GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1018

Short Title:  Nutrient/Pesticide Mgt. Education.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Albertson; Cooper, Dannelly, Forrester, Foxx, Gulley, Hoyle, Martin of Pitt, Martin of Guilford, and Warren.

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Referred to:  Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources.

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April 21, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A VOLUNTARY NUTRIENT AND PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION PROGRAM, TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM, AND TO REQUIRE THE NORTH CAROLINA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE TO REPORT TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMISSION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND PROGRESS OF THE PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Chapter 106 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"ARTICLE 68.
"Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program.
"§ 106-820.  Legislative findings.
The General Assembly finds that nutrient and pesticide use in rural areas by agricultural and horticultural producers and in urban and suburban areas by homeowners, parks, golf courses, and others impacts the quality of surface and groundwater in this State.  The General Assembly further finds that voluntary nutrient and pesticide management education is an effective means for encouraging responsible use of nutrients and pesticides and for reducing excessive inputs of nutrients and pesticides into the surface and groundwater of this State.
"§ 106-821.  Voluntary Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program: established; training; report.
(a)	The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service shall develop and implement the Voluntary Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program.  The Program shall be designed to increase public awareness of the impact that nutrients and pesticides have on the environment of the State and educate the public in practices that reduce nutrients and pesticides derived from agricultural as well as urban and suburban activities.  The Program shall specifically target client groups including farmers, landscape and lawn maintenance personnel, urban and suburban residents, and developers.
(b)	The Voluntary Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program shall consist of a minimum of eight hours of education in areas including: nutrient and pesticide fate in the environment; nutrient sources and characteristics, cropping, plant productions, and maintenance systems; soil test interpretation; effects of timing and placement on uptake efficiencies; development of sample nutrient management plans; and regulations, standards, and specifications.  Participants in the Program shall be encouraged to implement environmentally sound practices and shall be appropriately and publicly recognized for successful completion of the Program.
(c)	On or before January 1 of each year, the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service shall report to the Environmental Review Commission as to the implementation and progress of the Voluntary Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program."
Section 2.  The Voluntary Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program established pursuant to G.S. 106-821, as enacted by Section 1 of this act, shall initially be implemented in the Neuse, Cape Fear, and Pamlico-Tar River Basins and the mountain region of the State.  The Program shall be expanded to encompass the entire State during a four-year period beginning July 1, 1997.  The first report to the Environmental Review Commission under G.S. 106-821(b), as enacted by Section 1 of this act, shall be due January 1, 1998.
Section 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of six hundred forty thousand dollars ($640,000) for the 1997-98 fiscal year and the sum of six hundred forty thousand dollars ($640,000) for 1998-99 fiscal year to be allocated to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University to establish six positions and for administrative and other costs to implement and administer the Voluntary Nutrient and Pesticide Management Education Program.
Section 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1997.