Summary of Regulatory Reform Committee Meeting
By On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the Regulatory Reform Committee met. Andy Ellen, General Counsel of the Retail Merchants Association, was the first presenter. He characterized the environment as dire and needing for certainty and consistency in statutes addressing small businesses. He and Representative Hager supported voluntary environmental regulation concerning plastic disposal. One of his slides includes “what [they] are hearing from their members” regarding rules, rulemaking, and agencies.
Chris Millis, Former Chair of this committee and now lobbyist for the North Carolina Home Builders Association, was the next presenter. His presentation included the following: there has been an average increase in the cost of housing of $160,000. The average mortgage is $420,000, requiring an income of $130,000. This amount is well above the average household income in North Carolina and has a devastating effect upon most individuals being able to qualify for a mortgage. Other issues which also have a devastating effect upon housing development are zoning and permits. In most municipalities, developers are required to enter into negotiations to obtain voluntary consent from the municipal and county governments relating to appearance controls, traffic controls, park support and other unrelated concerns to obtain the voluntary consent. On average, it takes 18 months to deal with these concerns. On average, it takes between three to four years to move from the purchase of property to develop and the time that the homes are occupied. Efficiency in the permitting process is absolutely necessary for reducing the time for permitting. Adequate staffing in permitting departments is key to accomplishing timely permitting. Reform concerning high-density municipal development is extremely needed.
Bill Peaslee, OAH Legislative Liaison and attorney assigned to staff RRC, and Jeanette Doren, RRC Chair, gave an overview of OAH and rules review. Peaslee reviewed the structure of OAH with the three divisions. Doren discussed the organization and process of rule review. Doren emphasized the limited scope of rules review to determine clarity, statutory authority and compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Doren further stated that the Commission was not there to advocate for specific positions concerning the proposed rules. They are there to ensure compliance with the previously stated purposes. With the 10-year review approaching, Rule Review will be asking the legislature to approve four staff attorney positions to deal with this review. Doren also focused on what agency statutory rulemaking authority is. Time lapsed before a full discussion of the statutory authority topic.
The Committee is to meet again the week of March 3-8. An agenda has not yet been posted. You can subscribe to meeting notices for this or other committees here.