North Carolina § 143-215 - 94AA. Declaration of public policy.

§ 143-215. 94AA. Declaration of public policy.

The General Assembly hereby finds and declares as follows: The traditional uses of the seacoast of the State are public and private recreation, commercial and sports fishing, and habitat for natural resources; The preservation of these uses is a matter of the highest urgency and priority, and such uses can only be preserved effectively by maintaining and enhancing the existing condition of the coastal waters, estuaries, wetlands, tidal flats, beaches, and public lands adjoining the seacoast; The coastal economy, including access to the coast of the State, depends, either directly or indirectly, upon a ready and continuous reserve of petroleum products and by-products, including that portion of the supply resulting from oil and gas activities on the Outer Continental Shelf; Offshore oil and natural gas exploration, production, processing, recovery, and transportation pose increased potential for damage to the State's coastal environment, to the traditional uses of the area, and to the beauty of the North Carolina coast; Spills, discharges, and escapes of pollutants occurring as a result of procedures involving offshore oil and natural gas related activities have occurred in the past, and future threats of potentially catastrophic proportions from such activities require adoption of this Part as mitigation against such events; The economic burdens imposed by the General Assembly upon those engaged in the offshore exploration, production, processing, recovery, and transportation of oil and natural gas are reasonable and necessary in light of the traditional uses and interests herein protected, which are expressly declared to be of grave public interest and concern to the State in promoting its general interest and welfare promoting the public health, preventing diseases, and providing for the public safety. History (1989, c. 656, s. 5; c. 770, s. 75.5.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2013-365, s. 7(a)-(e), provides: "(a) Development of Regional Interstate Offshore Energy Policy Compact. - The Governor is strongly encouraged to commence negotiations on the development of a regional energy compact with the governors of South Carolina and Virginia in order to develop a unified regional strategy for the exploration, development, and production of all commercially viable federal and state offshore energy resources within the three-state region. The Governor shall develop recommendations for the General Assembly to consider for the development of a statutory regional compact, and these recommendations shall reflect the collective agreement of all three governors in the three-state region in order to provide common language for consideration by each state's General Assembly. During the development of these compact recommendations, the Governor or the Governor's designee is authorized to work directly with each of the three states' Congressional delegations, the United States Department of the Interior, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and other appropriate federal agencies on behalf of the State of North Carolina to develop appropriate strategies to be considered in the development of the three-state compact for increasing domestic energy exploration, development, and production within each state in the three-state region and their adjacent state and federal waters. The compact negotiations and recommendations shall address at least all of the following: "(1) Ensure a timely review and consideration of permits and proposals at both the state and federal level for both state and federal waters adjacent to each state in the three-state region for seismic and other marine geophysical exploration to identify and quantify natural gas and related hydrocarbon resources along the continental margin. "(2) Amend the 2012 to 2017 Five Year Leasing Plan of the United States Department of the Interior to include leasing federal waters adjacent to the State and the three-state region for the exploration, quantification, and development of natural gas and related hydrocarbon energy resources. "(3) Advocate proactively with each state's Congressional delegation and appropriate federal agencies to ensure direct sharing of royalties and revenues related to energy leasing, exploration, development, and production of all offshore energy resources in federal waters adjacent to the State and the three-state region. "(4) Request the United States Department of the Interior to reinstate the federal Offshore Policy Committee with new members and new alternate members to be nominated by the governor of the state represented on the Offshore Policy Committee and appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, six of whom are to be one member and one alternate member each from North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina. "(5) Request the United States Department of the Interior to immediately move forward with permitting geological and geophysical data acquisition activities associated with oil and gas exploration in the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf immediately as outlined in Alternative A of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement entitled 'Atlantic OCS Proposed Geological and Geophysical Activities' published in 2012. "(b) No later than three months after the effective date of this act, and at least every three months thereafter, the Governor or the Governor's designee shall report to the General Assembly on the progress of the Governor and others in complying with the requirements under this section, to include providing copies of correspondence and other relevant materials to or from the Office of the Governor when the correspondence or materials pertain to the subject under this section or to any requirement under this section. The Governor shall report the Governor's final recommendations for the three-state energy compact to the Joint Energy Oversight Committee no later than March 1, 2014. "(c) In addition to the provisions in Sections 7(a) and 7(b) of this act, the Governor is encouraged to join the Governors of Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Virginia and any others who may sign on to the Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition announced on May 3, 2011, to promote a constructive dialogue among the coastal state governors and the federal government on offshore energy issues important to the future of North Carolina and the United States. The Governor is authorized to expend funds related to membership in the Coalition. "(d) The Governor is also encouraged to write letters to the North Carolina Congressional delegation, the governors of South Carolina and Virginia, the legislative bodies of South Carolina and Virginia, the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, and the President of the United States urging their support of the recommendations set forth in subdivisions (1) through (5) of Section 7(a) of this act. "(e) Upon ratification, the Secretary of State shall furnish certified copies of this act to each member of the North Carolina Congressional delegation, the governors of South Carolina and Virginia, the legislative bodies of South Carolina and Virginia, the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, and the President of the United States."