NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1969 SESSION

CHAPTER 646

HOUSE BILL 975

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE UTILITIES COMMISSION TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR INSPECTION OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINES IN NORTH CAROLINA.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1.  G.S. 62-50 is hereby amended by designating the existing provisions of said Section at subsection (a) thereof and by adding a new subsection (b), (c), (d) and (e) at the end thereof to read as follows:

"(b)      The Commission is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Department of Transportation and other Federal agencies and with other states or Public Utilities Commissions of other states for the regulation of natural gas pipelines located within the State of North Carolina and upon the execution of such cooperative agreements, the Commission is authorized to utilize Commission personnel for inspection, investigation, and regulation of safety standards for interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines in North Carolina, and to share in the cost of such regulation with other agencies having duties with respect to the regulation of said natural gas pipelines, and to receive funds from the United States Department of Transportation for such regulation."

"(c)       The Utilities Commission is hereby authorized to enter into cooperative agreements for inspection of all natural gas pipelines of North Carolina to the end that the Utilities Commission may enter into agreements with the Linked States Department of Transportation or other Federal or State agencies to regulate and inspect the safety standards for all natural gas pipelines in the State of North Carolina, including interstate natural gas pipelines."

"(d)      Any person who violates any provision of this Section, or any regulation of the Utilities Commission issued thereunder, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation for each day that the violation persists, the maximum civil penalty not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for any continuing violation."

"(e)       Any action for civil penalty or any claim for said penalty may be compromised by the Utilities Commission and settled for an agreed amount. In determining the amount of the penalty imposed in civil action, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, the amount of the penalty shall be considered in relation to the size of the business of the person charged, the gravity of the violation, and the good faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve compliance, after any prior notification of a violation. The amount of the penalty, when finally determined in a civil action, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, may be deducted from any sums owing by the State to the person charged, or may be collected as in the case of any judgment in a civil action in the State courts."

Sec. 2.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 3.  This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after September 15, 1969.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 29th day of May, 1969.