Appendix D Summary of State Activities in Coastal Management and Regulation' 



Alabama Regulation Alabama authorizes its State Docks Authority to estabUsh "harbor lines." When 

 such lines are estabhshed, the Docks Authority has supervision and control over all activities landward of 

 the harbor lines. In the absence of harbor Unes, the Department of Conservation exercises similar 

 authority over the area below mean high tide. State ownership of the area below mean high tide is said 

 to be "well estabhshed." Because of its very limited estuarine areas, the State is seeking to preserve all 

 the existing areas. Responsibihty for regulation is divided between the State Department of 

 Conservation— which includes Divisions of Administration, Forestry, Game and Fish, Seafoods, State 

 Lands, State Parks and Water Safety-and the State Docks Authority. The Department of Conservation 

 is authorized to acquire lands (including estuarine areas) in connection with its fish and game programs. 



Funding Total State program spending for protection, conservation, and research activities is 

 approximately $300,000 annually. 



Court Tests State ownership of areas below mean high tide is reported to be "well established." 

 Apparently there have been no court tests concerning vaUdity of regulatory legislation. 



Coordination Internal coordination of State programs affecting estuaries is carried out between the 

 Conservation Department and the Docks Authority. Both of these agencies coordinate with the Corps of 

 Engineers and the Department of Interior on Federal-State matters, including Corps permits for projects 

 affecting navigable waters. The Governor's office coordinates the efforts of the State's industrial 

 development agencies with the State's conservation programs. 



California (1) Cahfornia is in the midst of an extensive planning program for estuarine conservation in 

 one area, the San Francisco Bay, begun with enactment of a legislative framework in 1965 and scheduled 

 for completion in 1969. The planning agency, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development 

 Commission, was directed to; study the bay, prepare a comprehensive conservation and development 

 plan for the bay and its shoreline, and (as an interim measure) to protect the bay during the plaiming 

 period by controlling dredging and filling by permits during the planning period. Through 1966 the 

 Commission had issued 25 interim permits, denied 5 permits. 



Presently about 50 per cent of the San Francisco Bay is State owned, 20 per cent city or county 

 owned, 5 per cent Federally owned, and 25 per cent privately owned. 



This study commission has projected 23 separate staff or consultant reports dealing with the bay as a 

 resource, predicted future development, planning for transportation and for land and water use, and plan 

 implementation. The annual Conunission budget has been substantial, e.g., $243,924 in fiscal year 1967. 

 The initial studies have been completed, but the Commission is finding that the final report dealing with 

 funding and powers to implement its estuarine plan is taking longer than anticipated. 



(2) A similar planning process has been proposed for the Humboldt Bay area in Cahfornia. 



(3) The San Francisco Bay Commission, in April 1968, pubUshed a comprehensive 7-volume report 

 on Powers and Money Needed to Carry Out the Bay Plan. (A summary pamphlet version is also 

 available.) This report reviews in detail the alternatives available to the area for controlling bay filling 

 activities and for planning, administering, and financing a program. The report provides an excellent 

 source of information in depth for other States and areas. It includes a useful analysis of the pros and 

 cons of the various revenue and organizational options and an extensive review of the legal precedents 

 bearing upon regulation of estuarine land use. 



This material was obtained largely from Milton S. Heath, Jr., Associate Director, Institute of Government, Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina, and from George P. Spinner of the Marine Resources Committee, State of North CaroUna. 

 Additional information on State activities can be found in a contract report of the Commission, A Perspective of 

 Regional and State Marine Environmental Activities, by John I. Thompson & Co., Feb. 29, 1968, available from 

 Qearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Department of Commerce, Springfield, Virginia 

 22151, P.B. No. 177765. 



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