GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2017
SESSION LAW 2017-17
HOUSE BILL 637
AN ACT to provide additional flexibility for certain regional water and sewer infrastructure Funding.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. Section 14.20A of S.L. 2016‑94 reads as rewritten:
"Regional Water and Sewer Authority Funding
"SECTION 14.20A.(a) Of
the funds appropriated to the Department of Environmental Quality, Division of
Water Infrastructure, by this act, the sum of fourteen million five hundred
forty‑eight thousand nine hundred eighty‑one dollars ($14,548,981)
shall be used by the Division to fund interconnection and interconnection,
extension of water lines to participating counties and municipalities
undertaken by a Regional Water and Sewer Authority established pursuant to
Article 1 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes, provided that the Authority
includes lines, and related water system modification and expansion involving
the Counties of Rockingham and Guilford and one or more municipalities
within those counties. The funds allocated by this section may also be used for
one or more regional interconnections with municipalities in Rockingham or
Guilford Counties that do not join the Authority described by this subsection
if the interconnections are necessary to provide sufficient water resources to
support the water system expansion needed to meet current and planned future
needs of the Authority.the municipalities of Oak Ridge, Stokesdale,
Summerfield, Reidsville, Madison, and Mayodan. Of the funds allocated by this
section, no more than twenty‑five percent (25%) of the funds shall be
used for Guilford County and may include one or more of the municipalities listed
in this section located in Guilford County, and no more than seventy‑five
percent (75%) shall be used for Rockingham County and may include one or more
of the municipalities listed in this section located in Rockingham County. The
funds allocated by this section may be spent for planning, design, survey, real
property acquisition, construction, repair, and any other activities necessary
to improve the performance and reliability and expand the capacity and service
footprint of participating water systems in Rockingham and Guilford Counties. The
Counties of Rockingham and Guilford and the municipalities participating in the
interconnection and extension of water lines within each county funded by this
section shall agree on the use of the funds allocated by this section through
any combination of (i) interlocal agreements under Article 20 of Chapter 160A
of the General Statutes that specify, at a minimum, the ownership of the water
lines and infrastructure funded by this section and long‑term
maintenance, repair, and replacement responsibility or (ii) one or more
regional water and sewer authorities under Article 1 of Chapter 162A of the
General Statutes.
"SECTION 14.20A.(b) If
the Regional Water Authority described by this section is formed prior to June
30, 2017, the Division of Water Infrastructure shall transfer the funds
allocated by this section to the Authority for the purposes described in
subsection (a) of this section. Otherwise, the funds allocated by this section
shall revert to the General Fund. Notwithstanding G.S. 143C–6‑23(f1)(1),
G.S. 143C‑6‑23(f1)(1) and G.S. 143C‑1‑2,
funds allocated to the Authority but not used by this section
shall be held in reserve by the Office of State Budget and Management and the
allocations to each County shall be released when the County and one or more of
the municipalities specified in subsection (a) of this section reach agreement
on the funds allocated to that County by this section through interlocal
agreements or the formation of regional water and sewer authorities or a
combination of interlocal agreements and regional water and sewer authorities. Funds
not spent or encumbered by June 30, 2020, shall be returned by the local
governments or regional water and sewer authority to the Office of State Budget
and Management and revert to the General Fund."
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of May, 2017.
s/ Philip E. Berger
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Sarah Stevens
Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives
s/ Roy Cooper
Governor
Approved 8:30 a.m. this 23rd day of May, 2017