North Carolina

Climate advisory bodies often write or advise on a state's climate plan, and make non-binding recommendations on climate policy design and implementation. The bodies can consist of all non-government members, or be a mix of government and non-government members.

An Environmental Rights Amendment is an amendment to a state constitution guaranteeing the citizens of that state a right to a clean and healthy environment. The right to a clean and healthy environment can help to address climate change and provide a key tool to regulate greenhouse gases and achieve environmental justice goals.

Environmental justice (EJ) community investment requirements help ensure communities most impacted by environmental burdens are benefitting equitably from public programs by requiring a certain percentage of funds and/or benefits from other policies are allocated to EJ communities.

Cumulative impact assessments determine the health and environmental impacts of renewing or granting a permit for certain pollution-generating facilities in environmental justice communities. Increased pollution burdens in communities may result in the permit application being denied.

Just transition plans are documents that outline policies and recommendations aimed at supporting communities, workers, and industries affected by the transition away from fossil fuels. The plans often focus on workforce development and retraining, job creation, and economic diversification.

Just transition offices and staff assist workers and communities transitioning away from fossil fuel extraction and use, typically through retraining programs and support with relocation and economic diversification. Offices and staff also coordinate with other state agencies to effectively design policy to achieve a just transition.

Just transition advisory bodies write or advise on a state's just transition plan or report, and make recommendations on ways to support affected workers, communities, and industries. The bodies can consist of all non-government members, or be a mix of government and non-government members.

Just transition funds support initiatives and investments aimed at facilitating the equitable transition of workers and communities affected by shifts in industries or policies that transition from fossil fuels.

Green banks are public, quasi-public, or non-profit entities that use innovative financing to invest in climate solutions and attract private capital across various economic sectors.

State divestment means ending new investment in the fossil fuel industry and phasing out existing fossil fuel investments in public funds, such as state pensions, over time. States can also set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for their investment portfolios.

Transmission plans identify transmission needs and gaps to reliably meet forecasted electricity demand, achieve state policy objectives such as climate and clean energy goals, and improve grid efficiency and performance. Plans can be developed by the state or required at the utility-level.

States can establish some form of statewide, consolidated siting and permitting entity — typically a council or board — for renewables and/or transmission to streamline project review and prevent uncertainty in the face of local governments’ restrictions or prohibitions of renewable generation or transmission.

Advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) and grid enhancing technologies (GETs) are a family of technologies that can enhance the capacity of the existing electrical transmission and distribution system. State policies that promote ATTs and GETs can be key to unlocking renewable energy development at lower cost and with shorter wait times.

Rights-of-way grant certain entities (like utilities) the right to pass through or use a designated portion of another person’s property. States can empower transmission planners and state Departments of Transportation to promote and prioritize projects that colocate transmission lines in existing rights-of-way, such as along highways, to accelerate the siting and construction of new transmission.

Community choice aggregation allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider.

Energy storage targets establish procurement targets for energy storage systems by a certain date, often with interim targets. Targets can vary from broad megawatt (MW) requirements to more specific mandates that focus on the adoption of certain storage technologies.

Coal phaseouts establish a target year by which states must end coal-fired power generation.

Stretch building energy codes are an optional, more stringent building code established by the state that local jurisdictions can adopt to require that newly constructed buildings are more efficient than the baseline state codes.

Appliance standards set minimum energy and water conservation requirements for appliances and equipment.

Building performance standards establish energy and/or greenhouse gas performance targets for existing buildings in a state. These targets increase in stringency over time, leading to efficiency improvements in buildings to conserve energy and reduce emissions.

Clean heat standards establish a performance standard requiring heat providers to deliver a gradually-increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers.

All-electric buildings policies require new buildings to be constructed with all-electric heating, cooling, and cooking systems to transition away from fossil-fuel use in buildings.

Thermal energy networks are neighborhood-scale energy projects that allow multiple buildings to be connected through a shared network of underground pipes to distribute heating and cooling, often using renewable energy sources like geothermal or waste heat. State policymakers can create an enabling regulatory structure, and may also commission pilots, allow cost recovery, or create mandates to help transition from natural gas.

Gas line extension allowances (LEAs) are policies that enable new customers to connect to the natural gas system, with some or all of the costs paid for by existing gas ratepayers. Eliminating line extension allowances results in new customers directly paying for the costs to install their new gas service.

Under Section 177 of the Clean Air Act, California has the unique authority to establish vehicle emission standards more stringent than federal standards, and other states may adopt California’s standards. These Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards control tailpipe emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases from light-duty vehicles.

Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandates, also known as "clean car standards," require automakers to produce and sell a certain percentage of zero-emission light-duty vehicles each model year based on total new vehicle sales. The most stringent ZEV mandates require 100% of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2035 and are known as "Advanced Clean Cars II".

Electric vehicle rebates offer rebates to make light-duty electric vehicles more affordable to increase their adoption in a state.

Low NOx Omnibus Rules establish stringent tailpipe emission standards for heavy duty vehicles, updated testing procedures, and technology-neutral compliance mechanisms to reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) pollution. The regulation must be adopted first by California, and other states may adopt the regulation under the federal Clean Air Act.

Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) electric vehicle rebates consist of programs and policies that offer rebates to make MHD electric vehicles more affordable to increase their adoption in a state.

Electric bus procurement targets require that a certain percentage or number of school buses and/or transit buses purchased or leased by the state, transit authorities, and/or school districts must be electric or zero-emissions.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure requirements establish mandates for the installation of EV charging infrastructure in new construction or developments, such as residential or commercial buildings, and public parking lots.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure rebates offer rebates to make the purchase and/or installation costs of EV charging infrastructure more affordable.

Transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets are set by a state to limit emissions in the transportation sector. These targets aim to reduce emissions by specific amounts over time, often expressed as a percentage reduction from a baseline year.

A low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) is a market-based mechanism to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and account for the fuel's life cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) impact mitigation requires state and local governments to align large transportation projects, typically highway expansions, with their climate targets. In some states, these projects must include mitigation measures, such as public transit investments, that offset or lower estimated increases in GHGs and/or VMTs.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) impact mitigation requires state and local governments to align large transportation projects, typically highway expansions, with their climate targets. In some states, these projects must include mitigation measures, such as public transit investments, that offset or lower estimated increases in GHGs and/or VMTs.

Buy clean requirements mandate or incentivize the use of low-carbon construction materials, such as concrete and steel, in public projects to address embodied carbon.

Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) regulations include phasedown commitments, rulemakings, disclosure requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce HFC usage and emissions.

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce SF6 usage and emissions.

Oil and gas methane regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, leak detection and repair, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production.

Fracking bans prohibit the practice of hydraulic fracking for the production of oil and/or natural gas by a certain year. Legislation often requires an environmental agency or department to promulgate regulations.

Landfill methane regulations include rulemakings, emissions monitoring, emissions control, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from decaying organic waste in landfills.

Food waste bans and targets include policies that prohibit certain entities that generate specified amounts of food waste (typically commercial businesses and larger institutions) from sending this waste to landfills. Targets aim to reduce total food waste by a certain percentage each target year.