AN ACT to provide for a twenty‑five‑foot buffer for certain agricultural activities in proximity to streams classified as trout waters.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 113A‑52.01 reads as rewritten:

§ 113A‑52.01.  Applicability of this Article.

(a)        This Article shall not apply to the following land‑disturbing activities:activities except as provided in subsection (b) of this section:

(1)        Activities, including the production and activities relating or incidental to the production of crops, grains, fruits, vegetables, ornamental and flowering plants, dairy, livestock, poultry, and all other forms of agriculture undertaken on agricultural land for the production of plants and animals useful to man, including, but not limited to:

a.         Forages and sod crops, grains and feed crops, tobacco, cotton, and peanuts.

b.         Dairy animals and dairy products.

c.         Poultry and poultry products.

d.         Livestock, including beef cattle, llamas, sheep, swine, horses, ponies, mules, and goats.

e.         Bees and apiary products.

f.          Fur producing animals.

g.         Mulch, ornamental plants, and other horticultural products. For purposes of this section, mulch means substances composed primarily of plant remains or mixtures of such substances.

…

(b)        Waters that have been classified as trout waters by the Environmental Management Commission shall have an undisturbed, vegetated buffer zone 25 feet wide where activities included under subdivision (a)(1) of this section are prohibited. The Commission, however, may approve plans that include land‑disturbing activity within the 25‑foot buffer when the duration of the disturbance would be temporary and the extent of the disturbance would be minimal in the discretion of the Commission. The Commission may take any action reasonably necessary to enforce this requirement.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective January 1, 2024, and applies to tracts or portions of tracts on which activities set forth under G.S. 113A‑52.01(a)(1), as amended by this act, are initiated on or after that date.