North Carolina § 143B-472 - 126. Rural Economic Development Division created.

§ 143B-472. 126. Rural Economic Development Division created.

There is hereby created in the Department of Commerce a division to be known as the Rural Economic Development Division. The Secretary shall appoint an Assistant Secretary to administer this Division, who shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Secretary. The Assistant Secretary, subject to the approval of the Secretary, shall select a professional staff of qualified and competent employees to assist in the administration of the duties and responsibilities prescribed in this Part. History (2013-360, s. 15.10(a).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 15.10(b), provides: "For the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the Department of Commerce, Rural Economic Development Division, as established in subsection (a) of this section, may use up to five percent (5%) of the funds appropriated in this act to the programs to be administered by the Division, and described in subsection (a) of this section, to cover the Division's expenses in administering those programs." NC Ready Sites Program. - Session Laws 2017-57, s. 15.7A(a)-(d), provides: "(a) Program. - There is created within the Department of Commerce the NC Ready Sites Fund (Fund), a special fund. Of the funds appropriated in this act to the Fund, the Department of Commerce shall allocate two million dollars ($2,000,000) in the 2017-2018 fiscal year to the Rural Infrastructure Authority for the assistance program described in this section, as governed by agreements entered into by the Rural Infrastructure Authority. "(b) Purposes. - Moneys in the NC Ready Sites Program shall assist local government units to fund improvement of public infrastructure that serves publicly owned or publicly controlled industrial sites that have the potential to attract employers that can create jobs and have a significant positive effect on the local, regional, and State economies. Agreements entered into by local governments and the Rural Infrastructure Authority for the program shall be administered by the Rural Economic Development Division. "(c) Program Guidelines. - The Department and the Rural Infrastructure Authority shall develop guidelines related to the administration of this program. At least 20 days before the effective date of any guidelines or nontechnical amendments to the guidelines, the Department shall publish the proposed guidelines on the Department's Web site and provide notice to persons who have requested notice of proposed guidelines. In addition, the Department shall accept oral and written comments on the proposed guidelines during the 15 business days beginning on the first day that the Department has completed these notifications. Guidelines adopted under this section shall not be subject to the requirements of Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. The guidelines shall include, at a minimum, the following provisions: "(1) The applicant shall be a unit of local government located in a development tier one or tier two area, pursuant to G.S. 143B-437.08. "(2) The site to be served by the public infrastructure shall be publicly owned or publicly controlled. "(3) The site shall have a minimum size of 50 contiguous acres. "(4) There shall be evidence of appropriate local financial support for site development, which includes, but is not limited to, site acquisition, development costs, or infrastructure improvements. "(5) There shall be evidence of recent private sector interest in developing an industrial project on the site. "(6) There shall be evidence of a well thought-out strategy to identify and market the site to appropriate private sector businesses. "(7) Improvements that would be funded shall result in a site that is ready for development; funds are to be used to eliminate or reduce the infrastructure gap and time needed to make the site development ready. "(8) Funds shall only be utilized for public infrastructure improvements including new or existing water, sewer, gas, telecommunications, high-speed broadband, electrical utility distribution lines or equipment, or transportation infrastructure. "(d) Report. - The Department of Commerce shall submit a report detailing its use of State funds appropriated by this section. The report shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources, the chairs of the House of Representatives Appropriations on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources, the chairs of the Senate Appropriations on Agriculture, Natural, and Economic Resources, and the Fiscal Research Division by September 1, 2017, by September 1 of each subsequent year State funds are received, and more frequently as requested. The report shall include the information required by this section for the most recently ended fiscal year." Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2013.'" Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause.