity of North Carolina, including natural features such as riverine, montane, coastal, and geologic systems and other natural areas to ensure their preservation and conservation for recreational, scientific, educational, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
(2)	Land as additions to the system of parks, State trails, aesthetic forests, fish and wildlife management areas, wild and scenic rivers, and natural areas for the beneficial use and enjoyment of the public.
(3)	Subject to the limitations of subsection (b1), land that contributes to the development of a balanced State program of historic properties.
The Trustees may designate managers or managing agencies of the lands so acquired to receive grants from the Fund's stewardship account. In authorizing expenditures from the Fund to acquire land pursuant to this Article, the first priority shall be the protection of land with outstanding natural or cultural heritage values.  Land with outstanding natural heritage values is land that is identified by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program as having State or national significance.  Land with outstanding cultural heritage values is land that is identified, inventoried, or evaluated by the Department of Cultural Resources.  The Trustees shall be guided by any priorities established by the Secretary, the Chairman of the Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Commissioner of Agriculture in their proposals made pursuant to subsection (a), above.
(b1)	The Trustees may authorize expenditure of up to twenty-five percent (25%) of the funds credited to the Fund pursuant to G.S. 105-228.30 during the preceding fiscal year to acquire land under subdivision (3) of subsection (b). No other funds in the Fund may be used for expenditures to acquire land under subdivision (3) of subsection (b).
(c)	The Trustees may authorize expenditures from the Fund to pay for the inventory of natural areas by the Secretary's Natural Heritage Program conducted pursuant to Chapter 113A, Article 9A, of the General Statutes.
(d)	The Department of Administration may, pursuant to G.S. 143-341, acquire by purchase, gift, or devise all lands selected by the Trustees for acquisition pursuant to this Article. Title to any land acquired pursuant to this Article shall be vested in the State. State agencies with management responsibilities for lands acquired pursuant to this Article may enter into management agreements in the form of leases with counties, cities, and towns to aid in managing the lands, and such lease agreements shall be executed by the Department of Administration pursuant to G.S. 143-341.
(d1)	In any county in which real property was purchased pursuant to subsection (d) of this section as additions to the fish and wildlife management areas and where less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the land area is privately owned at the time of purchase, that county and any other local taxing unit shall be annually reimbursed, for a period of 20 years, from funds available to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in an amount equal to the amount of ad valorem taxes that would have been paid to the taxing unit if the property had remained subject to taxation.
(e)	The Secretary shall maintain and annually revise a list of acquisitions made pursuant to this Article. The list shall include the acreage of each tract, the county in which the tract is located, the amount paid from the Fund to acquire the tract, and the State department or division responsible for managing the tract. The Secretary shall furnish a copy of the list to each Trustee and to each House of the General Assembly after each revision.
(f)	No provision of this Article shall be construed to eliminate hunting and fishing, as regulated by the laws of the State of North Carolina, upon properties purchased pursuant to this Article."
Sec.  4.  This act is effective upon ratification.