A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to modify the enforcement of local sanitation and on‑site wastewater programs by authorizing local environmental health officials to authorize local environmental health specialists to enforce program rules and to eliminate unnecessary reauthorization or retraining of certain environmental health employees with local health departments or with the Department of Environment and Natural resources. 
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 130A‑4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑4.  Administration.
(a)	Except as provided in subsection (c) and subsections (e) through (i) of this section, the Secretary shall administer and enforce the provisions of this Chapter and the rules of the Commission. A local health director shall administer the programs of the local health department and enforce the rules of the local board of health.
(b)	Subject to subsection (a) of this section, when requested by the Secretary, a local health department shall enforce the rules of the Commission under the supervision of the Department. The local health department shall utilize local staff authorized by the Department to enforce the specific rules.
(c)	The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources shall administer and enforce the provisions of Articles 9, 10, and 12 of this Chapter and the rules of the Commission.
(d)	Subject to subsection (c) of this section, when requested by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, a local health department shall enforce the rules of the Commission under the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The local health department shall utilize local staff authorized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to enforce the specific rules.
(e)	The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources shall administer and enforce the provisions of Articles 8 and 11 of this Chapter and the rules of the Commission. Except as provided under subsections (g) through (i) of this section, a local health department shall enforce the rules of the Commission under the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources when requested by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, and the local health department shall utilize local staff authorized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to enforce the specific rules.
(f)	In a local health department that has an environmental health supervisor, an environmental health supervisor who has been authorized under this section to enforce the rules of the Commission for a specific environmental health program under Article 8 or Article 11 of this Chapter for at least the three previous years may authorize a new employee of that local health department to enforce the rules of the Commission for that specific program for that local health department so long as the employee has successfully completed the training administered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In a local health department that does not have any environmental health supervisor, the environmental health coordinator for that local health department who has been authorized under this section to enforce the rules of the Commission for a specific environmental health program under Article 8 or Article 11 of this Chapter for at least the three previous years may authorize a new employee of that local health department to enforce the rules of the Commission for that specific program for that local health department so long as the employee has successfully completed the training administered by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The local health department shall use the same process and the same forms that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources uses in authorizing employees to enforce rules under subsection (d) of this section. A local health department may request the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to have regional environmental health specialists authorize new employees to enforce the rules of specific programs under Article 8 or Article 11 of this Chapter through the regional office for that local health department.(g)	An environmental health specialist in a local health department who is authorized under this section to enforce the rules of the Commission for a specific program under Article 8 or Article 11 of this Chapter for that local health department and who has maintained registration as a sanitarian under Article 4 of Chapter 90A of the General Statutes may change employment to another local health department without obtaining reauthorization or retraining in that specific program.
(h)	An environmental health employee of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources may, for any local health department, be authorized to enforce the rules for the specific program under Article 8 or Article 11 of this Chapter in which the employee worked previously without obtaining retraining if the employee satisfies all of the following:
(1)	The employee has retired from employment or has otherwise left employment as an environmental health employee.
(2)	For at least three years, the employee was authorized under this section to enforce the rules of the Commission for that specific program.
(3)	The employee has maintained registration as a sanitarian under Article 4 of Chapter 90A of the General Statutes.
(i)	An environmental health employee of a local health department may, for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, enforce the rules for the specific program under Article 8 or Article 11 of this Chapter in which the employee worked previously without obtaining reauthorization or retraining if the employee satisfies all of the following:
(1)	The employee has retired from employment or has otherwise left employment as an environmental health employee.
(2)	For at least three years, the employee was authorized under this section to enforce the rules of the Commission for that specific program.
(3)	The employee has maintained registration as a sanitarian under Article 4 of Chapter 90A of the General Statutes."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.