North Carolina § 58-87-7 - Oversight and accountability of grant awards.

§ 58-87-7. Oversight and accountability of grant awards.

Examination of Purchased Equipment and Supplies. - To increase accountability and to expedite receipt of certain grant awards, notwithstanding any other provision, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and other employees of the Department of Insurance may in their discretion conduct on-site examinations of fire, rescue, and EMS equipment and supplies purchased with funds awarded from either the Volunteer Fire Department Fund or the Volunteer Rescue/EMS Fund for up to five years from the date of the grant award. The on-site examinations may include the inspection of equipment purchased from prior grants and may be conducted prior to or simultaneous with the delivery of the grant awards. The on-site examination shall document what equipment and supplies have been purchased by the volunteer fire department or volunteer rescue/EMS department and whether those items were received by the department and visually reviewed by the on-site examiner. Items that have already been distributed or put in the field shall be noted by the on-site examiner. The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall maintain records of on-site inspections and provide reports of such inspections, upon request, to the State Auditor or the Office of State Budget and Management. Reimbursement to Funds. - If equipment purchased with grant funds is disposed of within five years of the date of the grant award funding its purchase, then the grant recipient shall reimburse the appropriate fund the amount of matching funds used for the purchase of the equipment, less depreciation. Transfer of Purchased Equipment. - If a grant recipient shall cease to exist within five years of the date of award of the grant, it shall transfer, subject to the approval of the Department of Insurance, any and all equipment purchased with such grant funds to whichever department shall assume responsibility for providing service to the grant recipient's area of service or to another appropriate department that may effectively use the equipment. History (2010-22, s. 11; 2014-64, s. 4(d).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2014-64, s. 4(e), effective July 1, 2015, provides: "By the effective date of subsection (d) of this section, the Department of Insurance shall take the following actions to facilitate the implementation and enforcement of G.S. 58-87-7 : "(1) Adopt rules to establish specific guidelines for the following: "a. G.S. 58-87-7(b) , enacted by subsection (d) of this section. "b. G.S. 58-87-7(c) , enacted by subsection (d) of this section, including guidelines for determining which department receives the equipment of a dissolved department and under what circumstances. "(2) Provide transfer of equipment forms to fire and rescue departments that receive grant equipment from dissolved departments. "Additionally, in time for the 2015 grant cycle, the Department shall add language to the Agreement of Payment form departments must fill out as part of the grant application process to ensure that departments understand what will happen to grant equipment in the event of dissolution." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2014-64, s. 4(d), effective July 1, 2015, added the subsection (a) designation; in subsection (a), substituted "Fund for up to five years from the date of the grant award" for "Fund" in the first sentence, and "reports of such inspections, upon request" for "them, or a summary thereof, in reports" in the last sentence; and added subsection (b) and (c).