A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to direct the department of environment and natural resources, the clean water management trust fund, the department of commerce, the office of information technology services, and the rural economic development center jointly to develop and implement a statewide water and wastewater infrastructure needs, resource, and funding central database system.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Commerce, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the Office of Information Technology Services, and the Rural Economic Development Center shall jointly design and implement a central database system that is capable of consolidating and integrating statewide information on water and wastewater infrastructure and making that information more accessible in a user‑friendly format to applicants, government agencies, and policymakers.   The system shall also be designed so that it can be maintained and updated on a regular basis.  The system shall be implemented no later than July 1, 2013.
SECTION 1.(b)  One of the main purposes of the database system is to provide one central source of information that has the ability to track and locate all of the current water and wastewater infrastructure project needs, resources, and funding patterns in this State, thus reducing the resources spent by federal and State agencies (e.g. EPA), funding groups, and nonprofit organizations to determine water infrastructure needs in North Carolina.   
The central database system shall include all of the following statewide information:   (i) water and wastewater infrastructure needs, (ii) resources, and (iii) funding. As part of that information the central database system shall also include all of the following:  (i) current and proposed infrastructure projects, (ii) a brief description of each project, including total project cost, amount of State funding, identification of the funding agency or agencies, local contribution, and any other funding source for the project, and (iii) funding patterns and the status of each infrastructure project. 
SECTION 2.  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall be the lead agency in developing the central database system.  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources may also, in its discretion, work with the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, other State agencies, and other interested stakeholders in developing the central database system. 
SECTION 3.  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall report regularly on the progress regarding the development of the central database system to the Environmental Review Commission, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, and the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly. The Department shall submit its first progress report no later than October 15, 2011, its second progress report no later than January 15, 2012, and its final progress report no later than March 15, 2012. The reports shall include the findings and recommendations of the agencies working jointly to develop the central database system, the cost of implementing the proposed database system, and any legislative changes required to implement the database system. The final progress report shall also include the time frame for implementing the central database system during the 2012‑2013 fiscal year.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2011.