A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REDUCE THE NOTICE PERIOD PRIOR TO GRANTING OR DENYING A PERMIT TO DISCHARGE INTO SURFACE WATERS FROM forty-five DAYS TO thirty DAYS, as recommended by the environmental review commission.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143‑215.1(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Applications for Permits and Renewals for Facilities Discharging to the Surface Waters. –
(1)	All applications for permits and for renewal of existing permits for outlets and point sources and for treatment works and disposal systems discharging to the surface waters of the State shall be in writing, and the Commission may prescribe the form of such applications. All applications shall be filed with the Commission at least 180 days in advance of the date on which it is desired to commence the discharge of wastes or the date on which an existing permit expires, as the case may be. The Commission shall act on a permit application as quickly as possible. The Commission may conduct any inquiry or investigation it considers necessary before acting on an application and may require an applicant to submit plans, specifications, and other information the Commission considers necessary to evaluate the application.
a.	The Department shall refer each application for permit, or renewal of an existing permit, for outlets and point sources and treatment works and disposal systems discharging to the surface waters of the State to its staff for written evaluation and proposed determination with regard to issuance or denial of the permit. If the Commission concurs in the proposed determination, it shall give notice of intent to issue or deny the permit, along with any other data that the Commission may determine appropriate, to be given to the appropriate State, interstate and federal agencies, to interested persons, and to the public.
a1.	The Commission shall prescribe the form and content of the notice. Public notice shall be given at least 30 days prior to any proposed final action granting or denying the permit. Public notice shall be given by publication of the notice one time in a newspaper having general circulation within the county."
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SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2002, and applies to a permit or renewal application submitted on or after that date.