A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide an express permitting review program for connections to the State highway system, as recommended by the joint LEGISLATIVE transportation oversight committee.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 136 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 136‑93.1.  Express permit review program.
(a)	Program Created. – The Department shall develop a fee‑supported express permit review program in each highway division. The program shall provide express permit and certification reviews, in order for an applicant to make a connection to the State highway system for a driveway, street, signal, drainage, or any other encroachment. The express permit review program may be applied to any or all of the permits, approvals, or certifications listed in this subsection.
(b)	Highway Division Implementation. – Individual highway division participation in the express review program is voluntary if all special commercial permits are routinely reviewed and issued within 45 days in that division. Any highway division that implements an express permit review program shall ensure it is supported by the fees established pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.
(c)	Time Limits for Review. – The Department shall review and determine completeness of an express permit application within three business days of receipt of an application. The Department shall review and process a complete express permit application within 30 days of receipt. If an express permit is not issued or denied within 30 days of receipt of the complete permit application, the entire cost of the express permit shall be returned to the applicant, and the permit application forwarded to the respective division engineer, who shall issue or deny the permit within 15 days of receipt.
(d)	Staff for Program. – The Department of Transportation may use contracted engineering firms supporting each highway division to provide express permit reviews, comments, and recommendations for issuing express permits. Existing Department staff and resources allocated to a division may be used for an express permit review program, but no new staff shall be hired for the purposes of implementing an express permit review program.
(e)	Fees. – The Department may determine the fees for an express application review under the express review program. The maximum permit application fee to be charged under this section for an express review of a project application requiring all of the permits listed under subsection (a) of this section shall not exceed four thousand dollars ($4,000). Notwithstanding Chapter 150B of the General Statutes, the Department shall establish the procedure by which the amount of the fees under this subsection are established and applied for an express review program permitted by this section. The fee schedule established by the Department shall be applicable to all divisions participating in an express permit review program.
(f)	Use of Fees. – All fees collected under this section shall be used to fund the cost of administering and implementing express permit review programs created under this section. These costs include the salaries of the program's staff and costs of contracted engineering firms.
(g)	Reports. – No later than March 1 of each year, the Department shall report to the Fiscal Research Division and the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee on the express permitting review program. The report shall include the cost of administering the program in each division, the number of express permits issued, the turnaround time for permits, the amount of fees collected per division, and the method that divisions use to implement the program."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2008.