From the desk of North Carolina House of Representative Karp Gillespie:
| In this week’s edition of The Legislative Review, we focus on the topics of Water and Wastewater Infrastructure, and Parks and Land Conservation.
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
The 2022 Appropriations Act makes substantial investments in programs targeting clean water and drinking water infrastructure. It allocates $611.5 million for water and wastewater infrastructure from federal State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF) proceeds and from the State’s Clean Water and Drinking Water Reserve. These funds support grants to local government units and nonprofit water corporations for the planning, design, and construction of critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Grants may also be awarded for asset inventory and assessment needs in order to encourage utilities to become more viable and proactive in the management and financing of their systems.
In addition, the budget appropriates $223 million from federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) program funding for comparable purposes. The total available in FY 2022-23 for water and wastewater infrastructure funding is $863 million. Combined with the $1.6 billion in water and wastewater funds appropriated in the 2021 Appropriations Act, the amount available for water and wastewater infrastructure grants for the biennium is roughly $2.5 billion. |
| Parks and Land Conservation
The 2021 Appropriations Act provided $61.7 million in FY 2022-23 for the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) from the General Fund and from the SCIF. For the NC Land and Water Fund (NCLWF), the amount was $64.7 million.
The 2022 Appropriations Act did not increase the overall appropriation for either PARTF or NCLWF. However, it replaces nonrecurring funds with recurring funds for both programs, which means that these programs will have more funding in FY 2023-25, barring any future appropriations adjustments. The revised recurring appropriation for both of these grant programs is $24.2 million. Junaluska Memorial Dedication |
We gathered on a crisp morning to honor and pay tribute to Junaluska, the 19th century Cherokee leader, just as they did on November 5, 1910 during the memorial dedication. This was a wonderful event and I appreciate being able to attend.
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