CRMC 



General enforcement capability at CRMC has long been a subject of 

 controversy. When responsibility for coastal zone management was 

 transferred from DEM to CRMC, enforcement responsibility and authority 

 remained with DEM. CRMC staff limitations are such that insufficient resources are 

 available for follow-up to ensure that permit conditions are met, and that applicants comply 

 with permit conditions in the long term. A large back-log of old violations await 

 enforcement action. Given the maintenance requirements of non-point source controls, 

 lack of enforcement capability will create increasing program vulnerabiUty as requirements 

 for BMP installation are attached to permits. The Executive Director acknowledges than 

 enforcement capability is inadequate to meet current needs. 



Section 46-23-16 gives the Council authority to grant permits, licences, 

 and easements for any term of years or in perpetuity, allowing permit 

 duration to be established so as to provide for consistent compliance with 

 conditions as a condition of reissuance. Lack of enforcement staff severely 

 limits the utility of this provision. By a recent rule change, the Director of CRMC 

 was delegated the enforcement authority which had previously been reserved for the 

 Council, but authority is still insufficient to create adequate incentive for compliance among 

 potential violators. 



Three categories of recourse are available to CRMC in responding to violations: 



1) If the violation is considered "minor," any Council or staff member can issue a 

 notice of violation to the landowner. This notice is essentially a warning and carries 

 no legal power. A copy of the notice is filed as a CRMC record. 



2) If the violation creates "significant environmental harm" constituting a violation of 

 an Assent, a cease and desist order may be issued by CRMC. If the violator fails to 

 remedy the situation, a subpoena may be issued to require the violator to describe 

 his/her cause for failing to comply. In "many cases," according to CRMC staff, 

 subpoenas are issued for activities which have proceeded outside the permit 

 process. In such cases, the violator is required to go through the permit process 

 after the fact, and CRMC applies permit conditions as feasible. 



3) CRMC may also require restoration under a cease and desist order. If a violator 

 refuses to comply, CRMC may seek criminal prosecution through the Attorney 

 General's Office, or may bring civil action through its outside legal representation. 



The real enforcement authority provided by these mechanisms is limited, for the 

 following reasons: 



a) Only one full-time Council staff person is assigned to enforcement; 



b) CRMC, unlike DEM, is not empowered to impose administrative penalties or fines 

 on violators; 



c) CRMC, unlike DEM, is not empowered to register violation of permit conditions or 

 program requirements as deed encumbrances; 



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