HB 747 updates North Carolina's wildlife laws with three key changes. It requires the Wildlife Resources Commission to keep personal information (like addresses and email) and details about rare species habitats confidential to prevent harm or theft. The bill also creates two new license plates - “Wildlife Resources” (requiring 300+ applications before development) and “Lifetime Conservationist” - with sales revenue funding conservation accounts. Additionally, it shortens the out-of-state boat number reciprocity period from 90 to 60 days and adds safety rules for personal watercraft, including mandatory Coast Guard-approved life jackets and restrictions on close following. These changes affect the Commission, vehicle owners, and boaters, effective October 1, 2025.
SB 1047, titled the Regulatory Reform Act of 2026, organizes and updates North Carolina's laws regarding Guaranteed Energy Savings Contracts (GESC) to provide regulatory relief for citizens. The bill primarily affects state and local governmental units by establishing a structured process for these contracts, which allow governments to pay for energy-saving upgrades based on actual savings rather than upfront costs. Key provisions require officials to publish requests for qualifications, select providers based on specific criteria like past performance and technical feasibility, and conduct independent audits to verify projected energy savings. Additionally, the legislation sets clear thresholds for terminating projects if the actual savings do not meet the guaranteed estimates, ensuring accountability in public spending.
HB 850 imposes a moratorium on approving new or expanded surface water transfers exceeding 15 million gallons per day between river basins until March 1, 2027. This directly affects water utilities, developers, or entities seeking large-scale water transfers that would move significant volumes between river systems. The bill requires the UNC Collaboratory to study and recommend updates to the current approval process, focusing on environmental equity, climate impacts on water flows, economic fairness for affected communities, and incentives for drought-resilient infrastructure. The study must address how transfers impact downstream users, river ecosystems, and potential financial burdens on lower-income areas or alternative infrastructure costs.
SB 706 restores funding for counties to address scrap tire disposal by increasing the portion of tax revenue allocated to local governments from 50% to 75%. It directs the Department of Environmental Quality to use these funds to grant counties assistance for cleaning up scrap tire disposal sites and managing tire-related waste, prioritizing areas with severe disposal problems and financial need. The bill requires counties to demonstrate higher disposal costs than prior tax reimbursements to qualify for grants and mandates annual reporting on fund usage. This directly affects North Carolina counties struggling with scrap tire accumulation, particularly those with limited resources for waste management.
SB 387 revises tax benefits for properties cleaned up under North Carolina's Brownfields Property Reuse Act. It establishes a 5-year tax exclusion schedule for qualifying improvements on brownfields sites: 90% exclusion in year one, decreasing to 10% in year five. This directly affects property owners who have entered brownfields agreements with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for contaminated land cleanup. The bill also adds new fees: a $2,000 application fee, a cost-recovery fee for DEQ services (paid in two installments), and penalties for non-compliance, all funding the Brownfields Implementation Account. The changes take effect for taxes in 2025 and later.
SB 639, the North Carolina Farm Act of 2025, updates agricultural water planning, addresses feral swine damage, and strengthens farm conservation protections. It requires the Department of Agriculture to revise the state’s agricultural water plan by 2026, including funding for water infrastructure, conservation practices, and flood mitigation. The bill creates a Feral Swine Working Group with industry and agency representatives to develop control strategies and report annually, while also mandating 100-foot vegetative buffers around protected farm tracts in new subdivisions. Local governments gain authority to deny development permits that would negatively impact agricultural production, directly affecting farmers, landowners, and municipal planning decisions.
SB 329 authorizes the South Fork Passage Trail to become a state-designated trail within North Carolina's State Parks System. The 60-mile hiking and paddling trail will run from Jacob Fork Park in Catawba County to Lake Wylie on the South Carolina border, connecting existing parks and recreational areas across Catawba, Lincoln, and Gaston Counties. The bill permits using existing state funds from designated trust accounts (like the Land and Water Fund) for trail development without requiring new appropriations. This designation directly expands public recreational access for the 2.7 million residents in the surrounding Metropolitan Statistical Area.
SB 697 establishes the Lake Norman Marine Commission to oversee recreational and environmental management of Lake Norman. The bill would create a formal body responsible for coordinating activities related to the lake's waterways, boating access, and conservation efforts. Currently, the bill is pending in the State and Local Government committee after being withdrawn from Rules and Operations. It has passed its first reading but has not advanced further in the legislative process.
SB 261, the Energy Security and Affordability Act, removes a mandated interim timeline for carbon reduction by North Carolina's major electric utilities (those serving 150,000+ customers) and introduces an alternative cost recovery method for ongoing construction of base load power plants. The bill requires these utilities to achieve a 70% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 (from 2005 levels) and carbon neutrality by 2050, with the Utilities Commission developing a Carbon Plan by 2026 for achieving these goals. It specifies that new solar energy must come from 45% third-party power purchase agreements for small solar facilities (80 MW or less) and 55% utility-owned or purchased sources, including for solar paired with storage. This bill directly affects North Carolina's largest electric utilities and the Utilities Commission, altering their regulatory framework for emissions and infrastructure costs.
