143B-135.234. Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

(a) Fund Established. - The Clean Water Management Trust Fund is established as a special revenue fund to be administered by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The Fund receives revenue from the following sources and may receive revenue from other sources:

(1) Annual appropriations.

(2) Special registration plates under G.S. 20-81.12.

(3) Other special registration plates under G.S. 20-79.7.

(b) Fund Earnings, Assets, and Balances. - The State Treasurer shall hold the Fund separate and apart from all other moneys, funds, and accounts. Any balance remaining in the Fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward in the Fund for the next succeeding fiscal year. Payments from the Fund shall be made on the warrant of the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

(c) Fund Purposes. - Moneys from the Fund are appropriated annually to finance projects to clean up or prevent surface water pollution and for land preservation in accordance with this Part. Revenue in the Fund may be used for any of the following purposes:

(1) To acquire land for riparian buffers for the purposes of providing environmental protection for surface waters and urban drinking water supplies and establishing a network of riparian greenways for environmental, educational, and recreational uses.

(2) To acquire conservation easements or other interests in real property for the purpose of protecting and conserving surface waters and enhancing drinking water supplies, including the development of water supply reservoirs.

(3) To coordinate with other public programs involved with lands adjoining water bodies to gain the most public benefit while protecting and improving water quality.

(4) To restore previously degraded lands to reestablish their ability to protect water quality.

(5) To facilitate planning that targets reductions in surface water pollution.

(6) To finance innovative efforts, including pilot projects, to improve stormwater management, to reduce pollutants entering the State's waterways, to improve water quality, and to research alternative solutions to the State's water quality problems.

(7) To provide buffers around military bases or for State matching funds for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative, a federal funding initiative that provides funds for military buffers.

(8) To acquire land that represents the ecological diversity of North Carolina, including natural features such as riverine, montane, coastal, and geologic systems and other natural areas to ensure their preservation and conservation for recreational, scientific, educational, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

(9) To acquire land that contributes to the development of a balanced State program of historic properties.

(10), (11) Repealed by Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.4, effective July 1, 2015.

(d) Repealed by Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.4, effective July 1, 2015.