Chapter 150B

(a) Purpose. - This Chapter establishes a uniform system of administrative rulemaking and adjudicatory procedures for agencies. The procedures ensure that the functions of rulemaking, investigation, advocacy, and adjudication are not all performed by the same person in the admini…

This Article applies to an agency's exercise of its authority to adopt a rule. A rule is not valid unless it is adopted in substantial compliance with this Article. An agency shall not seek to implement or enforce against any person a policy, guideline, or other interpretive stat…

An agency may not adopt a rule that does one or more of the following: (1) Implements or interprets a law unless that law or another law specifically authorizes the agency to do so. (2) Enlarges the scope of a profession, occupation, or field of endeavor for which an occupational…

(a) In developing and drafting rules for adoption in accordance with this Article, agencies shall adhere to the following principles: (1) An agency may adopt only rules that are expressly authorized by federal or State law and that are necessary to serve the public interest. (2) …

(a) An agency authorized to implement and enforce State and federal environmental laws may not adopt a rule for the protection of the environment or natural resources that imposes a more restrictive standard, limitation, or requirement than those imposed by federal law or rule, i…

(a) If an agency determines that a proposed permanent rule or set of rules will have a projected aggregate financial cost to all persons affected equal to or greater than one million dollars ($1,000,000) during any five-year period and the agency is a board, a commission, a counc…

As used in this Chapter, the following definitions apply: (1) Administrative law judge. - A person appointed under G.S. 7A-752, 7A-753, or 7A-757. (1a) Adopt. - To take final action to create, amend, or repeal a rule. (1b) Agency. - An agency or an officer in the executive branch…

(a) Petition. - A person may petition an agency to adopt a rule by submitting to the agency a written rulemaking petition requesting the adoption. A person may submit written comments with a rulemaking petition. If a rulemaking petition requests the agency to create or amend a ru…

(a) Each agency must designate one or more rulemaking coordinators to oversee the agency's rulemaking functions. The coordinator shall serve as the liaison between the agency, other agencies, units of local government, and the public in the rulemaking process. The coordinator sha…

(a) Adoption. - An agency may adopt a temporary rule when it finds that adherence to the notice and hearing requirements of G.S. 150B-21.2 would be contrary to the public interest and that the immediate adoption of the rule is required by one or more of the following: (1) A serio…

At the first meeting at which a permanent rule is before the Commission for review, the Commission must take one of the following actions: (1) Approve the rule, if the Commission determines that the rule meets the standards for review. (2) Object to the rule, if the Commission de…

When the Commission approves a permanent rule, it must notify the agency that adopted the rule of the Commission's approval, and deliver the approved rule to the Codifier of Rules. If the approved rule will increase or decrease expenditures or revenues of a unit of local governme…

(a) Action. - When the Commission objects to a permanent rule, it must send the agency that adopted the rule a written statement of the objection and the reason for the objection. The agency that adopted the rule must take one of the following actions: (1) Change the rule to sati…

When the Commission extends the period for review of a permanent rule, it must notify the agency that adopted the rule of the extension and the reason for the extension. After the Commission extends the period for review of a rule, it may call a public hearing on the rule. Within…

The Commission may call a public hearing on a rule when it extends the period for review of the rule. At the request of an agency, the Commission may call a public hearing on a rule that is not before it for review. Calling a public hearing on a rule not already before the Commis…

(a) Content. - The Codifier of Rules must publish the North Carolina Register. The North Carolina Register must be published at least two times a month and must contain the following: (1) Temporary rules entered in the North Carolina Administrative Code. (1a) The text of proposed…

The Codifier of Rules must compile all rules into a Code known as the North Carolina Administrative Code. The format and indexing of the Code must conform as nearly as practical to the format and indexing of the North Carolina General Statutes. The Codifier must publish printed c…

To be acceptable for inclusion in the North Carolina Administrative Code, a rule must: (1) Cite the law under which the rule is adopted. (2) Be signed by the head of the agency or the rulemaking coordinator for the agency that adopted the rule. (3) Be in the physical form specifi…

(a) Adoption. - An agency may adopt an emergency rule without prior notice or hearing or upon any abbreviated notice or hearing the agency finds practical when it finds that adherence to the notice and hearing requirements of this Part would be contrary to the public interest and…

(a) Steps. - Before an agency adopts a permanent rule, the agency must comply with the requirements of G.S. 150B-19.1, and it must take the following actions: (1) Publish a notice of text in the North Carolina Register. (2) When required by G.S. 150B-21.4, prepare or obtain a fis…

(a) Authority. - After consulting with the agency that adopted the rule, the Codifier of Rules may revise a rule to do one or more of the following: (1) Rearrange the order of the rule in the Code or the order of the subsections, subdivisions, or other subparts of the rule. (2) P…

(a) State Bar. - The North Carolina State Bar must submit a rule adopted or approved by it and entered in the minutes of the North Carolina Supreme Court to the Codifier of Rules for inclusion in the North Carolina Administrative Code. The State Bar must submit a rule within 30 d…

Official or judicial notice can be taken of a rule in the North Carolina Administrative Code and shall be taken when appropriate. (1973, c. 1331, s. 1; 1985, c. 746, s. 1; 1991, c. 418, s. 1; 1997-34, s. 8.)

