H.B. 911
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
May 10, 2021
SESSION 2021 HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
H D
HOUSE BILL DRH10468-BHxf-4
Short Title: Regulatory Reform 2.0. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Riddell.
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL REGULATORY RELIEF TO THE CITIZENS OF
3 NORTH CAROLINA.
4 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
5
6 MODIFY AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER REQUIREMENTS FOR ONE- AND
7 TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS
8 SECTION 1.(a) Definitions. – As used in this section, "Council" means the North
9 Carolina Building Code Council, and "Code" means the current North Carolina Building Code
10 collection and amendments to the Code, as adopted by the Council.
11 SECTION 1.(b) Code Amendment. – Until the effective date of the Code
12 amendment that the Council is required to adopt pursuant to this section, the Council and Code
13 enforcement officials enforcing the Code shall follow the provisions of subsection (c) of this
14 section as they relate to Section D107 of the 2018 North Carolina Fire Code and other provisions
15 that relate to fire apparatus access roads for one- or two-family dwelling residential
16 developments.
17 SECTION 1.(c) Implementation. – Notwithstanding any provision of the Code or
18 law to the contrary, the Council and Code enforcement officials shall not require an automatic
19 sprinkler system in one- or two-family dwellings where there are fewer than 100 dwelling units
20 on a single public or private fire apparatus access road with access from one direction.
21 SECTION 1.(d) Additional Rulemaking Authority. – The Council shall adopt a rule
22 to amend Section D107 of the 2018 North Carolina Fire Code consistent with subsection (c) of
23 this section. Notwithstanding G.S. 143-136(c), the Residential Code Committee within the
24 Council shall consider the amendment required by this section. Notwithstanding
25 G.S. 150B-19(4), the rule adopted by the Council pursuant to this subsection shall be
26 substantively identical to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section. Rules adopted pursuant
27 to this section are not subject to Part 3 of Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.
28 Rules adopted pursuant to this section shall become effective as provided in G.S. 150B-21.3(b1),
29 as though 10 or more written objections had been received as provided in G.S. 150B-21.3(b2).
30 SECTION 1.(e) Sunset. – This section expires on the date that rules adopted pursuant
31 to subsection (d) of this section become effective.
32
33 CLARIFY PERMIT REQUIREMENTS TO LEASE OR RENT RESIDENTIAL REAL
34 PROPERTY
35 SECTION 2. G.S. 160D-1207(c) reads as rewritten:
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 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 "(c) In no event may a local government do any of the following: (i) adopt or enforce any
2 ordinance that would require any owner or manager of rental property to obtain any permit or
3 permission under Article 11 or Article 12 of this Chapter from the local government to lease or
4 rent residential real property or to register rental property with the local government, except for
5 those individual properties that have more than four verified violations in a rolling 12-month
6 period or two or more verified violations in a rolling 30-day period, or upon the property being
7 identified within the top ten percent (10%) of properties with crime or disorder problems as set
8 forth in a local ordinance, (ii) require that an owner or manager of residential rental property
9 enroll or participate in any governmental program as a condition of obtaining a certificate of
10 occupancy, (iii) levy a special fee or tax on residential rental property that is not also levied
11 against other commercial and residential properties, unless expressly authorized by general law
12 or applicable only to an individual rental unit or property described in clause (i) of this subsection
13 and the fee does not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) in any 12-month period in which the
14 unit or property is found to have verified violations, (iv) provide that any violation of a rental
15 registration ordinance is punishable as a criminal offense, or (v) require any owner or manager
16 of rental property to submit to an inspection before receiving any utility service provided by the
17 local government. For purposes of this section, the term "verified violation" means all of the
18 following:
19 (1) The aggregate of all violations of housing ordinances or codes found in an
20 individual rental unit of residential real property during a 72-hour period.
