GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999
SESSION LAW 1999-162
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 113-200 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113-200. Fishery Resource Grant Program.
(a) Creation. - There is
created within the Sea Grant College Program at The University of North
Carolina, the Fishery Resource Grant Program. The purpose of the program is to
work within priorities established by the Marine Fisheries Commission Grants
Committee to protect and enhance the State's coastal fishery resources
through individual grants in the following areas:
(1) New fisheries
equipment or gear; gear.
(2) Environmental pilot
studies, including water quality and fisheries habitat; habitat.
(3) Aquaculture or
mariculture of marine dependent species; or species.
(4) Seafood technology.
(b) Definition; Annual
Establishment of Priorities. - For purposes of this section, the term 'fishing
related industry' means any of the following: (i) commercial fishing;
(ii) recreational fishing; (iii) aquaculture; (iv) mariculture; and (v)
handling of seafood products, including seafood dealing and seafood
processing. The Commission Grants Committee shall, in
cooperation with fishermen, persons involved in fishing related
industries, the Division of Marine Fisheries, and the Sea Grant College
Program, establish funding priorities effective July 1 of each year for
the grant program. The adoption of priorities by the Commission shall
not be considered rule making within the meaning of the Administrative
Procedure Act. In adopting priorities, the Grants Committee is
exempt from Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. The Commission
Grants Committee shall provide public notice of its proposed
priorities at least 30 days before the Commission Grants Committee meeting
prior to a final determination of its priorities for the fiscal year.
(c) Procedure to Solicit
Proposals. - Following the establishment of priorities by the Commission, Grants
Committee, the Sea Grant College Program shall hold workshops within
each of the northern, southern, central, and Pamlico coastal
regions to solicit applications and to assist persons involved in fishing related
industries in writing proposals. For purposes of this act, the term
'fishing industry' includes persons involved in: (i) commercial or recreational
fishing; (ii) aquaculture or mariculture; or (iii) handling fish products such
as seafood dealers or processors. The Sea Grant College
Program shall encourage preproposal conferences between individuals in
the fisheries industry among persons involved in fishing related
industries and those with technical or research background backgrounds
to work as partners in developing and writing the proposals and in writing final
report results. reports of final results. If the grants
approved by the Commission Grants Committee do not utilize all
available funds, the Sea Grant College Program may advertise and
solicit additional applications during the applicable fiscal year.
(d) Application for Grant
Program. - An applicant may apply for grant funds to the Sea Grant College
Program. For purposes of this subsection, every proposal shall include substantial
involvement of active North Carolina persons residents of North
Carolina who are actively involved in a fishing related industry. A
proposal generated by a person not involved in a fishing related industry
may be eligible for funding only if the proposal includes written endorsements
supporting the project from persons or organizations representing fishing related
industries. An application shall include, but not be limited to,
the following: include:
(1) Name and address of
the primary applicant; applicant.
(2) List of marine
fishing licenses issued under Chapter 113 of the General Statutes to
the applicant by the State of North Carolina; Carolina.
(3) A description of the project;
project.
(4) A detailed statement
of the projected costs of the project including the cost to plan and design the
project; project.
(5) An explanation of how
the project will enhance the fishery resource; resource.
(6) List of names and
addresses of any other persons who will participate in the project; and project.
(7) Any other information necessary to make a recommendation on the application.
(e) Review Process. -
The Sea Grant College Program shall conduct an anonymous peer review
of all applications for fisheries grants. At least one of the peer reviewers
shall be a person involved in a fishing related industry. Applications
shall be An application is confidential and shall not be defined
as is not a public record as defined under G.S. 132-1 until
after the closing date for submission of applications. Following the review of
all proposals, the Sea Grant College Program shall rank proposals
in order of priority and shall present the recommendations to the Commission.
Grants Committee. Any criterion used by Sea Grant in
ranking proposals shall not require rule making within the meaning of the
Administrative Procedure Act, but such criteria shall be public records as
defined in G.S. 132-1. The Sea Grant College Program may adopt criteria
to rank proposals. In adopting criteria, the Sea Grant College Program is
exempt from Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. Criteria
adopted pursuant to this subsection are public records within the meaning of
G.S. 132-1.
(e1) Grants Committee. - The Grants Committee shall consist of eleven members as follows:
(1) Three employees of the Sea Grant College Program, appointed by the Director of the Sea Grant College Program.
(2) Two employees of the Division of Marine Fisheries, appointed by the Fisheries Director.
(3) Two members of the Marine Fisheries Commission, appointed by the Chair of the Marine Fisheries Commission.
(4) One member of the Northeast Regional Advisory Committee established pursuant to G.S. 143B-289.57(e), appointed by the Northeast Regional Advisory Committee.
(5) One member of the Central Regional Advisory Committee established pursuant to G.S. 143B-289.57(e), appointed by the Central Regional Advisory Committee.
(6) One member of the Southeast Regional Advisory Committee established pursuant to G.S. 143B-289.57(e), appointed by the Southeast Regional Advisory Committee.
(7) One member of the Inland Regional Advisory Committee established pursuant to G.S. 143B-289.57(e), appointed by the Inland Regional Advisory Committee.
(f) Award Process. -
The Commission shall review the ranking of proposals, and if consistent with
the priority rankings established under subsection (e) of this section, shall
fund those proposals. The Grants Committee shall evaluate all grant
proposals and the results of the peer review and ranking conducted pursuant to
subsection (e) of this section. On the basis of this evaluation, the
Grants Committee shall determine the amount of funding, if any, to be awarded
to each grant applicant. To the extent practicable, the Grants Committee
shall distribute grant funding among the northern, southern, central, and
Pamlico coastal regions. Applications Proposals for
projects that include involvement by fishermen of persons
involved in a fishing related industry in the project shall be
accorded a priority in funding by the Commission. Grants
Committee. Following approval by the Commission, Grants
Committee, the Sea Grant College Program shall award the grants. To
the extent practicable, the Sea Grant College Program shall distribute grant
funding among the northern, southern, central, and Pamlico coastal regions.
(g) Restrictions on
Grants. - No member of the Commission Grants Committee may
benefit financially from a grant. If a grant recipient from a prior year has
failed to perform a grant project to the satisfaction of the Sea Grant College
Program or the Commission, Grants Committee, the Sea Grant
College Program Grants Committee may decline to fund any new
application involving the principal applicant.
(h) Grant Reports and Funding. - Grant recipients shall provide quarterly progress reports to the Sea Grant College Program and shall submit invoices for expenditures for each quarter. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the total grant award shall be held until the grant recipient has completed the project and submitted a final written report. The remainder of the grant award shall be distributed upon approval of each quarterly report and upon verification of the expenditures.
(i) Report on Grant
Program. - The Sea Grant College Program shall report on an annual basis the
Fishery Resource Grant Program to the Marine Fisheries Commission and the
Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture. Aquaculture
no later than January 1 of each year."
Section 2. The Sea Grant College Program shall submit the first report required by G.S. 113-200(i), as amended by Section 1 of this act, no later than January 1, 2000.
Section 3. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 31st of May, 1999.
s/ Marc Basnight
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor
Approved 5:28 p.m. this 8th day of June, 1999