North Carolina § 120-150 - Creation; appointment of members.

§ 120-150. Creation; appointment of members.

There is created an Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission. Members of the Commission shall be citizens of North Carolina who are interested in the vitality of the agriculture and forestry sectors of the State's economy. Members shall be as follows: Three appointed by the Governor. Three appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Three appointed by the Speaker of the House. The chairs of the House Agriculture Committee. The chairs of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources. The Commissioner of Agriculture or the Commissioner's designee. A member of the Board of Agriculture designated by the chair of the Board of Agriculture. The President of the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, Inc., or the President's designee. The President of the North Carolina State Grange or the President's designee. The Secretary of Environmental Quality or the Secretary's designee. The President of the North Carolina Forestry Association, Inc., or the President's designee. Members shall be appointed for two-year terms beginning October 1 of each odd-numbered year. The Chairs of the House Agriculture Committee and the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources shall serve as cochairs. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may each appoint an additional member of the Senate and House, respectively, to serve as cochair. If appointed, these cochairs shall be voting members of the Commission. A quorum of the Commission is nine members. Cochairs' terms on the Commission are for two years and begin on the convening of the General Assembly in each odd-numbered year. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a cochair of the Commission shall continue to serve for so long as the cochair remains a member of the General Assembly and no successor has been appointed. A cochair of the Commission who does not seek reelection or is not reelected to the General Assembly may complete a term of service on the Commission until the day on which a new General Assembly convenes. A member of the Commission who resigns or is removed from service in the General Assembly shall be deemed to have resigned or been removed from service on the Commission. History (1985, c. 792, s. 20.1; 1989, c. 727, s. 218(81); 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1004, s. 19(b); 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 785, s. 1; 1993, c. 23, s. 1; 1995, c. 490, s. 5; 1997-443, s. 11A.119(a); 2001-474, s. 14; 2010-142, s. 9; 2014-103, s. 6; 2015-241, s. 14.30(v); 2018-113, s. 7; 2020-18, s. 4.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 785, substituted "Agriculture and Forestry" for "Agriculture, Forestry, and Seafood" throughout this article, but did not make this substitution in the article heading. Session Laws 2010-142, s. 8, effective July 22, 2010, rewrote the Article heading, which formerly read "Commission on Agriculture and Forestry Awareness." Session Laws 2014-103, s. 4, provides: "The Department of Public Safety shall study the State's participation in the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance North American Standard Inspection Program for roadside commercial vehicle safety inspections. The study shall include (i) a history of when North Carolina joined the program; (ii) an explanation of how the program is currently being implemented; (iii) data on how many safety inspection decals are issued annually; and (iv) a geographic analysis of where safety inspection decals are issued within the State. The Department shall report the results of its study to the Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission on or before February 1, 2015." Session Laws 2014-103, s. 18(a), is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-108, ss. 1(a), (b), provide: "(a) The Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission shall study all of the following matters: "(1) Any updates it deems advisable to Article 44 of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes governing unfair practices by handlers of fruits and vegetables, including applicable definitions and requirements under the Article. "(2) The advisability of providing property tax abatement to aging farm machinery. In conducting this study, the Commission shall consider all of the following: (i) whether farm machinery 10 years or older, or other time period the Commission deems appropriate, should be designated as a special class under Section 2(2) of Article V of the North Carolina Constitution and be excluded from property tax; (ii) if such farm machinery should be excluded from property tax, whether an eighty percent (80%) property tax exclusion is an appropriate exclusion amount, or another amount the Commission deems appropriate; and (iii) the fiscal impact on local governments if such machinery were to be excluded from property tax. The Commission may request any information necessary to complete the study from any county tax office in this State and from the Department of Revenue. "(3) The type of activities that constitute agritourism when conducted on a bona fide farm and other relevant matters relating to agritourism activities. "(b) The Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission shall complete the studies required by subsection (a) of this section and report its findings and recommendations, including any legislative proposals, to the General Assembly by March 1, 2018." Session Laws 2018-113 provides in its preamble: "Whereas, frivolous nuisance lawsuits threaten the very existence of farming in North Carolina; and "Whereas, in response to the long-standing threat to agriculture, in 1979 the General Assembly enacted the State's first effort to statutorily protect the ability of farms and forestry operations to continue to operate as surrounding development encroached; and "Whereas, following the 1979 enactment, at least three succeeding General Assemblies in 1992, 2013, and 2017 tried to perfect a statutory framework that broadly fosters a cooperative relationship between farms and forestry operations and their neighbors across North Carolina; and "Whereas, recently a federal trial court incorrectly and narrowly interpreted the North Carolina Right to Farm Act in a way that contradicts the intent of the General Assembly and effectively renders the Act toothless in offering meaningful protection to long-established North Carolina farms and forestry operations; and "Whereas, regrettably, the General Assembly is again forced to make plain its intent that existing farms and forestry operations in North Carolina that are operating in good faith be shielded from nuisance lawsuits filed long after the operations become established; Now, therefore," Session Laws 2018-113, s. 8(a), provides: "The Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission shall study all of the following matters: "(1) Requiring the holders of unused rights-of-way and utility easements to offer the easements to the underlying property owners for fair market value. "(2) The advisability of excluding property enrolled in present use value taxation from rural fire protection district and county service district taxes." Session Laws 2018-113, s. 8(b), provides: "The Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission shall complete the studies required by subsection (a) of this section and report its findings and recommendations, including any legislative proposals, to the General Assembly by January 1, 2019." Sessions Laws 2018-113, s. 16(a) is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-18, s. 14, provides: "The Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission shall study policy options available to support the dairy industry in North Carolina, including, but not limited to, the reestablishment of the North Carolina Milk Commission, the creation of a tax credit for milk producers, the creation of a fund to make grants or loans to dairy operations for infrastructure improvements, and the creation of a dairy promotion board or other marketing program for North Carolina dairies within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall assist the Commission in the conduct of the study as requested by the Commission. The Commission shall report its findings and recommendations, including any legislative proposals, to the General Assembly by December 1, 2021." Session Laws 2020-18, s. 16(a), is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2010-142, s. 9, effective July 22, 2010, in subdivisions (1) through (10), made minor punctuation and grammatical changes; in subdivisions (4) and (5), substituted "chairs" for "chairman"; in subdivision (5), substituted "Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources" for "Agriculture Committee"; in subdivision (7), substituted "chair" for "chairman"; in subdivision (9), twice substituted "President" for "Master," or similar language; and in the last paragraph, rewrote the last sentence, which formerly read: "The co-chairman of the Commission shall be the chairmen of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees respectively." Session Laws 2014-103, s. 6, effective August 6, 2014, added the last two sentences in the last paragraph. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(v), effective July 1, 2015, substituted "Secretary of Environmental Quality" for "Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources" in subdivision (10). Session Laws 2018-113, s. 7, effective June 27, 2018, added the last sentence in the last paragraph. Session Laws 2020-18, s. 4, effective June 12, 2020, added the subsection (a) and (b) designators; and added subsection (c).