HB 616 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Megasites/Selectsites Program Revisions.

HB 616 modifies the North Carolina Selectsite Readiness Program by establishing a competitive grant program and creating the North Carolina Selectsite Fund. It appropriates $10 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and transfers unspent funds to this new fund. The program, administered by the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), provides grants to local governments or partnerships. These grants support the acquisition, due diligence, infrastructure development, and on-site preparation of industrial sites under 1,000 acres, aiming to attract major manufacturing opportunities to the state.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 31, 2025 Last action May 7, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

A1: ATG-34-V-3 → Edition 1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill modifies the Selectsite Readiness Program by updating site selection criteria, funding allocations, and due diligence requirements. The changes increase the number of sites evaluated from seven to fifteen, adjust acreage thresholds, and expand the scope of due diligence activities supported by the program.

Scope change

The bill expands the program's scope to evaluate more sites with different size requirements and broadens the types of due diligence activities that can be funded.

REQUIREMENT

Increased the number of sites to be evaluated from seven to fifteen new selectsites in the biennial report

Adjusted site size requirements: three sites must now be less than 500 acres (previously two) and three must be less than 100 acres (previously two)

Added new requirement for facilitating coordination between economic development entities and state agencies to expedite site development

Expanded due diligence requirements to include additional assessments like preliminary engineering reports, geotechnical investigations, and environmental permitting studies

FISCAL

Updated funding allocation language to reflect the new site selection numbers and acreage thresholds

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill revision expands the Selectsite Readiness Program to include both 'megasites' (larger sites) and 'selectsites' (smaller sites), creating two distinct grant programs with different eligibility criteria and funding rules. The changes clarify that megasites are now handled under Section 11.11 while selectsites remain under Section 11.12, with megasites receiving higher grant percentages and different site size thresholds. The revision also updates funding allocation rules and adds new due diligence requirements specific to each site type.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from only covering 'selectsites' (less than 1,000 acres) to now covering both 'megasites' (larger sites) and 'selectsites' (smaller sites) under separate statutory sections with different rules.

SCOPE

Changed the bill title and short title from 'Selectsite Readiness Program Modifications' to 'Megasites/Selectsites Program Revisions' to reflect the expanded scope covering both site types.

DEFINITION

Added new Section 11.11 for megasites with different site size thresholds (up to seven megasites identified versus up to 15 selectsites) and separate definitions for each program type.

FISCAL

Modified grant allocation rules: megasite acquisition grants are now limited to 85% of the lesser of purchase price or tax value, while selectsite grants follow different allocation criteria.

REQUIREMENT

Added new due diligence requirements for megasites including geotechnical investigations, environmental permitting, and wetlands delineation, while selectsite due diligence requirements were expanded to include site characteristics and preliminary engineering reports.

Added new requirement for megasites to facilitate coordination between economic development entities, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Transportation to expedite site development.

TIMELINE

Updated funding transfer dates and fiscal year references to align with the 2024-2025 fiscal year and April 1, 2025 effective date.

Floor votes · House May 7, 2025

How they voted

107–5

Passed · 9 other

Total votes 121

May 7, 2025

D Democratic46

36 Yea 5 Nay 5

78% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican73

69 Yea 4

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 7, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

May 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

May 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amend Adopted A1

lower

May 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

May 5, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 29, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Mar 31, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

0 primary · 4 co-sponsors