H259 - 2023 Appropriations Act. (SL 2023-134)

Overview: Section 5.6.(h) of S.L. 2023-134 directs the North Carolina Coastal Federation, Inc. (Federation), a nonprofit corporation, to establish the Stormwater Retrofit Cost-Share Program (Program) to provide grants to stormwater permittees who demonstrate that they would experience a significant economic hardship in financing upgrades and repairs to their stormwater control measures to meet the more stringent of either (i) current standards if the permittee was building a new system or (ii) the terms of the permit. The Federation must adopt guidelines to administer the Program in consultation with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

Section 5.6.(f)(17) allocates $5 million to DEQ to provide directed grants to the Federation to establish and administer the Program. Funds allocated to this Program that are not expended or encumbered by June 30, 2028, revert to the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Reserve.

The Federation must report to the chairs of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Cultural Resources by March 1, 2024, on the implementation of this Program. The report must include, at a minimum, the continued need for the Program to operate through the 2024-2025 fiscal year and whether the Program should be expanded or terminated.

This section became effective July 1, 2023.