21 (2) Any violations that have not been corrected by the owner or manager within
22 21 days of receipt of written notice from the local government of the
23 violations. Should the same violation occur more than two times in a 12-month
24 period, the owner or manager may not have the option of correcting the
25 violation. If the housing code provides that any form of prohibited tenant
26 behavior constitutes a violation by the owner or manager of the rental
27 property, it shall be deemed a correction of the tenant-related violation if the
28 owner or manager, within 30 days of receipt of written notice of the
29 tenant-related violation, brings a summary ejectment action to have the tenant
30 evicted."
31
32 CLARIFY REQUESTING BOARD FOR RESIDENCY LICENSE
33 SECTION 3. G.S. 115C-270.20 reads as rewritten:
34 "§ 115C-270.20. Licensure requirements.
35 (a) Teacher Licenses. – The State Board shall adopt rules for the issuance of the following
36 classes of teacher licenses, including required levels of preparation for each classification:
37 …
38 (5) Residency License or RL. – A one-year license, renewable twice, that meets
39 both of the following requirements:
40 a. Is requested by the local board of education governing body of a public
41 school unit and accompanied by a certification of supervision from the
42 recognized educator preparation program in which the individual is
43 enrolled.
44 b. The individual for whom the license is requested meets all of the
45 following requirements:
46 1. Holds a bachelor's degree.
47 2. Has either completed coursework relevant to the requested
48 licensure area or passed the content area examination relevant
49 to the requested licensure area that has been approved by the
50 State Board.
51 3. Is enrolled in a recognized educator preparation program.
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1 4. Meets all other requirements established by the State Board,
2 including completing preservice requirements prior to
3 teaching.
4 …."
5
6 CREATE LOTTERY EXEMPTION FOR GRANDCHILDREN OF BOARD MEMBERS
7 SECTION 4. G.S. 115C-218.45 reads as rewritten:
8 "§ 115C-218.45. Admission requirements.
9 …
10 (f) The charter school may give enrollment priority to any of the following:
11 (1) Siblings of currently enrolled students who were admitted to the charter school
12 in a previous year. For the purposes of this section, the term "siblings"
13 includes any of the following who reside in the same household: half siblings,
14 stepsiblings, and children residing in a family foster home.
15 (1a) Siblings who apply to the charter school for admission beginning in the same
16 school year, such as when a sibling was not initially admitted due to grade
17 level capacity.
18 (2) Siblings of students who have completed the highest grade level offered by
19 that school and who were enrolled in at least four grade levels offered by the
20 charter school or, if less than four grades are offered, in the maximum number
21 of grades offered by the charter school.
22 (2a) A student who was enrolled in a preschool program operated by the charter
23 school in the prior year.
24 (3) Limited to no more than fifteen percent (15%) of the school's total enrollment,
25 unless granted a waiver by the State Board of Education, the following:
26 a. Children of persons (i) employed full time by the charter school or (ii)
27 working full time in the daily operation of the charter school, including
28 children of persons employed by an education management
29 organization or charter management organization for the charter
30 school.
31 b. Children or grandchildren of the charter school's board of directors.
32 (4) A student who was enrolled in the charter school within the two previous
33 school years but left the school (i) to participate in an academic study abroad
34 program or a competitive admission residential program or (ii) because of the
35 vocational opportunities of the student's parent.
36 (5) A student who was enrolled in another charter school in the State in the
37 previous school year that does not offer the student's next grade level.
38 (6) A student who was enrolled in another charter school in the State in the
39 previous school year that does not offer the student's next grade level and both
40 of the charter schools have an enrollment articulation agreement to accept
41 students or are governed by the same board of directors.
42 (7) A student who was enrolled in another charter school in the State in the
43 previous school year.
44 …."
45
46 TOLLING THE TERMS OF CHARTERS TO ALLOW TIME TO OBTAIN LAND USE
47 PROPOSALS
48 SECTION 5. G.S. 115C-218.5 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
49 "(g) A charter school shall be entitled to automatically extend any deadline to begin
50 operations or commence the term of its charter until the next school year, if it notifies the State
51 Board by June 30 that is seeking land use or development approvals for its selected site or
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1 facilities, or if it is challenging the denial of any requested land use or development approvals.
