{"data":{"id":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-120-70.43","jurisdiction":"us-nc","citation":"N.C. Gen. Stat. § 120-70.43","heading":"Powers and duties.","body":"(a)\tThe Environmental Review Commission shall have the following powers and duties:\n(1)\tTo evaluate actions of all boards, commissions, departments, and other agencies of the State and local governments as such actions relate to the environment or protection of the environment, including but not limited to an evaluation of:\na.\tBenefits of each program relative to costs;\nb.\tAchievement of program goals;\nc.\tUse of measures by which the success or failure of a program can be measured; and\nd.\tConformity with legislative intent;\n(2)\tTo study on a continuing basis the organization of State government as it relates to the environment or to the protection of public health and the environment, including but not limited to:\na.\tImprovements in administrative structure, practices, and procedures;\nb.\tIncreased integration and coordination of programs and functions;\nc.\tIncreased efficiency in budgeting and use of resources;\nd.\tEfficient administration of licensing, permitting, and grant programs;\ne.\tPrompt, effective response to environmental emergencies;\nf.\tOpportunities for effective citizen participation; and\ng.\tBroadening of career opportunities for professional staff;\n(3)\tTo make any recommendations it deems appropriate regarding the reorganization and consolidation of environmental regulatory agencies and the recodification of statutes relating to the environment, including but not limited to:\na.\tWays in which agencies may operate more efficiently and economically;\nb.\tWays in which agencies can provide better services to the State and to the people; and\nc.\tInstances in which functions of agencies are duplicative, overlapping, incomplete in scope or coverage, fail to accomplish legislative objectives, or for any other reason should be redefined or redistributed;\n(4)\tTo review and evaluate changes in federal law and regulations, relevant court decisions, and changes in technology affecting the environment or protection of the environment;\n(5)\tTo review existing and proposed State law and rules affecting the environment or protection of the environment and to determine whether any modification of law or rules is in the public interest;\n(6)\tTo make reports and recommendations, including draft legislation, to the General Assembly from time to time as to any matter relating to the powers and duties set out in this section; and\n(7)\tTo undertake such additional studies as it deems appropriate or as may from time to time be requested by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, either house of the General Assembly, the Legislative Research Commission, or the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and to make such reports and recommendations to the General Assembly regarding such studies as it deems appropriate; provided that the Environmental Review Commission shall not undertake any study which the General Assembly has assigned to another legislative commission or committee.\n(b)\tThe Environmental Review Commission may continue the study of environmental agency consolidation and reorganization. The study of environmental agency consolidation shall include, but is not limited to:\n(1)\tMonitoring the implementation of Session Laws 1989, c. 727;\n(2)\tEvaluation of the organization, programs, and operation of the Department of Environmental Quality;\n(3)\tEvaluation of the organization, functions, powers, and duties of the components of the Department of Environmental Quality, including boards, commissions, councils, and regional offices; and\n(4)\tRecodification of the General Statutes relating to the environment and environmental agencies.\n(c)\tIn addition to its general powers and duties, the Environmental Review Commission shall have the following powers and duties with respect to hazardous waste management:\n(1)\tTo study the current and projected need for hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal capacity in the State in light of anticipated generation of hazardous waste and alternatives for hazardous waste treatment and disposal;\n(2)\tTo evaluate the potential for the development of additional hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal capacity by the private sector;\n(3)\tTo study the necessity for and scope of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities which are sited, owned, or operated by the State;\n(4)\tTo review progress in securing a volunteer county to host a hazardous waste treatment facility;\n(5)\tTo study incentives and compensation for the community which hosts, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a hazardous waste treatment facility, including any additional incentives and compensation which may be needed, whether there should be differential compensation for a volunteer county, options for use of funds by local governments, distribution of compensation among local governments, and methods of providing flexibility in the development of an incentives and compensation package for a particular local community;\n(6)\tTo review progress in developing interstate agreements for the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste;\n(7)\tTo assist in the development of cooperative, comprehensive regional approach to hazardous waste treatment and disposal;\n(8),\t(9) Repealed by Session Laws 2001-474, s. 12, effective November 29, 2001.\n(10)\tTo study the capacity assurance requirement under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767, 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq., as amended, and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613, as amended as it relates to the continued eligibility of North Carolina for remedial actions under Superfund;\n(11)\tTo study alternatives available to the State for dealing with hazardous waste and the ramifications of those alternatives; and\n(12)\tTo receive and evaluate reports of every State agency, board, and commission which has any power or duty with respect to hazardous waste management. (1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1100, s. 4.1; 1989, c. 168, s. 46(b); c. 727, s. 225(a); 1991, c. 739, s. 6; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 990, s. 4; 1997-443, s. 11A.119(a); 2001-474, s. 12; 2011-266, s. 1.31(b); 2011-291, s. 2.31; 2015-241, s. 14.30(u).)","path":["Chapter 120. General Assembly.","Article 12D. Environmental Review Commission."],"source_url":"https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_120/GS_120-70.43.html","current_through":"S.L. 2026-30","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T18:18:52Z","sha256":"b534f599a400c6b3dd9df1c5411b6bd0498d6175b64743128c2950a53b55d18c","source_id":"us-nc","stale":false,"prev":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-120-70.42","next":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-120-70.44"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}