A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to improve efficiency of CONSTRUCTION permitting by REMOVING REDUNDANCIES in reviews and approvals by state and local agencies, improve accountability and transparency of reviewing AGENCIES, and makE north carolina a national leader in permitting efficiency, which will encourage investors to choose north carolina to create jobs.
Whereas, the construction industry represents 10% of the overall North Carolina economy; and
Whereas, expediting the permitting process will expedite the commencement of construction projects, which in turn can increase the speed of job creation in the construction industry as well as in other industries such as commercial, retail, and manufacturing when employment facilities are completed; and
Whereas, eliminating redundant steps in the permit approval process will reduce costs and maximize efficiency; and
Whereas, many businesses that invest in North Carolina do so based on the value of doing business in the State and often after comparing North Carolina's competitiveness with other states in which they may do business; and
Whereas, it is the design professionals, duly licensed by North Carolina boards of licensure, who have responsible charge over the design and the overall responsibility for design of permit plan preparation, while the permit review agency has authority to review for compliance of standards set forth by its agency or others authorized to set standards; and
Whereas, maximizing efficiency assists in increasing the affordability of homes; and
Whereas, the General Assembly continues to seek ways to reduce burdens on North Carolina businesses to make our State the most business friendly in the country while still maintaining adequate and reasonable review of applications for construction to ensure protection of the people's interests, health, and welfare and to ensure protection of the environment; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Article 6 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read as follows:
"§ 153A‑145.7.  General requirements for issuing permits.
The following shall apply to permits issued by a county, including building permits and land use permits:
(1)	All requirements for the issuance of a permit shall be included in an ordinance adopted by the governing body, and the ordinance shall be available for public inspection in the same manner as other ordinances.
(2)	A county shall not require a permittee to reserve land, dedicate rights‑of‑way, adhere to planning or land use conditions, or make accommodations for future construction activities, including the installation of future infrastructure, unless the requirement is included in an ordinance adopted by the governing body. An ordinance may include formal land use maps, capital improvement plans, or fiscally constrained road improvements established by the Department of Transportation.
(3)	The governing body shall adopt an ordinance establishing or authorizing county departments to establish a schedule that shall be used by county departments in reviewing permits, including the maximum number of days in which a county department shall have to approve or deny a permit. The schedule shall be published in the same manner as other county ordinances and shall be published on the county's Web site, if one is available. If the governing body authorizes county departments to establish a schedule as provided in this subdivision, the governing body shall approve the schedule before it implemented for use by the public.
(4)	Each county department responsible for issuing permits shall, on a quarterly basis, submit to the governing body a report detailing the department's compliance with the schedule established under subdivision (3) of this section, including the number of permit reviews that were completed within the time periods specified in the schedule, the number completed prior to the expiration of the time periods, and the number completed after the expiration of the time periods. The department's report shall be published in the same manner as county ordinances and shall be published on the county's Web site, if one is available.
(5)	An ordinance shall not require a permit be reviewed only after another agency or department, including a State agency or department, has conducted its own review of the same or another permit related to the same project. Ordinances adopted by the county shall require that permits issued by the county shall be reviewed concurrently with other permits related to the same project.
(6)	If the county uses an online permit review and approval program, every department or agency of the county authorized to review and approve permits shall use the online program. The county shall, where feasible, make its online program accessible to outside local and State agencies, and those agencies shall use the online program to review and approve permits.
(7)	Where feasible, a county shall make its online permit review and approval program accessible by municipalities in the county to facilitate concurrent review and approval of permits.
(8)	A county may establish a fee to cover the cost of creating an online permit review and approval program, but the fee shall not be more than the anticipated first year's actual cost of establishing and implementing the online program, and the total cost of the program shall be evenly distributed to all permit applicants.
(9)	A county shall not require a permittee to construct off‑site improvements, including improvements related to utilities or traffic, unless the improvements are necessitated by the direct impact of the permittee's development.
(10)	A fee in lieu of payments related to off‑site improvements authorized by law shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the estimated actual costs associated with the direct impact of the permittee's development. The estimated actual costs shall be calculated by a licensed professional engineer."
SECTION 1.(b)  Article 8 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read as follows:
"§ 160A‑205.3.  General requirements for issuing permits.
The following shall apply to permits issued by a city, including building permits and land use permits: 
(1)	All requirements for the issuance of a permit shall be included in an ordinance adopted by the governing body, and the ordinance shall be available for public inspection in the same manner as other ordinances. 
