North Carolina § 62-302 - 1. Regulatory fee for combustion residuals surface impoundments.

§ 62-302. 1. Regulatory fee for combustion residuals surface impoundments.

(Expires April 1, 2030 - see note) Fee Imposed. - Each public utility with a coal combustion residuals surface impoundment shall pay a regulatory fee for the purpose of defraying the costs of oversight of coal combustion residuals. The fee is in addition to the fee imposed under G.S. 62-302. The fees collected under this section shall only be used to pay the expenses of the Department of Environmental Quality in providing oversight of coal combustion residuals. Rate. - The combustion residuals surface impoundment fee shall be twenty-two thousandths of one percent (0.022%) of the North Carolina jurisdictional revenues of each public utility with a coal combustion residuals surface impoundment. For the purposes of this section, the term "North Carolina jurisdictional revenues" has the same meaning as in G.S. 62-302. When Due. - The fee shall be paid in quarterly installments. The fee is payable to the Department of Environmental Quality on or before the 15th of the second month following the end of each quarter. Each public utility subject to this fee shall, on or before the date the fee is due for each quarter, prepare and render a report on a form prescribed by the Department of Environmental Quality. The report shall state the public utility's total North Carolina jurisdictional revenues for the preceding quarter and shall be accompanied by any supporting documentation that the Department of Environmental Quality may by rule require. Receipts shall be reported on an accrual basis. Use of Proceeds. - A special fund in the Department of Environmental Quality is created. The fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Coal Combustion Residuals Management Fund. The Fund shall be placed in an interest-bearing account, and any interest or other income derived from the Fund shall be credited to the Fund. Subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, one hundred percent (100%) shall be used by the Department of Environmental Quality. All funds credited to the Fund shall be used only to pay the expenses of the Department of Environmental Quality in providing oversight of coal combustion residuals. Recovery of Fee. - The North Carolina Utilities Commission shall not allow an electric public utility to recover this fee from the retail electric customers of the State. History (2014-122, s. 15(a); 2015-1, s. 3.6; 2015-7, s. 7; 2015-241, s. 14.30(c), (u); 2016-95, s. 2.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2014-122, s. 15(f), as amended by Session Laws 2015-7, s. 8, provides: "Subsection (a) of this section becomes effective July 1, 2014, and expires April 1, 2030, and applies to jurisdictional revenues earned on or after July 1, 2014, and before April 1, 2030. The remainder of this section becomes effective July 1, 2014." Session Laws 2014-122, s. 15(b), provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 62-302.1, as enacted by this section, for the first two quarters of fiscal year 2014-2015, each public utility shall pay the fee in G.S. 62-302.1 on a monthly basis. The fee shall be paid by the 15th of the following month." Session Laws 2014-122, s. 17, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(c) provides: "The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is renamed the Department of Environmental Quality. All references to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or the Department of Cultural Resources in acts of the 2015 General Assembly taking effect on or after the effective date of this section and in the Committee Report described in Section 33.2 of this act shall be construed to refer to the Department of Environmental Quality or the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, respectively. References to duties or requirements of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with respect to entities transferred under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be construed as duties or requirements of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources as reorganized by this section." Under this authority, "Department of Environmental Quality" was substituted for "Department of Environment and Natural Resources" in (d). Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2016-95, s. 8, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2015-1, s. 3.6, effective March 16, 2015, inserted "Coal Ash Management" preceding "Commission" in the third sentence of (c) and in the fourth sentence of (d). Session Laws 2015-7, s. 7, effective July 1, 2014, rewrote the fourth sentence in subsection (d). Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(u), effective July 1, 2015, substituted "Department of Environmental Quality" for "Department of Environment and Natural Resources" in subsection (a) and the second time it appears in subsection (d). Session Laws 2016-95, s. 2, effective July 14, 2016, in subsection (a) and in the last sentence of subsection (d), deleted "Coal Ash Management Commission and the" preceding "Department of Environmental Quality"; in subsection (b), substituted "twenty-two thousandths of one percent (0.022%)" for "three hundredths of one percent (0.03%)"; in subsection (c), substituted "Department of Environmental Quality" for "Coal Ash Management Commission" three times; in subsection (d), substituted "Department of Environmental Quality" for "Office of State Treasurer and the Coal Ash Management Commission" in the first sentence, deleted "and all other funds received by the Coal Ash Management Commission" following "pursuant to this section," in the second sentence, substituted "one hundred percent (100%)" for "twenty-six and one half percent (26.5%) of the moneys in the Fund shall be used by the Coal Ash Management Commission and the remainder" in the third sentence; deleted the fourth sentence, which read "The Coal Ash Management Commission shall be subject to the provisions of the State Budget Act, except that no unexpended surplus of the Coal Combustion Residuals Management Fund shall revert to the General Fund." §§ 62-303 through 62-309: Reserved for future codification purposes.