A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize the coastal resources commission to adopt temporary and permanent rules to establish a general Permit for the construction of riprap sills for wetland enhancement and shoreline protection in estuarine and public trust waters, to prohibit the construction of permanent erosion control structures in ocean hazard areas, and to provide that temporary erosion control structures in ocean hazard areas shall be limited to sandbags.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Pursuant to G.S. 113A‑118.1, the Coastal Resources Commission may adopt temporary and permanent rules to establish a general permit to allow the construction of offshore parallel sills made of stone or other suitable riprap materials for shoreline protection in conjunction with existing, created, or restored wetlands. The permit shall be applicable only where a shoreline is experiencing erosion in public trust areas and estuarine waters. The permit shall not apply to oceanfront shorelines or to waters and shorelines adjacent to the ocean hazard areas of environmental concern except that the permit may apply to those shorelines that exhibit characteristics of estuarine shorelines.  Characteristics of estuarine shorelines include the presence of wetland vegetation, lower wave energy, and lower erosion rates than are generally characteristic of ocean erodible areas. Notwithstanding G.S. 150B‑21.1(a), the authorization to adopt temporary rules pursuant to this section shall continue in effect until 1 July 2004. Reference to this section shall satisfy the requirement for a statement of finding of need for a temporary rule set out in G.S. 150B‑21.1.
SECTION 2.  The fee for a general permit established by temporary rules pursuant to Section 1 of this act shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00). In adopting permanent rules pursuant to Section 1 of this act, the Coastal Resources Commission shall set a fee for the general permit as provided in G.S. 113A‑119.1.
SECTION 3.  Part 3 of Article 7 of Chapter 113A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 113A-115.1.  Limitations on erosion control structures.
(a)	As used in this section:
(1)	'Erosion control structure' means a breakwater, bulkhead, groin, jetty, revetment, seawall, or any similar structure.
(2)	'Ocean hazard area' means the Atlantic Ocean, an oceanfront shoreline, or waters and shorelines adjacent to an ocean hazard area of environmental concern as designated by the Commission pursuant to G.S. 113A-113(b)(6), but does not include any portion of a shoreline that exhibits characteristics of estuarine shorelines.
(b)	No person shall construct a permanent erosion control structure in an ocean hazard area. The Commission shall not permit the construction of a temporary erosion control structure that consists of anything other than sandbags in an ocean hazard area. This section shall not apply to any permanent erosion control structure that is approved pursuant to an exception set on in a rule adopted by the Commission prior to 1 July 2003. This section shall not be construed to limit the authority of the Commission to adopt rules to designate or protect areas of environmental concern, to govern the use of sandbags, or to govern the use of erosion control structures in inlets or along estuarine shorelines."
SECTION 4.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective 1 July 2003.  Sections 3 and 4 of this act become effective when this act becomes law.