(2)	A city shall not require a permittee to reserve land, dedicate rights‑of‑way, adhere to planning or land use conditions, or make accommodations for future construction activities, including the installation of future infrastructure, unless the requirement is included in an ordinance adopted by the governing body. An ordinance may include formal land use maps, capital improvement plans, or fiscally constrained road improvements established by the Department of Transportation.
(3)	The governing body shall adopt an ordinance establishing or authorizing city departments to establish a schedule that shall be used by city departments in reviewing permits a schedule that shall be used by city departments in reviewing permits, including the maximum number of days in which a city department shall have to approve or deny a permit. The schedule shall be published in the same manner as other city ordinances and shall be published on the city's Web site, if one is available. If the governing body authorizes city departments to establish a schedule as provided in this subdivision, the governing body shall approve the schedule before it implemented for use by the public.
(4)	Each city department responsible for issuing permits shall, on a quarterly basis, submit to the governing body a report detailing the department's compliance with the schedule established under subdivision (3) of this section, including the number of permit reviews that were completed within the time periods specified in the schedule, the number completed prior to the expiration of the time periods, and the number completed after the expiration of the time periods. The department's report shall be published in the same manner as city ordinances and shall be published on the city's Web site, if one is available.
(5)	An ordinance shall not require a permit be reviewed only after another agency or department, including a State agency or department, has conducted its own review of the same or another permit related to the same project. Ordinances adopted by the city shall require that permits issued by the city shall be reviewed concurrently with other permits related to the same project.
(6)	If the city uses an online permit review and approval program, every department or agency of the city authorized to review and approve permits shall use the online program. The city shall, where feasible, make its online program accessible to outside local and State agencies, and those agencies shall use the online program to review and approve permits.
(7)	Where feasible, a city shall make its online permit review and approval program accessible by the county in which the city is located to facilitate concurrent review and approval of permits.
(8)	A city may establish a fee to cover the cost of creating an online permit review and approval program, but the fee shall not be more than the anticipated first year's actual cost of establishing and implementing the online program, and the total cost of the program shall be evenly distributed to all permit applicants.
(9)	A city shall not require a permittee to construct off‑site improvements, including improvements related to utilities or traffic, unless the improvements are necessitated by the direct impact of the permittee's development.
(10)	A fee in lieu of payments related to off‑site improvements authorized by law shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the estimated actual costs associated with the direct impact of the permittee's development. The estimated actual costs shall be calculated by a licensed professional engineer." 
SECTION 1.(c)  This section becomes effective October 1, 2017.
SECTION 2.(a)  Chapter 136 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 3C.
"Delegation of Permitting Authority.
"§ 136‑166.50.  Short title.
This Article shall be known as and may be cited as the "Local Government Permitting Act of 2017."
"§ 136‑166.51.  Purpose; scope.
(a)	The purpose of this Article is to delegate to certain municipalities the authority to issue construction permits and approve established standards for State‑maintained roads located within the municipality and the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The authority delegated under this subsection includes the authority to issue driveway permits and approve construction activities or encroachment within the Department's rights‑of‑way. All municipalities with a population of 50,000 or more are hereby granted the permitting authority provided for in this Article unless the municipality specifically declines the delegation.
(b)	The authority of municipalities to review and approve permits or establish standards for State‑maintained roads in its municipal boundary exists only to the extent explicitly provided in this Article or otherwise granted by the Board. 
(c)	Nothing in this Article modifies the Department's responsibility to perform typical maintenance activities on State‑maintained roads and bridges.
(d)	Nothing in this Article shall modify the process for review of erosion and sediment control plans or stormwater plans, including authorities of the Department of Environmental Quality or any delegated authority for the same under Chapter 113 of the General Statutes.
"§ 136‑166.52.  Application for delegation.
(a)	A municipality that does not otherwise qualify for the delegation of authority provided for under the Article may request that the Board grant the authority. The municipality shall develop a review program for its jurisdiction and submit its program to the Board for review and approval.
(b)	The Board shall review each program submitted by a municipality and within 90 days of receipt of the application shall notify the municipality whether it has been (i) approved, (ii) approved with modifications, or (iii) disapproved. The Board shall only approve an application upon determining the municipality's review staff have adequate experience and technical expertise related to the review of transportation design and construction activities.
"§ 136‑166.53.  Department's authority.
(a)	The Department may establish review guidelines that a local government shall follow in its review. These guidelines shall be consistent with existing permitting standards and of a technical nature. The Department shall not establish different technical standards for different municipalities. The standards must be similar to those established for other State‑maintained roads.
