NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1973 SESSION

CHAPTER 911

HOUSE BILL 1257

AN ACT TO AMEND THE NATURAL AND SCENIC RIVERS ACT OF 1971.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 113A-36(c) is amended by adding thereto the following:

"Before submitting any proposal to the Governor or the General Assembly for the addition to the system of a river or segment of a river, the Director or his authorized representative, shall hold a public hearing in the county or counties where said river or segment of river is situated. Notice of such public hearing shall be given by publishing a notice once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the county where said hearing is to be held, the second of said notices appearing not less than 10 days before said hearing. Any person attending said hearing shall be given an opportunity to be heard. Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing, no public hearing shall be required with respect to a river bounded solely by the property of one owner, who consents in writing to the addition of such river to the system.

The Department shall also conduct an investigation on the feasibility of the inclusion of a river or a segment of river within the system and file a written report with the Governor when submitting a proposal.

The Department shall also, before submitting such a proposal to the Governor or the General Assembly, notify in writing the owner, lessee, or tenant of any lands adjoining said river or segment of river of its intention to make such proposal. In the event the Department, after due diligence, is unable to determine the owner or lessee of any such land, the Department may publish a notice for four successive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the county where the land is situated of its intention to make a proposal to the Governor or General Assembly for the addition of a river or segment of river to the system."

Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective on July 1, 1974.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 4th day of March, 1974.