V-110 



an owner. The variation in dredge-and-fill regulations among 

 the coastal States is indicated in the following Table V.2.2. 

 It also points out the States which apparently do not have a State- 

 level regulatory permit system for dredge-and-fill operations. 



Most State laws are considered to be legitimate exercises of the 

 police power under a presumption of validity, although there have 

 been some significant exceptions to this rule. Thus, to avoid 

 involved litigation and possible annulment. State laws must be 

 carefully drafted to avoid being successfully contested on the 

 above grounds. 



MODEL STATUTE GUIDELINES 



Many of the coastal States expressed a need for guidelines for 

 assistance, especially from the Federal Government, for the develop- 

 ment of adequate or strengthened regulations for the use control 

 of resources in estuarine areas, or portions thereof. 



In response to this call for assistance, the National Estuarine 



Pollution Study, through a contract awarded to the University 



of Maryland School of Law, developed a Model Statute for Chesapeake 



Bay Basin Management. The Chesapeake Bay was selected for this 



project because it possesses many characteristics, benefits, potentials, 



and problems which are common to many other estuarine areas of the 



United States. The model statute, developed under this contract, 



is included in the following Chapter 9 of this Part V of the report. 



i 