(b)	If the Department determines a municipality is failing to administer or enforce a local program, it shall notify the municipality in writing and shall specify the deficiencies of administration and enforcement. If the municipality does not take corrective action within 60 days of receipt of notification, the Department shall assume administration and enforcement of the program until the municipality demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department the ability to resume administration and enforcement of the program.
(c)	The Department shall retain the authority to review and approve construction permits for construction activities within State‑maintained road rights‑of‑way for activities conducted by local, State, or federal governments. The review is limited to technical elements only and the Department may not request modifications to reviewed plans based on conflicting policies established by a municipality that has been delegated authority to approve local programs.
"§ 136‑166.54.  Local authority.
(a)	Municipalities with delegated authority under this Article may do all of the following:
(1)	Adopt ordinances and regulations necessary to establish and enforce transportation review programs established in accordance with this Article. An ordinance shall at least meet, but may not exceed, the minimum requirements established by the Department for State‑maintained roads, unless the requirements are consistent with those established for locally maintained roads of similar capacity and nature.
(2)	Create or designate agencies or subdivisions to administer and enforce the programs.
(3)	Establish standards and ordinances for roads to make road design consistent with local roads, including landscaping requirements, on‑street parking, signage, and signalization.
(b)	A municipality shall approve a plan only after determining that it complies with all applicable federal, State, and local regulations and shall condition approval of a construction plan upon the applicant's compliance with federal and State laws, regulations, and rules. Except as otherwise allowed under subsection (e) of this section, a municipality shall disapprove a plan if implementation of the plan would result in a violation of federal and State laws, regulations, rules, and standards.
(c)	The municipality shall take into consideration adherence to regional plans developed and approved by Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) or Rural Transportation Planning Organizations (RPOs) as well as local ordinances and standards. The transportation‑related elements of a construction plan may be submitted in a manner prescribed by the local government. Separate sets of construction plans which are distinct to the transportation system are not required unless prescribed by the municipality.
(d)	For projects related to transportation or activities or encroachments within the Department's rights‑of‑way, a municipality shall review each construction permit application submitted and within 30 days of receipt thereof shall notify the person submitting the application that the application has been (i) approved, (ii) approved with modifications, or (iii) disapproved.
(e)	If a municipality with delegated authority under this Article establishes a technical standard for a State‑maintained road that is different than the State standard, the municipality shall notify the Department in writing of the details of the modification or exception and the reason for the modification or exception. Unless there is a compelling reason for a change in a technical standard, such as implementation to local land use objectives, public safety goals, local development standards, or site‑specific conditions, the municipality shall refer to State standards when reviewing construction plans which have activities within State‑maintained rights‑of‑way.
"§ 136‑166.55.  Fees.
An ordinance adopted by a municipality may establish a fee for the review of a transportation‑related or right‑of‑way impacting construction plan and related activities. However, if the local government already performs reviews of the same construction plans under this Article, it may not establish an additional fee for review of a construction activity impacting a State‑maintained road or its right‑of‑way."
SECTION 2.(b)  This section becomes effective October 1, 2017.
SECTION 3.(a)  Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 82.
"Transparency and Efficiency in State and Local Permitting; Fees.
"§ 143‑765.  Transparency.
State and local government agencies that have the authority to review and approve permits shall maintain published records that present a summary of adherence to their published review schedules with data on frequency of reviews that were not performed within the established time lines, as well as those reviews performed ahead of schedule. Agencies shall also publish summary data that present the number of reviews and submittals for each project. This data shall be published on the agency's or municipal government's public Web site.
"§ 143‑766.  Efficiency.
State and local government agencies that have the authority to review and approve permits shall make accommodations to incorporate and facilitate access by staff of other agencies, departments, or local governments so that all entities can utilize the system concurrently and collaboratively. For municipalities that have separate local governments with separate areas of responsibility, such as a county review of building permits and a city with review authority of site plans, but both are reviewing the same construction project, the municipalities shall coordinate their review processes so that submittals and reviews are done online through the same online system or portal.
"§ 143‑767.  Fees.
State or local governments, which incur costs associated with the creation or adoption of an online permitting system, may establish a fee or increase an existing fee for the review, but the new or additional fee shall not be more than the anticipated actual cost associated with implementation distributed equally among all permit applicants over the course of one year. The fee, or increased fee, shall be in effect only for the first 12 months following the initiation of the online permitting process. The State or local government shall estimate the anticipated number of permit applications for the program's first 12 months based on the number of applicants from the previous 12 months."
SECTION 3.(b)  State agencies which review construction documents and have permit authority shall develop and implement an online system for submittal, review, and approval, by 2020.
SECTION 3.(c)  This section is effective when it becomes law.
SECTION 4.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.