AN ACT to restore wetlands protections in north carolina.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Section 54 of S.L. 2014‑120 is repealed.

SECTION 1.(b)  Section 4.18 of S.L. 2015‑286 is repealed.

SECTION 1.(c)  G.S. 143‑212 reads as rewritten:

§ 143‑212.  Definitions.

Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following definitions apply to this Article and Articles 21A and 21B of this Chapter:

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(3a)      Isolated wetlands means (i) wetlands confirmed to be isolated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers prior to June 22, 2020, and (ii) wetlands described as a basin wetland or bog in the North Carolina Wetland Assessment User Manual prepared by the North Carolina Wetland Functional Assessment Team, version 4.1, October 2010. The term isolated wetland does not include an isolated man‑made ditch or pond constructed for stormwater management purposes or any other man‑made isolated pond.

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(6)        Waters means any stream, river, brook, swamp, lake, sound, tidal estuary, bay, creek, reservoir, waterway, waterway, wetland, or other body or accumulation of water, whether surface or underground, public or private, or natural or artificial, that is contained in, flows through, or borders upon any portion of this State, including any portion of the Atlantic Ocean over which the State has jurisdiction.

(7)        Wetland means waters that are areas that are inundated or saturated by an accumulation of surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands do not include prior converted cropland as defined in the National Food Security Act Manual, Fifth Edition. Wetlands classified as waters of the State are limited to (i) waters of the United States as defined by 33 C.F.R. § 328.3 and 40 C.F.R. § 230.3 and (ii) isolated wetlands.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.