A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to exempt certain DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION contractors from the requirement for a GENERAL contractor's license, as recommended by the Joint LEGISLATIVE Transportation oversight committee; to Clarify the General contracting exceptions; to define the limits of vegetation removal for outdoor advertising; and to require local government tax assessors and collectors to generate tax values for motor vehicles pursuant to the valuation assigned by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 136 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 136‑28.14.  Project contractor licensing requirements.
The letting of contracts under this Chapter for the following types of projects shall not be subject to the licensing requirements of Article 1 of Chapter 87 of the General Statutes:
(1)	Routine maintenance and minor repair of pavements, bridges, roadside vegetation and plantings, drainage systems, concrete sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and rest areas.
(2)	Installation and maintenance of pavement markings and markers, ground mounted signs, guardrail, fencing, and roadside vegetation and plantings."
SECTION 2.  Chapter 87 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 87‑1.2.  Exception for specified Department of Transportation contractors.
The letting of contracts for the types of projects specified in G.S. 136‑28.14 shall not be subject to the licensing requirement of this Article."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 87‑1.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 87‑1.1.  Exception for licensees under Article 2 or 4.
G.S. 87‑1 shall not apply to a licensee under Article 2 or 4 of this Chapter of the General  Statutes, G.S. 87‑43 shall not apply to a licensee under Article 2 of this Chapter of the General Statutes, and G.S. 87‑21(a)(5) shall not apply to a licensee under Article 4 of this Chapter of the General Statutes when the licensee is bidding and contracting directly with the owner of a public building project if: (i) a licensed general contractor performs all work that falls within the classifications in G.S. 87‑10(b) and the State Licensing Board of General Contractor's rules; and (ii) the total amount of the general contracting work so classified does not exceed a percentage of the total bid price pursuant to rules established by the Board; and (iii) a licensee with the appropriate license under Article 2 or Article 4 of this Chapter performs all work that falls within the classifications in Article 2 and Article 4 of this Chapter."
SECTION 4.  Chapter 136 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 136‑140.2. Vegetation removal for outdoor advertising.
(a)	Removal of vegetation within highway rights‑of‑way shall be permitted for opening views to legally erected forms of outdoor advertising which are located directly adjacent to State highway rights‑of‑way. 
(b)	An application for the removal of vegetation shall be made by the owner of the legally erected outdoor advertising to the Department of Transportation, Division of Highways. The application shall be developed by the Department of Transportation. The fee for an application to remove vegetation from outdoor advertising areas shall be two hundred dollars ($200.00).
(c)	For outdoor advertising erected as of the effective date of this act, the maximum removal area for vegetation for each sign face shall be an area not greater than 500 feet on either side of the sign location from the center of the sign, as measured along the edge of pavement of the public street or highway along which the outdoor advertisement is placed.
(d)	The cost of vegetation removal shall be borne solely by the owner of the outdoor advertising. No compensatory planting shall be required to replace any vegetation removed in the vegetation removal zone. 
(e)	Vegetation shall be defined as any tree, shrub, vine, undergrowth, or plant growing within the area designated as removal zone by subsection (c) of this section.
(f)	Any vegetation as defined in subsection (e) of this section that is listed on any endangered species list by a United States governmental agency or the State of North Carolina shall not be removed. It shall be the sole responsibility of the lawful owner of the outdoor advertising to ensure compliance with this subsection. Any violation of this subsection shall carry the same penalty as the penalty for violation of the State or federal law protecting the endangered species."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 105‑283 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105‑283.  Uniform appraisal standards.
All property, real and personal, shall as far as practicable be appraised or valued at its true value in money. When used in this Subchapter, the words "true value" shall be interpreted as meaning market value, that is, 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 to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of all the uses to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used. For the purposes of this section, the acquisition of an interest in land by an entity having the power of eminent domain with respect to the interest acquired shall not be considered competent evidence of the true value in money of comparable land. For the purposes of Article 22A of this Chapter, "true value" means the value assigned by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the schedule established under G.S. 105‑187.3(c)."
SECTION 6.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2006.