AN ACT to establish the Orphan Roads maintenance Program grant.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  This act shall be known as the Orphan Roads Maintenance Program Grant.

SECTION 2.  The Orphan Roads Maintenance Program Grant Fund is established as a special fund within the Department of Transportation to be administered by the Department.

SECTION 3.  The purpose of this act is to award funds for the improvement of subdivision streets located within a county or a municipality that do not meet Department of Transportation minimum construction requirements for addition to the State highway system or municipal street system for maintenance.

SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year the sum of seventy‑five million dollars ($75,000,000) in nonrecurring funds to be allocated to the Orphan Roads Maintenance Program Grant Fund established in Section 2 of this act. Subject to Section 5 of this act, unexpended funds shall not revert.

SECTION 5.  The Secretary of Transportation shall establish procedures and criteria and adopt rules for awarding funds under this act to a county or a municipality for the improvement of a subdivision street in accordance with all of the following requirements:

(1)        Once an orphan road meets Department standards, ownership shall be conveyed to the Department or to a local municipality.

(2)        The total aggregate amount of funds awarded to a subdivision shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

(3)        The required local share of matching funds by the county shall be twenty‑five cents (25¢) for every one dollar ($1.00) awarded. A county may satisfy this condition by financing the local share in accordance with G.S. 153A‑205.

(4)        An award of funds under this act shall not be distributed to a county or a municipality until the Department or a municipality accepts the subdivision street to the State highway system or municipal street system for maintenance.

SECTION 6.  This act is repealed effective June 30, 2030. The Department shall close the Orphan Roads Maintenance Program Grant Fund after transferring any remaining balance to the Highway Fund for subsequent appropriation by the General Assembly.

SECTION 7.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2025.