The 2014 session of the North Carolina General Assembly convened May 14, 2014 and adjourned on August 20, 2014.
The following is a list of bills related to planning, land use regulation, environment, transportation, and similar matters addressed in 2014.
2014 Bill List
UPDATED: THROUGH 8/25/2014
David Owens
School of Government
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The 2014 session of the North Carolina General Assembly convened May 14, 2014 and adjourned on August 20, 2014.
The following is a list of bills related to planning, land use regulation, environment, transportation, and similar matters addressed in 2014.
House bills are listed first, followed by Senate bills. The last action taken in each house is indicated. For bills that have become law, a session law chapter number is included in the last column. Abbreviations used in the table are:
- "Comm. fav." indicates the bill was reported out of a committee with a favorable recommendation, but no floor action was taken.
- "Passed" indicates the bill passed third reading in the indicated house.
- "Conf." indicates a conference committee was appointed to reconcile differences in House and Senate versions of adopted bills, but no conference report was adopted.
- "Ratif." indicates final General Assembly approval, pending action by Governor
Quick links to the bill texts are provided for some bills. Clicking on the underlined Bill Numbers in the far left column will take you to the General Assembly's detailed information on that bill (including sponsors, bill history, and votes). That site also has a link for the latest text of the bill. Clicking on the underlined Session Law numbers in the far right column will take you to a copy of the bill as enacted. Copies of the texts of all bills, and a detailed legislative history for each bill, can be obtained through the General Assembly's Bill Information web site.
Bill | Title/Short Description | Identical | House Action | Senate Action | Session Law |
H. 94 | Amend statutes on sanitary landfill permits, civil penalties under sedimentation erosion control ordinances, repeal mountain resources planning act, amend various other environmental statutes | Passed | Passed |
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Limit design requirements in zoning for single family homes and duplexes | S. 139 | Passed | Comm. fav. |
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Limit energy conservation code to 2011 code for some commercial building additions/renovations; revise stormwater calculation of impervious surfaces to exclude existing development | Passed | Passed | |||
| H. 272 | Revise provisions for notice to owner and applicant when reviewing or negotiating rights-of-way dedications or density transfers | Passed
| Passed | S.L. 2014-108 | |
| H. 366 | Modify agricultural laws, including clarification on local regulation of fertilizer | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-103 | |
Study roles of MPOs and RPOs in transportation planning | Passed |
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Revise provisions re petitions for municipal incorporation | Passed |
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H. 531 | Eliminate Weaverville ETJ and allow Buncombe County zoning of areas less than 640 acres | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-26 | |
H. 568 | Deannex specified area from Asheville | Passed |
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| H. 569 | Remove specified satellite annexation restrictions for Foxfire and Harrisburg | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-30 | |
Broaden use of stormwater fees to allow counties to purchase flood prone buildings and implement flood damage reduction techniques | S. 275 | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-14 | |
Allow temporary health care structure as permitted accessory use in any single family residential zoning district | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-94 | ||
Study property owners protection act, including awarding attorney fees and prohibiting penalties for acts not committed by owner | Passed |
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| H. 761 | Regulatory reform, including: revise official map act; notice for chronic public nuisance ordinance; inspections of work in progress, violations; willful misconduct by code enforcement officials; farm uses in ETJ flood hazard areas; electronic notice for legislative hearings; allow choice of rules to be applied if rule changes after application submitted (but not applicable to zoning); allow expansion of grandfathered development from coastal stormwater rules; modify regulation of isolated wetlands | Passed | Comm. fav. | ||
Limit county zoning exclusion of manufactured homes on individual lots in single-family residential zoning districts (except up to 10% of county in tourism areas); permit reasonable appearance standards | Passed | Comm. fav. |
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Limit city and county housing inspections | Passed |
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| H. 894 | Source water protection planning | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-41 | |
H. 938 | Provide that no water quality permit required for wetlands permits for areas that are not "waters of the US" | Passed | Passed |
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| H. 1025 | Allow agritourism signs on state highways subject to DOT location and placement rules for logo signs; set penalties for MPO and RTPO ethics violations | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-58 | |
| H. 1031 | Facilitate economic development, create nonprofit for some economic development work of Dept. of Commerce | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-18 | |
| H. 1050 | Omnibus tax law amendments, including: income standard for exemptions for qualifying farmers; cap on local privilege license tax | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-3 | |
| H. 1056 | Amend corporate boundaries for Lake Lure | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014- | |
| H. 1057 | Require DENR to study issues related to interbasin water transfers | Passed | |||
| H. 1058 | Require legislative study of regional water and sewer systems | ||||
| H. 1067 | Deannex specified area from Murphy | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-46 | |
