Section .0600 – Riparian buffer

restoration fund

 

15A NCAC 02R .0601       RIPARIAN BUFFER MITIGATION FEES TO THE

NC ECOSYSTEM ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM

The following is the process for payment of fees to the

Riparian Buffer Restoration Fund administered by the North Carolina Ecosystem

Enhancement Program as one option to mitigate riparian buffer impacts allowed

under rules in 15A NCAC 02B.  Persons who wish to use this option shall first

meet the criteria established for doing so in the buffer rules in 15A NCAC 02B

that reference this Rule.  Such buffer rules include, but may not be limited to

15A NCAC 02B .0295. Persons who choose to satisfy their mitigation

determination by paying a compensatory mitigation fee to the Riparian Buffer

Restoration Fund as allowed here shall use the following procedure:

(1)           SCHEDULE OF FEES:  The amount of payment

into the Fund shall be based on the costs of riparian buffer restoration.  The

payment amount shall be determined by multiplying the acres or square feet of

mitigation required under other rules in 15A NCAC 02B by an initial value of

ninety-six cents per square foot or forty-one thousand eight hundred and

eighteen dollars per acre ($41,818/acre).  This initial per-acre rate shall be

adjusted in January of each year by staff of the NC Ecosystem Enhancement

Program based upon the construction cost index factor published every December

in the Engineering News Record. The Engineering News Record is hereby

incorporated by reference including subsequent amendments and editions, and is

located at http://enr.construction.com/economics/ at an annual subscription

cost of forty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($49.99).

(2)           The required fee shall be submitted to the

N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program (NC EEP), 1652 Mail Service Center, Raleigh,

NC 27699-1652 prior to any activity that results in the removal or degradation

of the protected riparian buffer for which a "no practical alternatives"

determination has been made pursuant to requirements of other rules in 15A NCAC

02B.

(3)           The payment of a compensatory mitigation

fee may be fully or partially satisfied by donation of real property interests

pursuant to requirements of other rules in this Subchapter. 

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 143-214.1; 143-214.5;

143-214.5(i); 143-214.7; 143-214.12; 143-214.21; 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.6A;

143-215.6B; 143-215.6C; 143-215.8B; 143B-282(c); 143B-282(d); S.L. 2005-190;

S.L. 2006-259;

Eff. August 11, 2009;

Amended Eff. May 1, 2015;

Transferred from 15A NCAC 02B .0269 Eff. May 1, 2015.