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HB 458NORTH CAROLINASession 2025State Billin committee

North Carolina requires migrant housing operators to submit compliance affidavits and restricts inspections for barred operators

Original title: Improve Enforcement/Migrant Housing.

Last action · March 20, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Deb Butler and 5 others

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What This Bill Would Do

North Carolina House Bill 458 requires agricultural migrant housing operators to submit a signed affidavit under penalty of perjury certifying they are not barred from temporary foreign labor programs, and prohibits the Department of Labor from conducting s for barred operators or those who submit false affidavits for three years. The legislation also grants operators with two consecutive years of 100% compliance the right to self-inspect in the third year, and establishes new reporting requirements for the Department of Labor.

Why it matters

Agricultural employers and migrant housing operators must comply with new affidavit requirements and inspection restrictions, while the Department of Labor assumes expanded oversight and annual reporting duties regarding migrant housing standards, bed counts, and citations.

Background

Migrant housing in North Carolina is subject to safety and health standards enforced by the Department of Labor and local health departments under Article 19 of Chapter 95 of the General Statutes. context
The North Carolina Department of Labor's Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau oversees inspections and compliance for agricultural worker housing facilities across the state. context

Who It Would Affect

Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Migrant housing operators

Operators must submit signed affidavits under penalty of perjury, face inspection bans for falsifications, and gain self-inspection rights after two years of perfect compliance.

Directly affected

North Carolina Department of Labor

The Department must enforce new affidavit requirements, restrict inspections for barred operators, maintain updated housing lists and violation summaries, and submit an annual legislative report.

Directly affected

Migrant agricultural workers

Workers occupy the migrant housing units subject to preoccupancy inspections, provisional occupancy rules, and safety and health standards.

Key Facts

Operators must include a signed affidavit under penalty of perjury with their inspection application, certifying they are not barred from temporary foreign agricultural labor programs.
If an operator falsifies an affidavit, the Department of Labor shall not provide a preoccupancy inspection to that operator for three years.
Operators achieving 100% compliance on preoccupancy inspections for two consecutive years gain the right to conduct their own self-inspections in the third year.
Post-occupancy inspections by the Department are strictly limited to operators who failed to achieve 100% compliance, were assessed civil penalties, did not undergo preoccupancy inspection, or are subject to a credible referral.

Show all 8 facts

The Department of Labor is prohibited from providing preoccupancy inspections to any operator known to be barred by State or federal authorities from temporary foreign agricultural labor programs.
Operators must request a preoccupancy inspection at least 45 days prior to anticipated occupancy by applying directly to the Department of Labor or the local health department.
If a provisional occupancy occurs because an inspection was not conducted at least four days prior to occupancy, provisional status is revoked if deficiencies are not corrected within specified timeframes.
The Commissioner of Labor must report annually by May 1 to specified legislative committees and the Fiscal Research Division regarding certifications, compliance rates, postoccupancy inspections, citations, fines, and bed counts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What must agricultural operators attach to their migrant housing inspection applications?

Operators must attach a signed affidavit in a form prescribed by the North Carolina Department of Labor certifying under penalty of perjury that they own or lease the housing and are not barred from participation in temporary foreign agricultural labor programs.

When can an operator conduct their own preoccupancy inspection?

An operator who receives a rating of 100% compliance for a particular migrant housing unit parcel for two consecutive years has the right to conduct the inspection themselves in the third year.

What happens if an operator is found to have falsified their affidavit?

The Department of Labor shall not provide a to the operator for three years from the date of the affidavit.

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Where This Stands

Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.

Procedural history

3 actions

Mar 20, 2025House
Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
Mar 20, 2025House
Passed 1st Reading
Mar 19, 2025HouseIntroduced
Filed

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

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