North Carolina HB 1012: Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part II.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025

SESSION LAW 2025-26
HOUSE BILL 1012

*H1012-v-6*
AN ACT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS AND EXTEND REGULATORY
FLEXIBILITY FOR COMMUNITIES AND CITIZENS IMPACTED BY HURRICANE
HELENE AND WILDFIRES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

PART I. TITLE AND SCOPE OF ACT
SECTION 1.1. Title. – This act shall be known as "The Disaster Recovery Act of
2025 – Part II."
SECTION 1.2. Maximum Amounts; Effectuate Savings. – The appropriations and
allocations made in this act are for maximum amounts necessary to implement this act. Savings
shall be effected where the total amounts appropriated or allocated are not required to implement
this act.
SECTION 1.3. Scope. – Unless otherwise provided, Part II of this act applies to the
North Carolina counties in the affected area, as defined in Section 1.4 of this act.
SECTION 1.4. Definitions. – Unless otherwise provided, the following definitions
apply in this act:
(1) Affected area. – The counties designated before, on, or after the effective date
of this act under a major disaster declaration by the President of the United
States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93-288) as a result of Hurricane Helene.
(2) FEMA. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(3) Helene Fund. – The Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund established in
Section 4.1 of S.L. 2024-51.
(4) HUD. – The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(5) NCEM. – The Division of Emergency Management of the Department of
Public Safety.
(6) NCSBE. – The North Carolina State Board of Elections.
(7) OSBM. – The Office of State Budget and Management.
SECTION 1.5. Findings for Western North Carolina Wildfires. – The North Carolina
General Assembly finds that several wildfires have burned thousands of acres in Western North
Carolina in 2025, and efforts were hampered to extinguish those wildfires due to Hurricane
Helene. Dry conditions in the region and storm debris left from Hurricane Helene have
contributed to the many wildfires that have burned. On March 26, 2025, Governor Josh Stein
declared a state of emergency due to the current and anticipated impacts from those wildfires in
all of Western North Carolina, as well as the tribal lands in the State of North Carolina held by
the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

PART II. HURRICANE HELENE DISASTER RECOVERY APPROPRIATIONS AND
PROGRAMS

SUBPART II-A. DISASTER RECOVERY APPROPRIATIONS AND TRANSFERS

Page 2 Session Law 2025-26 House Bill 1012
SECTION 2A.1.(a) Helene Reserve. – The State Controller shall reserve to the
Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund (Helene Fund) established in Section 4.1 of S.L.
2024-51 funds transferred from the following for the 2025-2026 fiscal year:

Source 2025-2026

(1) State Emergency Response and
Disaster Relief Fund $104,963,059

(2) Federal Infrastructure Match Reserve 45,469,983

(3) Medicaid Contingency Reserve 476,512,736

(4) Information Technology Reserve 8,304,222.

SECTION 2A.1.(b) Reservations Not Appropriation. – Funds reserved pursuant to
this section do not constitute an "appropriation made by law," as that phrase is used in Section
7(1) of Article V of the North Carolina Constitution.
SECTION 2A.2.(a) Additional Transfer of Unused and Underutilized Funds. – The
State Controller shall transfer to the Helene Fund the sum of sixty-four million seven hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($64,750,000) in the 2025-2026 fiscal year appropriated or allocated to the
agencies as set forth in this section:
(1) Forty-five million dollars ($45,000,000) for the Department of Environmental
Quality:
a. Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) previously allocated for the
Water Infrastructure Emergency Bridge Loan Program in accordance
with Sections 2.1(a) and 4C.7 of S.L. 2024-53.
b. Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) previously allocated for the
Emergency Infrastructure Bridge Loan Program for Commercial
Underground Storage Tanks in accordance with Sections 2.1(a) and
4C.8 of S.L. 2024-53.
(2) Twelve million five hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000) for the
Department of Public Instruction previously allocated for lost compensation
from school closures in accordance with Sections 6.1(a) and 8.1(c) of S.L.
2024-51.
(3) Five million dollars ($5,000,000) for The University of North Carolina
System Office previously allocated for the repair and renovation of facilities
in accordance with Section 2.1(a) of S.L. 2024-53 and the Committee Report
described in Section 6.1 of that act.
(4) Two million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,250,000) for the NCSBE
previously allocated to conduct the 2024 General Election in the affected area
in accordance with Sections 6.1(a) and 9.1(c) of S.L. 2024-51.
SECTION 2A.2.(b) Reallocation of Unused and Underutilized Funds. – Of the funds
appropriated to the North Carolina Community Colleges System Office for the tuition grant
program established pursuant to Section 4A.3 of S.L. 2024-53, the following amounts shall be
reallocated as