| H. 1082 | Allow Carrboro to adopt and enforce 2012 energy conservation and residential building codes | S. 799 | |||
| H. 1086 | Establish NC-SC rail compact | Passed | Passed | Ratif. | |
| H. 1100 | Create Nature and Heritage Tourism Advisory Board and mandate guide | S. 769 | Comm. fav. | ||
| H. 1105 | Transfer enforcement for existing approved plans to local governments when local erosion and sedimentation control program is approved | Passed | |||
| H. 1106 | Enhance standards for retaining walls required in erosion and sedimentation plans | Passed | |||
| H. 1126 | Revise NCDOT-private developer contracts for road improvements | S. 827 | |||
| H. 1127 | Maggie Valley deannexation | ||||
| H. 1135 | Create loan fund for local government development of sites and buildings for economic development | ||||
| H. 1139 | Remove specified areas from state Nature and Historic Preserve | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-62 | |
| H. 1155 | Add specified area to Pinehurst | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-85 | |
| H. 1191 | Prohibit local regulations on fertilizer and the removal, replacement, or preservation of trees on private property | ||||
| H. 1208 | Governor's proposed budget | S. 842 | |||
| H. 1228 | Governor's coal ash action plan | S. 729 | |||
| H. 1245 | Annex specified territory to Pleasant Garden, deannex area from Watha | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-80 | |
| H. 1248 | Allow Washington County to remove abandoned vessels form navigable waters | Passed | |||
| H. 1276 | Adjournment resolution | Passed | Passed | Res. 2014-8 | |
| S. 3 | Budget modifications, including state pay raises | Passed | Passed | Ratif. | |
| S.38 | Amend various environmental laws -- amends isolated wetland regulation, review of engineering work, repeal moratoria on local environmental regulations, limit new inlet hazard regulations, gravel as impervious surface, septic tank regulation, local regulation of fertilizer | Passed | Passed | ||
Clarify and conform city and county procedures for vote required to adopt ordinance on first reading | Passed |
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S. 113 | Require DENR support for regional water projects under specified conditions | Passed |
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| S. 163 | Reclaimed water as source water | Passed | Passed | S.L. 104-113 | |
Amend notice provisions for chronic violators of overgrown lot ordinances | Comm. fav. | Passed |
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Allow electronic publication of hearing notices for Mecklenburg and Guildford Counties and their municipalities | Passed | Passed | Conf. reported | ||
S. 290 | Annex specified area to Waynesville | H. 306 | Passed |
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| S. 294 | Allow use of DOT's stormwater best management practices for city streets and road being constructed for conveyance to DOT | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-1 | |
S. 312 | Referendum on incorporation of Lake James | Passed |
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S. 328 | Revise landfill siting and other solid waste laws | Passed |
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| S. 523 | Move specified area from Wrightsville Beach to Wilmington jurisdiction | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-45 | |
| S. 574 | Modify statute of repose for groundwater contamination suits | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-17 | |
Limit more strict local regulation of matters regulated by state or federal government, fast-track stormwater and sedimentation permits, revise various environmental permits | Passed |
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| S. 614 | Revise process for review of tall buildings near military bases | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-79 | |
S. 636 | Amend wildlife statutes and set referenda on constitutional amendment limiting eminent domain to acquisitions for public use | Passed | Passed |
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| S. 729 | Coal ash disposal management | Passed | Passed | Ratif. | |
| S. 734 | Various regulatory reforms, including: county regulate farm uses in ETJ flood hazard areas; choice of rules for pending non-zoning applications; local environmental ordinance preemption study; various CAMA, wetland, stormwater modifications | Passed | Passed | Ratif. | |
| S. 743 | Modify economic development partnerships | Passed | |||
| S. 744 | Appropriations Act of 2014 | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-100 | |
| S. 763 | Revenue technical amendments: extend tax credit for historic property rehabilitation | Passed | Passed | ||
| S. 767 | Rockingham deannexation | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-48 | |
| S. 769 | Create Nature and Heritage Tourism Advisory Board and guide | H. 1100 | |||
| S. 786 | Revise laws on oil and gas exploration and development (fracking); limit local ordinances on same | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-4 | |
| S. 799 | Allow Carrboro to adopt and enforce 2012 energy conservation and residential building codes | H. 1082 | |||
| S. 816 | Authorize bill to extend low-income housing tax credit | ||||
| S. 827 | Revise NCDOT-private developer contracts for road improvements | H. 1126 | |||
| S. 842 | Governor's proposed 2013-14 budget | H. 1208 | |||
| S. 846 | Deannex specified area from Shallotte | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-68 | |
| S. 848 | Allow public-private agreements for construction of infrastructure in Mint Hill, Concord, and Kannapolis | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-31 | |
| S. 856 | Coal Ash Management Act | ||||
| S. 859 | Allow zoning regulations for vacation rentals and other transient occupancy in Cornelius | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-91 | |
| S.865 | Remove authority for ETJ from Boone | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-33 | |
| S. 871 | Raleigh/Durham annexations and deannexations | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-47 | |
| S. 874 | Deannex specified area from Spruce Pine | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-55 | |
| S. 883 | Disapprove EMC rule on mitigation requirements in riparian buffer rule; require new rule | Passed | Passed | S.L. 2014-95 |
