§ 130A-310.34. Public notice and community involvement.
§ 130A‑310.34. Publicnotice and community involvement.
(a) A prospectivedeveloper who desires to enter into a brownfields agreement shall notify thepublic and the community in which the brownfields property is located ofplanned remediation and redevelopment activities. The prospective developershall submit a Notice of Intent to Redevelop a Brownfields Property and asummary of the Notice of Intent to the Department. The Notice of Intent shallprovide, to the extent known, a legal description of the location of thebrownfields property, a map showing the location of the brownfields property, adescription of the contaminants involved and their concentrations in the mediaof the brownfields property, a description of the intended future use of thebrownfields property, any proposed investigation and remediation, and aproposed Notice of Brownfields Property prepared in accordance with G.S. 130A‑310.35.Both the Notice of Intent and the summary of the Notice of Intent shall statethe time period and means for submitting written comment and for requesting apublic meeting on the proposed brownfields agreement. The summary of the Noticeof Intent shall include a statement as to the public availability of the fullNotice of Intent. After approval of the Notice of Intent and summary of theNotice of Intent by the Department, the prospective developer shall provide acopy of the Notice of Intent to all local governments having jurisdiction overthe brownfields property. The prospective developer shall publish the summaryof the Notice of Intent in a newspaper of general circulation serving the areain which the brownfields property is located. The prospective developer shallconspicuously post a copy of the summary of the Notice of Intent at thebrownfields property, and the prospective developer shall mail or deliver acopy of the summary to each owner of property contiguous to the brownfieldsproperty. The prospective developer shall submit documentation of the publicnotices to the Department prior to the Department entering into a brownfieldsagreement.
(b) Publication of theapproved summary of the Notice of Intent in a newspaper of general circulation,posting the summary at the brownfields property, and mailing or delivering thesummary to each owner of property contiguous to the brownfields property shallbegin a public comment period of at least 30 days from the latest date ofpublication, posting, and mailing or delivering. During the public commentperiod, members of the public, residents of the community in which thebrownfields property is located, and local governments having jurisdiction overthe brownfields property may submit comment on the proposed brownfieldsagreement, including methods and degree of remediation, future land uses, andimpact on local employment.
(c) Any person whodesires a public meeting on a proposed brownfields agreement shall submit awritten request for a public meeting to the Department within 21 days after thepublic comment period begins. The Department shall consider all requests for apublic meeting and shall hold a public meeting if the Department determinesthat there is significant public interest in the proposed brownfieldsagreement. If the Department decides to hold a public meeting, the Departmentshall, at least 15 days prior to the public meeting, mail written notice of thepublic meeting to all persons who requested the public meeting and to eachowner of property contiguous to the brownfields property. The Department shallalso direct the prospective developer to publish, at least 15 days prior to thedate of the public meeting, a notice of the public meeting at least one time ina newspaper having general circulation in such county where the brownfieldsproperty is located. In any county in which there is more than one newspaperhaving general circulation, the Department shall direct the prospectivedeveloper to publish a copy of the notice in as many newspapers having generalcirculation in the county as the Department in its discretion determines to benecessary to assure that the notice is generally available throughout thecounty. The Department shall prescribe the form and content of the notice to bepublished. The Department shall prescribe the procedures to be followed in thepublic meeting. The Department shall take detailed minutes of the meeting. Theminutes shall include any written comments, exhibits, or documents presented atthe meeting.
(d) Prior to enteringinto a brownfields agreement, the Department shall take into account thecomment received during the comment period and at the public meeting if theDepartment holds a public meeting. The Department shall incorporate into thebrownfields agreement provisions that reflect comment received during thecomment period and at the public meeting to the extent practical. TheDepartment shall give particular consideration to written comment that issupported by valid scientific and technical information and analysis and towritten comment from the units of local government that have taxingjurisdiction over the brownfields property. (1997‑357, s. 2; 2000‑158, s. 2; 2006‑71,ss. 4, 5; 2009‑181, s. 1.)