NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1977 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 985

HOUSE BILL 908

 

 

AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR NAVIGATION PROJECTS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund the sum of seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) for fiscal year 1978-79 to the Department of Natural and Economic Resources for the purpose of undertaking or financially participating in civil works projects to improve navigation in the inlets, sounds, rivers and other waterways of the State. This appropriation may be expended for navigation projects undertaken or financed by the State alone, or by the State in cooperation with local governments, or by the State in cooperation with agencies of the United States, or by the State in cooperation with local governments and an agency of the United States. The Department of Natural and Economic Resources is authorized to expend up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) of the funds herein appropriated for State participation in the Bear Swamp Watershed Improvement Project. This appropriation is in addition to any other appropriations to the Department of Natural and Economic Resources which can be used for the above purposes.

Sec. 2.  The Secretary of the Department of Natural and Economic Resources is authorized to adopt rules and regulations governing the procedures by which the State will participate in navigation projects in cooperation with local governments or agencies of the United States or both. The secretary is directed to adopt regulations setting forth classes of projects which are entitled to different percentages of State participation and setting out criteria for determining which class a particular project falls within. In determining the classes and the criteria for determining which class a project falls within the secretary shall consider whether the project is of statewide, regional, or local significance; the economic benefits of the project; and any other factors which in the discretion of the secretary relate to the percentage of participation which the State should assume. The regulations may also set forth the particular aspects of a project which will not be subject to State financial assistance.

Sec. 3.  This appropriation shall be considered a capital outlay which shall not revert to the General Fund at the end of the biennium, but shall continue in effect until fully expended or until July 1, 1985, whichever is sooner.

Sec. 4.  This act shall become effective July 1, 1977.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 1st day of July, 1977.