NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1971 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 630

SENATE BILL 96

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  The Constitution of North Carolina, adopted by the voters in the 1970 general election and effective July 1, 1971, is amended by adding a new Section 5 to Article XIV to read as follows:

"Sec. 5.  Conservation of natural resources. It shall be the policy of this State to conserve and protect its lands and waters for the benefit of all its citizenry, and to this end it shall be a proper function of the State of North Carolina and its political subdivisions to acquire and preserve park, recreational, and scenic areas, to control and limit the pollution of our air and water, to control excessive noise, and in every other appropriate way to preserve as a part of the common heritage of this State its forests, wetlands, estuaries, beaches, historical sites, openlands, and places of beauty.

To accomplish the aforementioned public purposes, the State and its counties, cities and towns, and other units of local government may acquire by purchase or gift properties or interests in properties which shall, upon their special dedication to and acceptance by resolution adopted by a vote of three-fifths of the members of each house of the General Assembly for those public purposes, constitute part of the 'State Nature and Historic Preserve', and which shall not be used for other purposes except as authorized by law enacted by a vote of three‑fifths of the members of each house of the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall prescribe by general law the conditions and procedures under which such properties or interests therein shall be dedicated for the aforementioned public purposes.

Sec. 2.  The amendment set out in Section 1 of this Act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the next general election. That election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in this State.

Sec 3  At that election, each qualified voter presenting himself to vote shall be provided a ballot on which shall be printed the following:

"[ ] FOR constitutional amendment to conserve and protect North Carolina's natural resources.

[ ] AGAINST constitutional amendment to conserve and protect North Carolina's natural resources."

Those qualified voters favoring the amendment set out in Section 1 of this Act shall be marking an X or a check mark in the square beside the statement beginning "FOR " and those qualified voters opposed to that amendment shall vote by marking an X or a check mark in the square beside the statement beginning "AGAINST".

Sec 4  If a majority of the votes cast thereon are in favor of the amendment set out in Section 1 of this Act, then the Governor shall certify the amendment set out in Section 1 of this Act to the Secretary of State, who shall enroll that amendment so certified among the permanent records of his office, and that amendment shall take effect as an amendment to the revised and amended Constitution of North Carolina on July 1, 1973.

Sec 5  This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 21st day of June, 1971.