North Carolina SB 477: DNCR Agency Bill.-AB

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025

SESSION LAW 2025-10
SENATE BILL 477

*S477-v-5*
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE STATUTES GOVERNING THE
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES, AS RECOMMENDED
BY THE DEPARTMENT.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM DATA CONFIDENTIALITY
SECTION 1.(a) The Nature Preserves Act, Part 42 of Article 2 of Chapter 143B of
the General Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143B-135.275. Confidentiality of rare species and sensitive natural habitat information.
Information concerning the nature and location of any (i) rare species of plants or animals or
(ii) sensitive natural habitats may be made available to the public under Chapter 132 of the
General Statutes or under any other provision of law, regardless of whether the rare species or
sensitive natural habitats are located on public or private property, unless the Department of
Natural and Cultural Resources determines that the disclosures would create a risk of harm, theft,
or destruction to those species or habitats."
SECTION 1.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law.

STANDARDS FOR VISITOR CONDUCT EXEMPTED FROM RULE MAKING
SECTION 2. G.S. 150B-1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d) Exemptions from Rule Making. – Article 2A of this Chapter does not apply to the
following:
...
(27a) The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in developing standards
and rules of conduct governing visitors to sites owned or managed by the
Department.
...."

EXTENDED LEASE TERMS FOR STATE RECREATION AREAS
SECTION 3. Pursuant to G.S. 146-25(b) and G.S. 146-29(b), the General Assembly
authorizes the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to enter into leases for a period
greater than 30 years, but no more than 50 years, of lands owned by the federal government and
managed by the Department as the Falls Lake, Jordan Lake, and Kerr Lake State Recreation
Areas.

MODERNIZE HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS STATUTE
SECTION 4. G.S. 121-6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 121-6. Historical publications.
...
(b) Editing and Publishing of Official Messages and Other Papers of Governor. – During
the term of office of each Governor of this State, a copy of all official messages delivered to the
General Assembly, addresses, speeches, statements, news releases, proclamations, executive

Page 2 Session Law 2025-10 Senate Bill 477
orders, weekly calendars, articles, transcripts of news conferences, lists of appointments, and
other official releases and papers of the Governor shall be kept in the Governor's office for
delivery to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources at the end of each quarter during
the Governor's administration. These papers shall be compiled and a selection made therefrom
by a skilled and competent editor. The editor shall edit, according to acceptable scholarly
standards, the selected materials which shall be published in a documentary volume as soon as
practicable after the conclusion of the term of office of each Governor. If, for any reason, a
Governor serves less than a full term, a documentary volume shall be edited and published for
such portion of a term as he shall have served. If a Governor serves more than one term, a
documentary volume shall be edited and published for each term served. Funds for editorial
assistance, printing, binding, and distribution shall may be paid from the Contingency and
Emergency Fund. The number of copies of each volume to be printed shall be determined by the
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in consultation with the Governor whose papers
are being published.
(c) It shall be the duty and the responsibility for the Department of Natural and Cultural
Resources to edit and publish a second or new series of the most significant records of colonial
North Carolina. From records which have been compiled in the North Carolina State Archives
concerning the colonial period of North Carolina, a selection of the most significant documents
shall be made therefrom by a skilled and competent editor. The editor shall edit, according to
acceptable scholarly standards, the selected materials which shall be published in documentary
volumes not to exceed approximately 700 pages each in length until full and representative
published colonial records of North Carolina shall have been achieved. The number of copies of
each volume to be so printed shall be determined by the Department of Natural and Cultural
Resources, and such determination shall be based on the number of copies the Department can
reasonably expect to sell in a period of 10 years from the date of publication. In any year during
which the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has completed a volume and has it
ready for publication, the Department may include in its base budget for that year sufficient funds
to pay the estimated costs of publishing the volume. In the event that the volume is not published
during that year, the appropriation made, or any unencumber