A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to establish the joint legislative study commission on flooding mitigation.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is established the Joint Legislative Study Commission on Flooding Mitigation (Commission).
SECTION 2.  The Commission shall be composed of 10 members appointed as follows:
(1)	Five senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(2)	Five representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vacancies on the Commission shall be filled by the appointing authority. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each designate a cochair. A quorum of the Commission shall be a majority of its members.
The Commission may meet at any time upon call of the chairs. The Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building. The Commission may contract for professional, clerical, or consultant services as provided by G.S. 120‑32.02.
The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all powers provided for under G.S. 120‑19 and G.S. 120‑19.1 through G.S. 120‑19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them, and the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.
The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign other professional staff to assist the Commission in its work. The House of Representatives' and Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants shall assign clerical staff to the Commission, and the expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Commission. Members of the Commission shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S. 120‑3.1.
SECTION 3.  The Commission, with the assistance of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, shall study the efficacy, cost‑effectiveness, and barriers to implementation of projects that could prevent or mitigate the impacts of storm‑related riverine flooding in the State, including projects such as dikes, floodgates, spillways, floodwater bypass channels, artificial reefs, and other engineered structures, as well as measures to enhance floodwater absorption and retention measures such as wetlands and natural reef restoration.
SECTION 4.  The Commission shall make an interim report to the 2020 Regular Session of the 2019 General Assembly and shall make a final report to the 2021 General Assembly. The report shall include any proposed legislation. The Commission shall terminate upon filing its final report or upon the convening of the 2021 General Assembly, whichever is earlier.
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.