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<br /> The following definitions apply in this Part:
<br /> "Department" means the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
<br /> "Enforcement agencies" means the Department, any other agency of the
<br /> State, and units of local government responsible for enforcement of
<br /> environmental laws.
<br /> "Environmental audit" means a voluntary, internal evaluation or review of
<br /> one or more facilities or an activity at one or more facilities regulated under
<br /> federal, State, regional, or local environmental law, or of compliance
<br /> programs or management systems related to the facility or activity if
<br /> designed to identify and prevent noncompliance and to improve compliance
<br /> with these laws. For the purposes of this Part, an environmental audit does
<br /> not include an environmental site assessment of a facility conducted solely
<br /> in anticipation of the purchase, sale, or transfer of the business or facility. An
<br /> environmental audit may be conducted by the owner or operator, the parent
<br /> corporation of the owner or operator or by their officers or employees, or by
<br /> independent contractors. An environmental audit must be a discrete activity
<br /> with a specified beginning date and scheduled ending date reflecting the
<br /> auditor's bona fide intended completion schedule.
<br /> "Environmental audit report" means a document marked or identified as
<br /> such with a completion date existing either individually or as a compilation
<br /> prepared in connection with an environmental audit. An environmental audit
<br /> report may include field notes and records of observations, findings,
<br /> opinions, suggestions, recommendations, conclusions, drafts, memoranda,
<br /> drawings, photographs, computer-generated or electronically recorded
<br /> information, maps, charts, graphs, and surveys, provided the suporting
<br /> information is collected or developed for the primary purpose and in the
<br /> course of an environmental audit. An environmental audit report, when
<br /> completed, may include all of the following components:
<br /> a. An audit report prepared by an auditor, which may include the scope
<br /> and date of the audit and the information gained in the audit, together_
<br /> with exhibits and apendices and may include conclusions,
<br /> recommendations, exhibits, and apendices.
<br /> b. Memoranda and documents analyzing any portion of the audit report
<br /> or issues relating to the implementation of an audit report.
<br /> C. An implementation plan that addresses correcting past
<br /> noncompliance, improving current compliance, or preventing future
<br /> noncompliance.
<br /> "Environmental laws" means all provisions of federal, State, and local laws,
<br /> rules, and ordinances pertaining to environmental matters.
<br /> 8-58.52. Applicability.
<br /> (a) This Part aplies to activities regulated under environmental laws, including all of
<br /> the following provisions of the General Statutes, and rules adopted thereunder:
<br /> Article 7 of Chapter 74.
<br /> Chapter 104E.
<br /> Article 25 of Chapter 113.
<br /> Articles 1, 4, and 7 of Chapter 113A.
<br /> Article 9 of Chapter 130A, except as provided in subsection (b) of this
<br /> section.
<br /> Articles 21, 21 A, and 21 B of Chapter 143.
<br /> Part 1 of Article 7 of Chapter 143B.
<br /> This Part shall not aply to activities regulated under the Coal Ash Management Act
<br /> of 2014 under Part 2I of Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes and rules
<br /> promulgated pursuant to that Part.
<br /> "§ 8-58.53. Environmental audit report; privilege.
<br /> (a) An environmental audit report or any part of an environmental audit report is
<br /> privileged and, therefore, immune from discovery and is not admissible as evidence in civil or
<br /> administrative proceedings, except as provided in G.S. 8-58.54 and G.S. 8-58.56. Provided,
<br /> however, all of the following documents are exempt from the privilege established by this Part:
<br /> Information obtained by observation of an enforcement agency.
<br /> Page 14 Session Law 2015-286 House Bill 765-Ratified
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