GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	3 

SENATE BILL 821
Environment and Natural Resources Committee Substitute Adopted 4/22/93
Third Edition Engrossed 5/24/93

Short Title:  Water Withdrawal Registration.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  Finance.
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April 12, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CURRENT PROCEDURE FOR THE REGISTRATION OF WATER WITHDRAWALS TO MAKE THE PROCEDURE MORE EFFECTIVE, TO PROVIDE MORE USEFUL INFORMATION, AND TO IMPOSE A LATE PAYMENT FEE FOR LATE REGISTRATIONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143-215.22H reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-215.22H.  Registration of water withdrawals and transfers required.
(a)	Any person who withdraws 1,000,000 gallons per day or more of water from the surface or ground waters of the State or who transfers 1,000,000 gallons per day or more of water from one river basin to another shall register the withdrawal or transfer with the Commission.  A person registering a water withdrawal or transfer shall provide the Commission with the following information:
(1)	The maximum daily amount of the water withdrawal or transfer expressed in millions of gallons per day.
(1a)	The monthly average withdrawal or transfer expressed in millions of gallons per day.
     	(2)	The location of the points of withdrawal and  discharge and the capacity of each facility used to make the withdrawal or transfer.
(3)	The monthly average discharge expressed in millions of gallons per day.
(b)	Any person initiating a new water withdrawal or transfer of 1,000,000 gallons per day or more shall register the withdrawal or transfer with the Commission not later than six months after the initiation of the withdrawal or transfer.  The information required under subsection (a) of this section shall be submitted with respect to the new withdrawal or transfer.
(c)	A unit of local government that has completed a local water supply plan that meets the requirements of G.S. 143-355(l) and that has periodically revised and updated its plan as required by the Department has satisfied the requirements of this section and is not required to separately register a water withdrawal or transfer or to update a registration under this section.
(d)	Any person who is required to register a water withdrawal or transfer under this section shall update the registration by providing the Commission with a current version of the information required by subsection (a) of this section at five-year intervals following the initial registration.  A person who submits information to update a registration of a water withdrawal or transfer is not required to pay an additional registration fee under G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) and G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1b), but is subject to the late registration fee established under this section in the event that updated information is not submitted as required by this subsection.
(e)	Any person who is required to register a water transfer or withdrawal under this section and fails to do so shall pay, in addition to the registration fee required under G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) and G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1b), a late registration fee of five dollars ($5.00) per day for each day the registration is late up to a maximum of five hundred dollars ($500.00).  A person who is required to update a registration under this section and fails to do so shall pay a fee of five dollars ($5.00) per day for each day the updated information is late up to a maximum of five hundred dollars ($500.00).  A late registration fee shall not be charged to a farmer who submits a registration that pertains to farming operations."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1b) reads as rewritten:
"(1b)	The fee to be charged pursuant to G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) for processing of an application for a permit under G.S. 143-215.1 of Article 21 and G.S. 143-215.108 and G.S. 143-215.109 of Article 21B of this Chapter may not exceed four hundred dollars ($400.00). The fee to be charged pursuant to G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1a) for processing a registration under Part 2A of this Article or Article 38 of this Chapter may not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) for any single registration.  An additional fee of twenty percent (20%) of the registration processing fee may be assessed for a late registration under Article 38 of this Chapter.  The fee for administering and compliance monitoring under G.S. 143-215.1 of Article 21 and G.S. 143-215.108 and G.S. 143-215.109 of Article 21B shall be charged on an annual basis for each year of the permit term and may not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per year. Fees for processing all permits under Article 21A and all other sections of Articles 21 and 21B shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) for any single permit. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the total payment for fees required for all permits under this subsection for any single facility shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) per year, which amount shall include all application fees and fees for administration and compliance monitoring. A single facility is defined to be any contiguous area under one ownership and in which permitted activities occur. For all permits issued under these Articles where a fee schedule is not specified in the statutes, the Commission, or other commission specified by statute shall adopt a fee schedule in a rule following the procedures established by the Administrative Procedure Act. Such fee schedules shall be established to reflect the size of the emission or discharge, the potential impact on the environment, the staff costs involved, relative costs of the issuance of new permits and the reissuance of existing permits, and shall include adequate safeguards to prevent unusual fee assessments which would result in serious economic burden on an individual applicant. A system shall be considered to allow consolidated annual payments for persons with multiple permits. In its rulemaking to establish fee schedules, the Commission is also directed to consider a method of rewarding facilities which achieve full compliance with administrative and self-monitoring reporting requirements, and to consider, in those cases where the cost of renewal or amendment of a permit is less than for the original permit, a lower fee for such renewal or amendment."
Sec. 3.  Any person who withdraws or transfers 1,000,000 gallons of water per day or more on or after 1 July 1993 shall register the withdrawal or transfer as required by G.S. 143-215.22H by 1 January 1994.  This act shall not be construed to require a person who has complied with G.S. 143-215.22H at the time this act becomes effective to file an additional water withdrawal or transfer registration with the Environmental Management Commission.
Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective 1 July 1993.