Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

FILED SENATE
                                                                                           Mar 9, 2021
                          GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                                                                 S.B. 208
                                      SESSION 2021           PRINCIPAL CLERK
     S                                                                    D
                               SENATE BILL DRS45097-LR-43
     Short Title:   Labor Law Changes.                                                           (Public)
     Sponsors:      Senators Hise, Galey, and Woodard (Primary Sponsors).
     Referred to:
                                      A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT MAKING VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE LABOR LAWS OF NORTH
     CAROLINA.
 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
             SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 74-24.2 reads as rewritten:
 "§ 74-24.2. Definitions.
     In this Article, unless the context otherwise requires:The following definitions apply in this
 Article:
             (1)      The term "accident" means an Accident. – An unexpected event resulting in
                      injury to, illness of, or death of a person or persons as a result of mining
                      operations and any mine explosion, mine ignition, mine fire, mine inundation,
                      mine cave-in, or other event which could have readily resulted in serious
                      physical harm.
             (2)      The term "Advisory Council" shall mean the Advisory Council or body
                      authorized to be established under this Article.
             (3)      The term "agent" means any Agent. – Any person charged by the operator
                      with responsibility for the operation of all or part of a mine or supervision of
                      the miners in a mine, and for the purposes of this Article includes contractors,
                      subcontractors, or independent contractors employed by the operator to
                      perform any work or services at, in, or on the mine.
             (4)      The term "Commissioner" means the Commissioner. – The Commissioner of
                      Labor of North Carolina.
             (5)      The term "Director" means the Director. – The person authorized under
                      G.S. 74-24.19 and appointed by the Commissioner for the purpose of assisting
                      in the administration of this Article.
             (6)      The term "imminent danger" means the Imminent danger. – The existence of
                      any condition or practice in a mine which could reasonably be expected to
                      cause death or serious physical harm immediately to any miner if such
                      condition or practice is not abated at once.
             (7)      The term "mine" means an Mine. – An area of land and all private ways and
                      roads appurtenant thereto, structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment,
                      shafts, slopes, tunnels, excavations, and other property, real or personal,
                      placed or constructed on, under, or above the surface of such land by any
                      person, used in, or to be used in, or resulting from (including the reclamation
                      of mined areas or the storage of materials in mined areas), or to facilitate the
                      work of exploring for, developing of, or extracting by any means or method
                                    *DRS45097-LR-43*
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                    Session 2021
                     in such area all minerals, inorganic and organic, from their natural deposits.
                     The term "mine" also includes all mineral processing and milling facilities
                     except those used in the processing of source materials as defined in the
                     Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
             (8)     The term "miner" means any Miner. – Any individual, other than an operator
                     or an agent, working in or about a mine.
             (9)     The term "operator" means an Operator. – An individual, partnership,
                     association, corporation, firm, subsidiary of a corporation, or other
                     organization owning, operating, leasing, controlling, or supervising a mining
                     operation.
             (10) The term "repeated violation" means a Repeated violation. – A violation for
                     which an operator was issued a notice or an order on an inspection and which
                     is found to exist again on the next regular inspection, even though the violation
                     was abated within the time fixed for abatement.
             (11) The term "State" means the State. – The State of North Carolina."
             SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 74-24.4(a) reads as rewritten:
     "(a) The Commissioner shall develop, adopt, revise, and promulgate safety and health
 standards for the purpose of the protection of life, the promotion of safety and health, and the
 prevention of "accidents" in mines which are subject to this Article. In the development of safety
 and health standards, the Commissioner shall consult with the Advisory Council, interested
 federal agencies, appropriate representatives of other State agencies, appropriate representatives
 of mine operators and miners, and other interested persons and organizations whose participation
 would further the purposes of this Article."
             SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 74-24.6 is repealed.
             SECTION 2. G.S. 95-111.3(a) reads as rewritten:
     "(a) The term "amusement device" shall mean any mechanical or structural device or
 attraction that carries or conveys or permits persons to walk along, around or over a fixed or
 restricted route or course or within a defined area including the entrances and exits thereto, for
 the purpose of giving such persons amusement, pleasure, thrills or excitement. This term shall
 not include any of the following:
             (1)     Devices operated on a river, lake, or any other natural body of water.
             (2)     Wavepools.
             (3)     Roller skating rinks.
             (4)     Ice skating rinks.
             (5)     Skateboard ramps or courses.
             (6)     Mechanical bulls.
             (7)     Buildings or concourses used in laser games.
             (8)     All-terrain vehicles.
             (9)     Motorcycles.
             (10) Bicycles.
             (11) Mopeds.
             (12) Rock walls that are in a fixed, permanent location.
             (13) Zip-lines.
             (14) Funhouses, haunted houses, and similar walk-through devices that are erected
                     temporarily on a seasonal basis and do not have mechanical components.
             (15) Playground equipment, including but not limited to soft contained play
                     equipment, swings, seesaws, slides, stationary spring-mounted animal
                     features, jungle gyms, rider-propelled merry-go-rounds, and trampolines.
             (16) A locomotive, train, series of railroad cars, or other mechanical devices that
                     operate on any United States standard railroad gauge of four feet, eight and
                     one-half inches."
     Page 2                                                                           DRS45097-LR-43
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                   Session 2021
            SECTION 3. G.S. 95-133(b) reads as rewritten:
     "(b) Subject to the general supervision of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner,
 the Director shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of all laws, rules and
 regulations which it is the duty of the Division to administer and enforce. The Director shall have
 the power, jurisdiction and authority to:
            …
            (13) Obtain medical records compiled and maintained by the Department of Health
                    and Human Services, by hospitals participating in the statewide trauma
                    system, or by emergency management services providers in connection with
                    the dispatch, response, treatment, or transport of individual patients relating
                    to investigations and enforcement proceedings under this Article. The medical
                    records obtained by the Department shall be strictly confidential, are not
                    public records within the meaning of G.S. 132-1, and shall not be released or
                    made public."
            SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law.
     DRS45097-LR-43                                                                              Page 3
Statutes affected: 
Filed: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133
Edition 1: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133
Edition 2: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133
Edition 3: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133
Edition 4: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133, 1-539.12, 95-25.5, 95-25.7, 95-25.13, 95-25.23A
Ratified: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133, 1-539.12, 95-25.5, 95-25.7, 95-25.13, 95-25.23A
SL 2021-82: 74-24.2, 74-24.4, 74-24.6, 95-111.3, 95-133, 1-539.12, 95-25.5, 95-25.7, 95-25.13, 95-25.23A