(a) Register. - The Codifier of Rules shall make available the North Carolina Register on the internet at no charge. (b) Code. - The Codifier of Rules shall make available the North Carolina Administrative Code on the internet at no charge. (1973, c. 1331, s. 1; c. 69, ss. 3, 7; …

A person who is not entitled to a free copy of the North Carolina Administrative Code or North Carolina Register may obtain a copy by paying a fee set by the Codifier of Rules. The Codifier must set separate fees for the North Carolina Register and the North Carolina Administrati…

(a) Preliminary Review. - At least 60 days before an agency publishes in the North Carolina Register the proposed text of a permanent rule change that would affect the expenditures or revenues of a unit of local government, the agency must submit all of the following to the Offic…

In adopting permanent rules that would increase or decrease the expenditures or revenues of a unit of local government, the agency shall consider the timing for implementation of the proposed rule as part of the preparation of the fiscal note required by G.S. 150B-21.4(b). If the…

The Office of State Budget and Management shall: (1) Compile an annual summary of the projected fiscal impact on units of local government of State administrative rules adopted during the preceding fiscal year. (2) Compile from information provided by each agency schedules of ant…

(a) Temporary and Emergency Rules. - A temporary rule or an emergency rule becomes effective on the date the Codifier of Rules enters the rule in the North Carolina Administrative Code. (b) Permanent Rule. - A permanent rule approved by the Commission becomes effective on the fir…

(a) Definitions. - For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) Commission. - Means the Rules Review Commission. (2) Committee. - Means the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee. (2a) Necessary rule. - Means any rule other than an un…

(a) State Funds. - Before an agency publishes in the North Carolina Register the proposed text of a permanent rule change that would require the expenditure or distribution of funds subject to the State Budget Act, Chapter 143C of the General Statutes, it must submit the text of …

(a) Amendment. - An agency is not required to publish a notice of text in the North Carolina Register, hold a public hearing, or submit the amended rule to the Commission for review when it proposes to amend a rule to do one of the following: (1) Reletter or renumber the rule or …

An agency may incorporate the following material by reference in a rule without repeating the text of the referenced material: (1) Another rule or part of a rule adopted by the agency. (2) All or part of a code, standard, or regulation adopted by another agency, the federal gover…

(a) When a law that authorizes an agency to adopt a rule is repealed and another law gives the same or another agency substantially the same authority to adopt a rule, the rule remains in effect until the agency with authority over the rule amends or repeals the rule. When a law …

(a) Emergency Rule. - The Commission does not review an emergency rule. (b) Temporary and Permanent Rules. - An agency must submit temporary and permanent rules adopted by it to the Commission before the rule can be included in the North Carolina Administrative Code. The Commissi…

(a) Standards. - The Commission must determine whether a rule meets all of the following criteria: (1) It is within the authority delegated to the agency by the General Assembly. (2) It is clear and unambiguous. (3) It is reasonably necessary to implement or interpret an enactmen…

(a) It is the policy of this State that any dispute between an agency and another person that involves the person's rights, duties, or privileges, including licensing or the levy of a monetary penalty, should be settled through informal procedures. In trying to reach a settlement…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, timelines and other procedural safeguards required to be provided under IDEA and Article 9 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes must be followed in an impartial due process hearing initiated when a petition is filed unde…

(a) A contested case shall be commenced by paying a fee in an amount established in G.S. 150B-23.2 and by filing a petition with the Office of Administrative Hearings and, except as provided in Article 3A of this Chapter, shall be conducted by that Office. The party that files th…

(a) Purpose. - This section authorizes a mediation program in the Office of Administrative Hearings in which the chief administrative law judge may require the parties in a contested case to attend a prehearing settlement conference conducted by a mediator. The purpose of the pro…

(a) Filing Fee. - In every contested case commenced in the Office of Administrative Hearings by a person aggrieved, the petitioner shall pay a filing fee, and the administrative law judge shall have the authority to assess that filing fee against the losing party, in the amount o…

In addition to any other method specified in G.S. 150B-23, documents filed and served in a contested case may be filed and served electronically by means of an Electronic Filing Service Provider. For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) "Electronic filin…

(a) The hearing of a contested case shall be conducted: (1) In the county in this State in which any person whose property or rights are the subject matter of the hearing maintains his residence; (2) In the county where the agency maintains its principal office if the property or…

(a) If a party fails to appear in a contested case after proper service of notice, and if no adjournment or continuance is granted, the administrative law judge may proceed with the hearing in the absence of the party. (b) Repealed by Session Laws 1991, c. 35, s. 2. (c) The parti…

(a) Except as otherwise provided by law or by this section, the petitioner in a contested case has the burden of proving the facts alleged in the petition by a preponderance of the evidence. (b) In a contested case involving the imposition of civil fines or penalties by a State a…

When contested cases involving a common question of law or fact or multiple proceedings involving the same or related parties are pending, the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings may order a joint hearing of any matters at issue in the cases, order the cases consoli…

After the commencement of a contested case, subpoenas may be issued and served in accordance with G.S. 1A-1, Rule 45. In addition to the methods of service in G.S. 1A-1, Rule 45, a State law enforcement officer may serve a subpoena on behalf of an agency that is a party to the co…

(a) A deposition may be used in lieu of other evidence when taken in compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, G.S. 1A-1. Parties in contested cases may engage in discovery pursuant to the provisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure, G.S. 1A-1. (b) Repealed by Session Laws 200…

(a) In all contested cases, irrelevant, immaterial and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. Except as otherwise provided, the rules of evidence as applied in the trial division of the General Court of Justice shall be followed; but, when evidence is not reasonably avail…

(a) When an applicant or a licensee makes a timely and sufficient application for issuance or renewal of a license or occupational license, including the payment of any required license fee, the existing license or occupational license does not expire until a decision on the appl…