North Carolina General Statutes 113A-12. Environmental document not required in certain cases
Notwithstanding any other provision in this Article, no environmental document shall be required in connection with:
(1) The construction, maintenance, or removal of an electric power line, water line, sewage line, stormwater drainage line, telephone line, telegraph line, cable television line, data transmission line, natural gas line, or similar infrastructure project within or across the right-of-way of any street or highway.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 113A-12
- Environmental document: means an environmental assessment, an environmental impact statement, or a finding of no significant impact. See North Carolina General Statutes 113A-9
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- State agency: includes every department, agency, institution, public authority, board, commission, bureau, division, council, member of Council of State, or officer of the State government of the State of North Carolina, but does not include local governmental units or bodies such as cities, towns, other municipal corporations or political subdivisions of the State, county or city boards of education, other local special-purpose public districts, units or bodies of any kind, or private corporations created by act of the General Assembly, except in those instances where programs, projects and actions of local governmental units or bodies are subject to review, approval or licensing by State agencies in accordance with existing statutory authority, in which case local governmental units or bodies shall supply information which may be required by such State agencies for preparation of any environmental statement required by this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 113A-9
(2) An action approved under:
a. A general permit issued under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113A-118.1, 143-215.1(b)(3), or 143-215.108(c)(8).
b. A Coastal Habitat Protection Plan under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143B-279.8
c. A special order pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.2 or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.110
d. An action taken to address an emergency under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.3 or other similar emergency conditions.
e. A remedial or similar action to address contamination under Chapter 130A or 143 of the General Statutes, including a brownfield agreement entered into under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-310.32
f. A certificate of convenience and necessity under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 62-110
g. An industrial or pollution control project approval by the Secretary of Commerce under Chapter 159C of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
h. A project approved as a water infrastructure project under Chapter 159G of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
i. A certification issued by the Division of Water Resources of the Department of Environmental Quality under the authority granted to the Environmental Management Commission by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143B-282(a)(1)u.
(3) A lease or easement granted by a State agency for:
a. The use of an existing building or facility.
b. Placement of a wastewater line or other structures or uses on or under submerged lands pursuant to a permit granted under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.1
c. A shellfish cultivation lease granted under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113-202
d. A facility for the use or benefit of The University of North Carolina System, the North Carolina community college system, the North Carolina public school systems, or one or more constituent institutions of any of those systems.
e. A health care facility financed pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 131A of the N.C. Gen. Stat. or receiving a certificate of need under Article 9 of Chapter 131E of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
(4) The construction of a driveway connection to a public roadway.
(5) Any State action in connection with a project for which public lands are used and/or public monies are expended if the land or expenditure is provided as an incentive for the project pursuant to an agreement that makes the incentives contingent on prior completion of the project or activity, or completion on a specified timetable, and a specified level of job creation or new capital investment.
(6) A major development as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113A-118 that receives a permit issued under Article 7 of Chapter 113A of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
(7) The issuance of an executive order under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 166A-19.30(a)(5) waiving the requirement for an environmental document.
(8) The redevelopment or reoccupation of an existing building or facility, so long as any additions to the existing building or facility do not increase the total footprint to more than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the footprint of the existing building or facility and so long as any new construction does not increase the total footprint to more than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the footprint of the existing building or facility.
(9) Facilities created in the course of facilitating closure activities under Part 2I of Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
(10) Any project or facility specifically required or authorized by an act of the General Assembly.
(11) Any project undertaken as mitigation for the impacts of an approved project or to mitigate or avoid harm from natural environmental change, including wetlands and buffer mitigation projects and banks, coastal protections and mitigation projects, and noise mitigation projects. (1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 945, ss. 5, 7(a); c. 1030, s. 51.15; 2010-186, s. 1; 2010-188, s. 1; 2011-398, s. 59(a); 2014-90, s. 4; 2014-100, s. 14.7(j); 2015-90, s. 5; 2015-241, s. 14.30(c); 2019-240, s. 27.1(c).)