North Carolina General Statutes 143-215.104C. (This Part has an expiration date – see notes) Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Fund
(a) Creation. – The Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Fund is established as a special revenue fund to be administered by the Commission. Accordingly, revenue in the Fund at the end of a fiscal year does not revert. The Fund is created to provide revenue to implement this Part.
(b) Sources of Revenue. – The following revenue is credited to the Fund:
(1) Dry-cleaning solvent taxes collected under Article 5D of Chapter 105 of the N.C. Gen. Stat..
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 143-215.104C
- Commission: means the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission. See North Carolina General Statutes 143-215.77
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: shall mean the Department of Environmental Quality. See North Carolina General Statutes 143-215.77
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Hazardous substance: shall mean any substance, other than oil, which when discharged in any quantity may present an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare, as designated pursuant to N. See North Carolina General Statutes 143-215.77
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- 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
(2) Recoveries made pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.104N and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.104O.
(3) Gifts and grants made to the Fund.
(4) Revenues credited to the Fund under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.44E.
(5) Application fees pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.104F(a1).
(c) Disbursements. – A claim filed against the Fund may be paid only from monies in the Fund and only in accordance with the provisions of this Part. Any obligation to pay claims against the Fund shall be expressly contingent upon availability of monies in the Fund. Neither the State nor any of its agencies shall have any obligation to pay any costs for which monies are not available in the Fund. The provisions of this Part shall not constitute a contract, either express or implied, to pay costs in excess of the monies available in the Fund. In making disbursements from the Fund, the Commission shall obligate monies to facilities or sites with higher priority before facilities or sites of lower priority, and facilities or sites with equal priority in the order in which the facilities or sites were prioritized until the revenue is exhausted. Consistent with the provisions of this Part, the Commission may disburse monies from the Fund to abate imminent hazards by dry-cleaning solvent contamination at abandoned dry-cleaning facility sites that have not been certified. Up to twenty percent (20%) of the amount of revenue credited to the Fund in a year may be used to defray costs incurred by the Department and the Attorney General’s Office in connection with administration of the program described in this Part, including oversight of response activities.
(d) Up to three percent (3%) of the amount of the Fund balance may be used by the Department in each fiscal year for investigation of inactive hazardous substance disposal sites that the Department reasonably believes to be contaminated by dry-cleaning solvent. If the contamination is determined to originate from a dry-cleaning facility, a potentially responsible party may petition for certification of the facility or abandoned facility site. Acceptance of a petition shall be conditioned upon the written acceptance by the petitioner of responsibility for the costs of investigation incurred by the Department pursuant to this subsection. Costs of investigation that are recovered pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed, and shall be credited toward, the financial responsibility of the petitioner pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.104F(f). If a potentially responsible party does not petition for certification of the facility or abandoned facility site, the Commission may request the Attorney General to commence a civil action to secure reimbursement of costs incurred under this subsection. (1997-392, s. 1; 2000-19, ss. 2, 5, 5.1-5.3; 2007-530, s. 2; 2014-100, s. 14.21(c); 2022-74, s. 12.6(a).)