§ 106-24. Collection and publication of information relating to agriculture; cooperation. - North Carolina Statutes

Part 5. Cooperation BetweenDepartment and United States Department of Agriculture, and CountyCommissioners.

§ 106‑24.  Collectionand publication of information relating to agriculture; cooperation.

(a)        The Department ofAgriculture and Consumer Services shall collect, compile, systematize,tabulate, and publish statistical information relating to agriculture. TheDepartment is authorized to use sample surveys to collect primary data relatingto agriculture. The Department is authorized to cooperate with the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture and the several boards of county commissionersof the State, to accomplish the purpose of this Part.

(b)        The Department ofAgriculture and Consumer Services shall annually collect information on wateruse by persons who withdraw 10,000 gallons per day or more of water from thesurface or groundwater sources of the State for activities directly related orincidental to the production of crops, fruits, vegetables, ornamental andflowering plants, dairy products, livestock, poultry, and other agriculturalproducts. The information shall be collected by survey conducted pursuant tosubsection (a) of this section and in accordance with Title 7 United StatesCode Section 2276 (Confidential Information Protection and StatisticalEfficiency Act). The Department shall develop the survey form in consultationwith the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The Department shallreport the results of the water use survey to the Environmental ReviewCommission no later than July 1 of each year and shall provide a copy of thereport to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The report shallinclude recommendations about modifications to the survey, including changes inthe gallons per day threshold for water use data collection. The report shallprovide agricultural water use data by county. If the county is located in morethan one river basin, the report shall separate the county data to showagricultural water use by river basin within the county. If publication ofcounty or watershed data would result in disclosure of an individualoperation's water use, the data will be combined with data from another countyor watershed.  (1921,c. 201, s. 1; C.S., s. 4689(a); 1941, c. 343; 1975, c. 611, s. 1; 1979, c. 228,s. 1; 1997‑261, s. 25; 2008‑143, s. 2(a).)