GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1815*

Short Title:  Amend Clean Water Trust Fund.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Hurley; Morris and Warner.

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Referred to:  Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.

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May 30, 2000

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CHANGE THE ALLOCATIONS OF THE CLEAN WATER MANAGEMENT TRUST FUND.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 113-145.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113-145.2.  Definitions.
As used in this Article:
(1)	Council. – The advisory council for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.
(2)	Economically Distressed Units of Local Government. – Counties designated as economically distressed by the Secretary of Commerce under G.S. 143B-437A and any cities located in those counties.
(3)	Fund. – The Clean Water Management Trust Fund created pursuant to this Article.
(4)	Land. – Real property and any interest in, easement in, or restriction on real property.
(4a)	River basin association. –  A nonprofit corporation as defined by G.S. 55A-1-40 that is organized as a river basin association that is basinwide, and that has basinwide, broad-based representation of diverse water resource interests.
(5)	Trustees. – The trustees of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund."
Section 2.  G.S. 113-145.3 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 
"( b1)	Allocations to River Basin Accounts. – A portion of the funds in the Clean Water Management Trust Fund shall be allocated to 17 river basin accounts to be awarded as grants in those river basins in accordance with G.S. 113-145.3A.  Grants awarded from those accounts are subject to the provisions of this Article unless provided otherwise."
Section 3.  Article 13A of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 113-145.3A.  River basin accounts and allocations.
(a)	River Basin Accounts Established. – There is established within the Clean Water Management Trust Fund 17 river basin accounts, one for each river basin in the State.  These accounts are established to provide an equitable distribution of funds among the State's 17 river basins.  The funds are to be used within each river basin based on the priorities, specific regional water resource issues, and data needs within the basin and the criteria developed by the Trustees.  The allocation of funds within each river basin will also provide a cost-effective method of providing information to the Trustees regarding potential uses for the remainder of the Clean Water Management Trust Funds.
(b)	Allocation of Funds to River Basin Accounts. –  Of the funds reserved and transferred to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund in accordance with G.S. 143-15.2 and G.S. 143-15.3B allocations are made as provided in this section after first subtracting the amounts allocated to pay the operating expenses of the Board of Trustees and its staff as provided by G.S. 113-145.3(c)(9) and G.S. 113-145.3(d).  There is allocated to each river basin account a sum equal to the population of the river basin on June 30 of that fiscal year. The sum allocated shall be based on a rate of one dollar ($1.00) per person.  The population figures shall be determined by the Trustees using the most recent U.S. census figures available on June 30 of the appropriate fiscal year.  Funds not awarded as grants in a fiscal year shall revert at the end of the fiscal year to the Clean Water Management Trust Fund established under G.S. 113-145.3 and may be awarded by the Trustees in the subsequent fiscal year as grants in any river basin of the State.
(c)	Use of Funds; Award of Grants; Reversion of Funds. – The sums allocated to the river basin accounts each fiscal year may be used only for grants within the river basin for which the account is designated and only for the purposes set out in G.S. 113-145.3.  The Trustees shall award the grants, unless an eligible river basin association submits an application to the Trustees to award the grants.  If the Trustees determine that the river basin association is eligible, then the river basin association rather than the Trustees shall award the grants from the funds allocated to the river basin account for projects or activities within the river basin.  The Trustees shall notify the Office of State Budget and Management, the State Treasurer, and the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly within 30 days after a determination by the Trustees that a river basin association is eligible to award grants within a particular river basin.
(d)	Eligible River Basin Associations. – A river basin association is eligible to award and administer the grants allocated to the river basin it represents if it meets the following criteria:
(1)	It is a nonprofit corporation as defined in G.S. 55A-1-40.
(2)	It is a river basin association that is basinwide, and that has basinwide, broad-based representation of diverse water resource interests.
(3)	It has as its primary purpose the conservation, preservation, and restoration of the environmental and natural resources of the river basin that it represents.
(4)	It agrees to award grants within the river basin based on the criteria in subsection (a) of this section and the criteria developed by the Trustees for awarding grants under this Article.
(e)	Eligible Grant Applicants. – Any applicant eligible under G.S. 113-145.4 is eligible to apply for a grant under this section, provided the grant is for a project within the appropriate river basin.
(f)	Grant Procedures if Grants Awarded by River Basin Association. – If grants are to be awarded by a river basin association rather than the Trustees, then grant application forms and procedures shall be identical to those of the Trustees when reasonable and grant applications shall be submitted to the river basin association rather than the Trustees."
Section 4.  G.S. 113-145.6A is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( c)	No later than November 1, 2000, and quarterly thereafter, the financial officer of each river basin association that awarded grants under this Article shall submit to the Board of Trustees of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Environmental Review Commission and the Subcommittees on Natural and Economic Resources of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees a list of the projects awarded grants from the appropriate river basin account that quarter.  The list shall include for each project a description of the project, the amount of the grant awarded for the project, and the total cost of the project. A written copy of the list and other information regarding the projects shall also be sent to the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly by November 1, 2000, and for each subsequent quarter.”
Section 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2000.