§ 166A-19.70 — Ensuring availability of emergency supplies and utility services; protection of livestock, poultry, and agricultural crops

North Carolina § 166A-19.70

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina
• Ch. 166A: North Carolina Emergency Management Act
• Art. 8: of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes shall not apply to any contracts that an entity otherwise subject to Article 8 may award for apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment, or construction or repair work requiring apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment, where such apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment is either:

Text

(a) Executive Order. - In addition to any other powers conferred on the Governor by law, whenever a curfew has been imposed, the Governor may declare by executive order that the health, safety, or economic well-being of persons or property in this State require that persons transporting essentials in commerce to the curfew area, or assisting in ensuring their availability, and persons assisting in restoring utility services, be allowed to enter or remain in areas from which they would otherwise be excluded for the limited purpose of delivering the essentials, assisting in ensuring their availability, or assisting in restoring utility services.
(b) Maximum Hours of Service Waiver. - As part of an executive order issued pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or independently of such an order, the Governor may declare by executive order that the health, safety, or economic well-being of persons or property in this State require that the maximum hours of service prescribed by the Department of Public Safety pursuant to G.S. 20-381 and similar rules be waived for persons transporting essentials or assisting in the restoration of utility services.
(c) Certification System. - The Secretary shall develop a system pursuant to which a person who transports essentials in commerce, or assists in ensuring their availability, and persons who assist in the restoring of utility services can be certified as such. The certification system shall allow for both pre-emergency declaration and post-emergency declaration certification with renewable precertification. The Secretary shall only allow those who routinely transport or distribute essentials or assist in the restoring of utility services to be certified. A certification of the employer shall constitute a certification of the employer's employees. The Secretary shall create an easily recognizable indicium of certification in order to assist local officials' efforts to determine which persons have received certification by the system established under this subsection.
(d) Presence in Curfew Area Permitted. - Notwithstanding the existence of any curfew, a person who is certified pursuant to the system established under subsection (c) of this section shall be allowed to enter or remain in the curfew area for the limited purpose of delivering or assisting in the distribution of essentials or assisting in the restoration of utility services and shall be allowed to provide service that exceeds otherwise applicable hours of service maximums, to the extent authorized by an executive order executed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. Nothing in this section prohibits law enforcement or other local officials from specifying the permissible route of ingress or egress for persons with certifications.
(e) Abnormal Market Disruptions with Respect to Petroleum. - If the Governor declares the existence of an abnormal market disruption with respect to petroleum pursuant to G.S. 75-38(f), the Governor shall contemporaneously seek all applicable waivers under the federal Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7401, et seq., and any other applicable federal law to facilitate the transportation of fuel within this State in order to address or prevent a fuel supply emergency in this State. Waiver requests shall be directed to the appropriate federal agencies and shall seek waivers of the following:
(1) The Reformulated Gasoline requirements throughout the State.
(2) The Federal and State Implementation Plan summertime gasoline requirements (low RVP) throughout the State.
(3) Any other waiver that will, if obtained, facilitate the transportation of fuel within this State.
(f) Definitions. - The following definitions apply in this section:
(1) Curfew. - Any restriction on ingress and egress to the emergency area of a state of emergency or any restriction on the movement of persons within such an area.
(2) Curfew area. - The area that is subject to a curfew.
(3) Essentials. - Any goods that are consumed or used as a direct result of an emergency or which are consumed or used to preserve, protect, or sustain life, health, safety, or economic well-being of persons or their property. The Secretary shall determine what goods constitute essentials for purposes of this section.
(g) Upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Agriculture it shall be lawful for the Governor, by an executive order issued pursuant to G.S. 166A-19.20 or independently of such an order, to direct the Department of Public Safety to temporarily suspend weighing, pursuant to G.S. 20-118.1, those vehicles used to transport livestock, poultry, or crops from designated counties in an emergency area as defined in G.S. 166A-19.3(7), or counties designated by the Governor in an executive order issued independently of an order pursuant to G.S. 166A-19.20, if there exists an imminent threat of severe economic loss of livestock or poultry or widespread or severe damage to crops ready to be harvested. The Department of Public Safety shall develop procedures to carry out the provisions of this subsection. This subsection shall not be construed to permit the gross weight of any vehicle or combination in excess of the safe load carrying capacity established by the Department of Transportation on any bridge pursuant to G.S. 136-72, or to permit the operation of a vehicle when a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe the vehicle is creating an imminent hazard to public safety. A suspension authorized pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall end when the Governor determines the threat of widespread or severe loss or damage in the designated counties has passed. (2001-214, s. 4; 2001-487, s. 98; 2002-24, s. 1; 2002-159, s. 57.5; 2006-66, s. 6.5(a); 2012-12, s. 1(b); 2013-230, s. 1; 2018-114, s. 7.)
