§ 12-3.1. Fees and charges by agencies.
§ 12‑3.1. Fees andcharges by agencies.
(a) Authority. Onlythe General Assembly has the power to authorize an agency to establish orincrease a fee or charge for the rendering of any service or fulfilling of anyduty to the public. In the construction of a statute, unless that constructionwould be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the General Assembly orrepugnant to the context of the statute, the legislative grant of authority toan agency to adopt rules shall not be construed as a grant of authority to theagency to establish by rule a fee or a charge for the rendering of any serviceor fulfilling of any duty to the public, unless the statute expressly providesfor the grant of authority to establish a fee or charge for that specificservice. Notwithstanding any other law, a rule adopted by an agency toestablish or increase a fee or charge shall not go into effect until the agencyhas consulted with the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operationson the amount and purpose of the fee or charge to be established or increased.The agency shall submit a request for consultation to all members of theCommission, the Commission Assistant, and the Fiscal Research Division of theGeneral Assembly on the same date the notice of text of the rule is published.The request for consultation shall consist of a written report stating (i) theamount of the current fee or charge, if applicable, (ii) the amount of theproposed new or increased fee or charge, (iii) the statutory authority for thefee or charge, and (iv) a detailed explanation of the need for theestablishment or increase of the fee or charge.
(a1) If the Commissiondoes not hold a meeting to hear the consultation required by subsection (a) ofthis section within 90 days after the notice of text of the rule has beenpublished and the consultation request required by subsection (a) of thissection has been submitted, the consultation requirement is satisfied.
(b) Definitions. Thefollowing definitions apply in this section:
(1) Agency. Everyagency, institution, board, commission, bureau, department, division, council,member of the Council of State, or officer of the legislative, executive orjudicial branches of State government. The term does not include counties,cities, towns, villages, other municipal corporations or political subdivisionsof the State or any agencies of these subdivisions, the University of NorthCarolina, community colleges, hospitals, county or city boards of education,other local public districts, units, or bodies of any kind, or privatecorporations created by act of the General Assembly.
(2) Rule. Every rule,regulation, ordinance, standard, and amendment thereto adopted by any agency,including rules and regulations regarding substantive matters, standards forproducts, procedural rules for complying with statutory or regulatory authorityor requirements and executive orders of the Governor.
(c) Exceptions. Thissection does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Rules establishingfees or charges to State, federal or local governmental units.
(2) A reasonable fee orcharge for copying, transcripts of public hearings, State publications, ormailing a document or other item.
(3) Reasonableregistration fees covering the cost of a conference or workshop.
(4) Reasonable user feescovering the cost of providing data processing services.
(d) In lieu of therequirements of subsections (a) and (a1) of this section, the North CarolinaState Ports Authority shall report the establishment or increase of any fee tothe Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations as provided in G.S.143B‑454(a)(11). (1979, c. 559, s. 1; 1981, c. 695, ss. 1, 2; 1987, c. 564, s. 35; 1991,c. 418, s. 6; 2001‑427, s. 8(a); 2002‑99, s. 7(c); 2005‑276,s. 6.8(b).)