North CarolinaHB 9262025-2026 SessionHouseWALLET

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FURTHER REGULATORY RELIEF TO THE CITIZENS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

Sponsored By: Allen Chesser (Republican), Dennis Riddell (Republican), Jeff Zenger (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Your PRIA Score

Score Hidden

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to start

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

21 provisions identified: 11 benefits, 1 costs, 9 mixed.

Stronger protections for approved projects

Starting 2025-10-06, once you have a qualifying permit or vested right, later local rule changes cannot block or change your project. Boards may set reasonable special‑use permit conditions but not ones they lack legal power to impose; small changes that do not change use or density can be approved by staff. If your land sits in two planning areas, you can consent to one government handling planning, or choose the one with most of your land if they do not agree, and this must be recorded within 14 days. Local officials may rely on county tax records to identify the owner, and a buyer with a valid option, lease, or contract can apply as your agent. Cities and counties cannot require a waiting period before you refile a denied or withdrawn application.

Faster water permits and fee refunds

For stormwater permits, the Commission must check completeness in 10 working days and has 70 days for technical review. It must use a checklist and cannot ask for new items later; if it fails to act after all items are in, the application is approved. For low‑risk wastewater discharges (effective 2024-07-08), the Department has 30 days to confirm completeness and the Commission must decide in 180 days. If the Commission is late, you get 10% of the application fee back for each working day past 180. Applicants must show simple modeling that keeps dissolved oxygen drop within 0.1 mg/L and meet listed effluent targets.

Limits on local housing standards in 2026

Starting 2026-01-01, local rules cannot set a minimum house size for homes under the NC Residential Code. They cannot require parking spaces bigger than 9 feet by 20 feet (except handicap, parallel, or diagonal). They cannot require more fire access roads than the state code for one‑ and two‑family homes or demand pavement standards above DOT minimums. These limits apply to projects started on or after 2026-01-01.

Municipal power can sign 50-year deals

Joint municipal power agencies and member towns can sign power and energy contracts for up to 50 years and renew them for more periods up to 50 years. This can add long‑term price and supply certainty but can also lock cities into costs for decades.

Clearer hearing aid sales and rules

Starting 2025-10-01, sellers and audiologists must give buyers a clear, signed notice when a hearing aid uses locked software and keep records for three years. Receipts must list the date, make/model/serial, new or used, license number, business address and hours, and warranty terms. If you hold a doctoral degree in Audiology and an unrestricted audiologist license, you do not need a separate hearing‑aid dealer license; others must be apprentices or be licensed to fit or sell.

Fewer fees for inspections and model homes

If you cancel a residential inspection more than one business day ahead, the office cannot charge a fee or mark it failed. Fire officials may temporarily reduce fire‑flow needs for an isolated model home when full fire‑flow work is impractical or pending.

Small homes near Falls Lake exempt

Until new permanent rules are set, a single‑family home or duplex that disturbs under 1 acre and is not part of a larger plan does not need a Falls Lake stormwater permit or post‑construction controls. Federal requirements still apply. Local governments in the area cannot impose stricter rules.

More flexibility for restaurants and caterers

Permitted restaurants can serve food inside off‑site workplaces for employees and invited guests up to three days in any seven, with safe transport, no self‑service, handwashing, and certified staff. Culinary permits now cover restaurants, hotels, food businesses, cooking schools, and caterers, allowing up to 12 liters of fortified wine or spirits for cooking and transport to job sites.

More options for on-site water systems

You can place approved wastewater dispersal products under private driveways or parking areas if a licensed engineer certifies the load rating and the maker approves. Small potable‑water distillation systems that land‑apply under 5,000 gallons/day and meet safety limits are deemed permitted and do not need an individual or general NPDES permit. The Department may let eligible supplemental treatment facilities cut operator visits to once a month if they add shutdowns, sensors, alarms, and remote monitoring.

Clearer and earlier agency hearing notices

Parties in administrative cases get at least 15 days’ hearing notice. The Office of Administrative Hearings gives week and county notice at least 30 days before the first date, and a related rule now requires 30 days’ notice. The State favors informal settlements first; while talks are underway, agencies cannot hold sworn, cross‑examined hearings. If talks fail, either party may start a contested case without first asking for rulemaking or a declaratory ruling.

Dam emergency plans kept confidential

Emergency Action Plans and downstream inundation maps for dams owned by electric utilities or local governments are treated as sensitive security information. They are not released under public‑records laws.

Local bans on official flags limited

Local governments cannot ban official government flags on consenting property when flown under patriotic customs. They may set fair, nondiscriminatory size and placement rules. For U.S. and North Carolina flags, any ban needs written findings, and traffic‑safety claims need a DOT site study.

Temporary extra letter for septic permits

Until new permanent rules take effect, septic permit applications must include a denial letter from the county health department or an Authorized On‑Site Wastewater Evaluator stating the site is denied for all subsurface systems.

Licenses require verified Social Security numbers

When you apply for an occupational license, the board must collect and verify your Social Security number. Boards keep the number confidential and may share it only with child support enforcement, the Department of Revenue, and the Social Security Administration.

Private pools allowed for short-term rentals

A private pool at a single‑family home stays outside public‑pool rules, even for short‑term guest use for a fee, if it is kept in safe working order. Temporary sharing is allowed only if the pool has fencing, safety signs, lifesaving gear, non‑slip decks, covered suction outlets, and proper chemicals. Local health boards cannot regulate private single‑family pools and cannot create separate grading, operating, or permitting rules for listed food and lodging facilities.

New rules for land survey access

Licensed surveyors and their crews may enter land as needed to find corners, boundaries, rights‑of‑way, and easements. They cannot enter railroad or critical‑infrastructure sites and must not damage anything without written permission; they are liable for damage. In survey‑negligence cases, courts may order the losing side to pay reasonable attorney fees. A prior survey statute is repealed and replaced with these rules.

Real estate forms can show broker pay

Brokers may use preprinted offer or sales forms that include broker compensation and rules about earnest‑money forfeiture until a similar permanent rule is adopted by the Real Estate Commission.

Limits on suing new racing tracks

If a racing facility obtained all permits and a vested right before a neighbor bought nearby land or built, that neighbor cannot sue for nuisance or a taking. The protected area is within three miles of the track’s perimeter.

More local bodies can collect debts

The law expands who counts as a local agency for State debt setoff, adding bodies like water and sewer authorities, public health authorities, and some housing authorities when debt is a final judgment, plus other public works boards.

State projects face fewer local rules

Many State‑managed construction projects, and some UNC projects in Buncombe, Orange, Watauga, or Wake counties, are not subject to Chapter 160D. State‑owned land cannot be put in special zoning without Council of State approval. The State must consult local governments on water, stormwater, traffic, parking, buffers, and local environmental rules.

K-3 class waivers and teacher labels

For ATR units that got final grant funding in 2024–25, the State Board may let K–3 classes exceed size caps in 2025–26 and 2026–27. The Department of Public Instruction adds labels in the student data system to mark teachers in advanced roles.

Free Policy Watch

You just read the policy. Now see what it costs you.

Pick a topic. PRIA runs your household against live legislation and sends you a free personalized readout.

Pick a topic to get started

My Taxes My Health My Budget My Money My Freedom

Or tell us something more specific

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Cosponsors

Jimmy Dixon
Republican • House
Bill Ward
Republican • House