2 The term of the charter issued by the State Board shall be tolled during the period of any extension
3 or extensions issued under this section."
4
5 UTILITIES/LANDLORD WATER RESELLER CHANGES
6 SECTION 6.(a) G.S. 62-110 reads as rewritten:
7 "§ 62-110. Certificate of convenience and necessity.
8 …
9 (g) In addition to the authority to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity
10 and establish rates otherwise granted in this Chapter, for the purpose of encouraging water
11 conservation, the Commission may, consistent with the public interest, adopt procedures that
12 allow a lessor of a single-family dwelling, residential building, or multiunit apartment complex
13 to charge for the costs of providing water or sewer service to persons who occupy the leased
14 premises. The following provisions shall apply:
15 (1) All Except as provided in subdivisions (1a), (1b), and (1c) of this subsection,
16 all charges for water or sewer service shall be based on the user's metered
17 consumption of water, which shall be determined by metered measurement of
18 all water consumed. The rate charged by the lessor shall not exceed the unit
19 consumption rate charged by the supplier of the service.
20 (1a) If the leased premises are contiguous dwelling units built prior to 1989, and
21 the lessor determines that the measurement of the lessee's total water usage is
22 impractical or not economical, the lessor may allocate the cost for water and
23 sewer service to the lessee using equipment that measures the lessee's hot
24 water usage. In that case, each lessee shall be billed a percentage of the lessor's
25 water and sewer costs for water usage in the dwelling units based upon the hot
26 water used in the lessee's dwelling unit. The percentage of total water usage
27 allocated for each dwelling unit shall be equal to that dwelling unit's
28 individually submetered hot water usage divided by all submetered hot water
29 usage in all dwelling units. The following conditions apply to billing for water
30 and sewer service under this subdivision:
31 a. A lessor shall not utilize a ratio utility billing system or other allocation
32 billing system that does not rely on individually submetered hot water
33 usage to determine the allocation of water and sewer costs.
34 b. The lessor shall not include in a lessee's bill the cost of water and sewer
35 service used in common areas or water loss due to leaks in the lessor's
36 water mains. A lessor shall not bill or attempt to collect for excess
37 water usage resulting from a plumbing malfunction or other condition
38 that is not known to the lessee or that has been reported to the lessor.
39 c. All equipment used to measure water usage shall comply with
40 guidelines promulgated by the American Water Works Association.
41 d. The lessor shall maintain records for a minimum of 12 months that
42 demonstrate how each lessee's allocated costs were calculated for
43 water and sewer service. Upon advanced written notice to the lessor, a
44 lessee may inspect the records during reasonable business hours.
45 e. Bills for water and sewer service sent by the lessor to the lessee shall
46 contain all the following information:
47 1. The amount of water and sewer services allocated to the lessee
48 during the billing period.
49 2. The method used to determine the amount of water and sewer
50 services allocated to the lessee.
51 3. Beginning and ending dates for the billing period.
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1 4. The past-due date, which shall not be less than 25 days after
2 the bill is mailed.
3 5. A local or toll-free telephone number and address that the
4 lessee can use to obtain more information about the bill.
5 (1b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (1a) (1), (1a), and (1c)
6 of this subsection, if the Commission approves a flat rate to be charged by a
7 water or sewer utility for the provision of water or sewer services to
8 contiguous dwelling units, the lessor may pass through and charge the tenants
9 of the contiguous dwelling units the same flat rate for water or sewer services,
10 rather than a rate based on metered consumption, and an administrative fee as
11 authorized in subdivision (2) of this subsection. Bills for water and sewer
12 service sent by the lessor to the lessee shall contain all the information
13 required by sub-sub-subdivisions e.2. through e.5. of subdivision (1a) of this
14 subsection.
15 (1c) The lessor may equally divide the amount of the water and sewer bill for a
16 unit among all the lessees in the unit and may send one bill to each lessee. The
17 amount charged shall be p