Wherever used or referred to in this Chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

(1) “Agency of this State” includes the government of this State and any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the government of the State.

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(2) “A qualified voter” includes any person qualified to vote in elections by the people under the Constitution of this State.

(3) “Environmental Management Commission” or “State Environmental Management Commission” means the Environmental Management Commission of the State of North Carolina, or the board, body or commission succeeding to its principal functions, or in whom shall be vested by law the powers herein granted to the said Environmental Management Commission.

(4) “Commission” or “Soil and Water Conservation Commission” means the Soil and Water Conservation Commission created by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-840

(4a) “Conservation easement” has the same meaning as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 40A-80

(5) “District” or “soil and water conservation district” means a governmental subdivision of this State, and a public body corporate and politic, organized in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, for the purposes, with the powers, and subject to the restrictions hereinafter set forth.

(6) “Due notice” means notice given by posting the same at the courthouse door and at three other public places in the county, including those where it may be customary to post notices concerning county or municipal affairs generally, not less than 10 days before the date of the event of which notice is being given. At any hearing held pursuant to such a notice at the time and place designated in such a notice, adjournment may be made from time to time without the necessity of renewing such notice for such adjourned dates.

(7) “Government” or “governmental” includes the government of this State, the government of the United States, and any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of either of them.

(8) The terms “land occupier” or “occupier of land,” and “landowner” or “owner of land” include any person, firm or corporation who shall hold title to or shall have contracted to purchase any lands lying within a soil and water conservation district organized under the provisions of this Chapter.

(9) “Nominating petition” means a petition filed under the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 139-6 to nominate candidates for the office of supervisor of a soil and water conservation district.

(10) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 391, s. 1.

(11) “Petition” means a petition filed under the provisions of Article 1 of this Chapter for the creation of a soil and water conservation district.

(12) “State” means the State of North Carolina.

(13) “Supervisor” means one of the members of the governing body of a district, elected or appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.

(14) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 391, s. 1.

(15) “United States” or “agencies of the United States” includes the United States of America, the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and any other agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

(16) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 391, s. 1.

(17) A “watershed improvement project” means a project of watershed improvement (whether involving flood prevention, drainage improvement, water supply, soil and water conservation, recreation facilities, fish and wildlife habitat, or other related purposes, singly or in combination) which is undertaken:

a. Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 391, s. 1.

b. By a soil and water conservation district under the provisions of Article 1 of Chapter 139 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. or any local act granting similar powers.

c. By a drainage district under the provisions of Chapter 156 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. or any local act granting similar powers.

d. By a county that is carrying out a county watershed improvement program under the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 139 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. or any local act granting similar powers.

e. By any combination of the foregoing, acting as joint sponsors of a watershed improvement program.

f. By any watershed, drainage or flood control project planned or carried out by the Soil Conservation Service, Tennessee Valley Authority or the Army Corps of Engineers.

(18) A “watershed improvement work” means a single feature or facility or portion of a watershed improvement project, such as a water retarding or impoundment structure for one or more authorized watershed purposes or a section of improved stream channel or the land treatment measures associated with a water retarding structure.

(19) “Job approval authority” means the authority granted by the Commission to Soil and Water Conservation District staff or employees of the Division of Soil and Water Conservation of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services who have demonstrated the appropriate knowledge, skill, and ability to plan, design, and certify the installation of best management practices approved for cost-share funding pursuant to programs identified in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 139-4(d)(9). (1937, c. 393, s. 3; 1947, c. 131, s. 2; 1959, c. 781, s. 4; 1965, c. 582, s. 1; 1967, c. 987, s. 1; 1971, c. 1138, s. 1A; 1973, c. 1262, s. 38; 1993, c. 391, s. 1; 1995, c. 519, s. 5; 2011-145, s. 13.22A(h); 2011-209, s. 1; 2020-18, s. 7(b).)