133-40. Purchase of contaminated property by public entities.

(a) For purposes of this Article, the term "public entity" means the State and the Community College System; provided, however, that the term does not include the Department of Transportation in the exercise of the powers conferred by G.S. 136-19.

(b) No public entity, as defined in subsection (a) of this section, shall purchase or otherwise acquire an ownership interest in any real property with known contamination, as that term is defined in G.S. 130A-310.65(5), without approval of the Governor and the Council of State. A public entity seeking to purchase or otherwise acquire an ownership interest in such property shall petition the Governor and Council of State for approval of the transaction, with sufficient information to identify the property, the nature and extent of the contamination present, and a plan of paying for the project and for remediation of any contamination without the use of General Fund appropriations. The approval of such a transaction by the Governor and Council of State may be evidenced by a duly certified copy of excerpt of minutes of the meeting of the Governor and Council of State, attested by the private secretary to the Governor or the Governor, reciting such approval, affixed to the instrument of acquisition or transfer, and said certificate may be recorded as a part thereof, and the same shall be conclusive evidence of review and approval of the subject transaction by the Governor and Council of State. The Governor, acting with the approval of the Council of State, may delegate the review and approval of such transactions as the Governor deems advisable.

(c) This Article shall not apply to situations in which a public entity acquires ownership or control of real property involuntarily, including having obtained the property through bankruptcy, tax delinquency, abandonment, or other circumstances in which the public entity involuntarily acquires title by virtue of its function as a sovereign.