§ 166A-19.70A. Facilitate critical infrastructure disaster relief.
(a) Purpose. - The State finds that it is appropriate to exclude nonresident businesses and nonresident employees who temporarily come to this State at the request of a critical infrastructure company solely to perform disaster-related work during a disaster response period from the following tax and regulatory requirements:
(1) Corporate and individual income tax, as provided under G.S. 105-130.1 and G.S. 105-153.2.
(2) Franchise tax, as provided under G.S. 105-114.
(3) Unemployment tax, as provided under G.S. 96-1(b)(12).
(4) Certificate of Authority from the Secretary of State to transact business in this State, as provided under G.S. 55-15-01(d) and G.S. 57D-1-24(d).
(b) Definitions. - In addition to the definitions in G.S. 166A-19.3, the following definitions apply in this section:
(1) Corporation. - Defined in G.S. 105-130.2.
(2) Critical infrastructure. - Property and equipment owned or used by a critical infrastructure company for utility or communications transmission services provided to the public in the State. Examples of critical infrastructure include communications networks, electric generation, transmission and distribution systems, natural gas transmission and distribution systems, water pipelines, and related support facilities. Related support facilities may include buildings, offices, lines, poles, pipes, structures, and equipment.
(3) Critical infrastructure company. - One of the following:
a. A registered public communications provider.
b. A registered public utility.
(4) Disaster-related work. - Repairing, renovating, installing, building, or performing services on critical infrastructure that has been damaged, impaired, or destroyed as a result of a disaster or emergency in an area covered by the disaster declaration.
(5) Disaster response period. - A period that begins 10 days prior to the first day of a disaster declaration and expires on the earlier of the following:
a. Sixty days following the expiration of the disaster declaration, as provided under G.S. 166A-19.21(c).
b. One hundred eighty days following the issuance of the disaster declaration.
(6) Employee. - Defined in G.S. 105-163.1.
(7) Nonresident business. - An entity that has not been required to file an income or franchise tax return with the State for three years prior to the disaster response period, other than those arising from the performance of disaster-related work during a tax year prior to the enactment of this section, and that meets one or more of the following conditions:
a. Is a nonresident entity.
b. Is a nonresident individual who owns an unincorporated business as a sole proprietor.
(8) Nonresident employee. - A nonresident individual who is one of the following:
a. An employee of a nonresident business.
b. An employee of a critical infrastructure company who is temporarily in this State to perform disaster-related work during a disaster response period.
(9) Nonresident entity. - Defined in G.S. 105-163.1.
(10) Nonresident individual. - Defined in G.S. 105-153.3.
(11) Registered public communications provider. - A corporation doing business in this State prior to the disaster declaration that provides the transmission to the public of one or more of the following:
a. Broadband.
b. Mobile telecommunications.
c. Telecommunications.
d. Wireless Internet access.
(12) Registered public utility. - A corporation doing business in this State prior to the disaster declaration that is subject to the control of one or more of the following entities:
a. North Carolina Utilities Commission.
b. North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority.
c. Federal Communications Commission.
d. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(c) Critical Infrastructure Company Notification. - A critical infrastructure company must provide notification to the Department of Revenue within 90 days of the expiration of the disaster response period. The notification must be in the form and manner required by the Department. The notification must include the following:
(1) A list of all nonresident businesses who performed disaster-related work in this State during a disaster response period at the request of the critical infrastructure company.
(2) A list of nonresident employees who performed disaster-related work in this State for the critical infrastructure company during a disaster response period. The notification must include the amount of compensation paid to the nonresident employee performing disaster-related work in this State.
(d) Nonresident Business Notification. - A nonresident business must provide notification to the Department of Revenue within 90 days of the date the nonresident business concludes its disaster-related work in the State. The notification must be in the form and manner required by the Department. The notification must include a list of nonresident employees who performed disaster-related work in this State during a disaster response period, along with the amount of compensation paid to the nonresident employee performing disaster-related work in this State. Failure to submit a timely notification forfeits the relief provided by this section for the nonresident business.
(e) Limitation. - The intent of this section is to provide relief to nonresident businesses and nonresident employees who would not otherwise be subject to this State's tax and regulatory requirements if they had not performed disaster-related work during the disaster response period. The relief provided under this section does not apply to any tax year that is part of the disaster response period if the nonresident business or nonresident employee continues to perform disaster-related work following the end of the disaster response period. The relief provided under this section does not apply to a tax year that is part of the disaster response period if the nonresident business or nonresident employee is required to file an income tax return for that tax year with the Department of Revenue for reasons other than the performance of disaster-related work. (2019-187, s. 1(a).)