CAMA gets underway in 20 coas 



( Continued from p. 1) 



minister the act. The commission was required to 

 be made up of least one representative from each of 

 the following interests: commercial fishing, wild- 

 life or sports fishing, coastal agriculture, coastal 

 forestry, coastal land development, conservation, 

 local government, engineering, marine-related 

 business and coastal development financing. Also 

 required were two local government respresenta- 

 tives and three at-large members. In addition the 

 act set up a 47-member advisory council, which is 

 made up largely of representatives from various 

 state agencies and residents of the 20 coastal 

 counties. 



Primary among the CRC duties has been the 

 task of selecting AECs and setting up standards 

 for their use. The act states that permits for major 

 development within the AECs must be obtained 

 from the CRC. Major development is generally 

 defined as that which occupies more than 20 acres 

 or a structure of more than 60,000 square feet. De- 

 velopment which requires license or approval of 

 some state agency is also under CRC jurisdiction. 

 Permits for other development may be obtained 

 from local governments in compliance with stand- 

 ards set up by the CRC. 



The act provides virtually complete exemption 

 from the permit requirement for utilities, agricul- 

 ture and forestry, except where such development 



involves the dredging or filling of estuarine or 

 navigable waters, according to Mike Black, CRC 

 staff member. Judicial review is provided by the 

 superior court of the county where the concerned 

 land is located. 



In the three years since CAMA went into effect, 

 much of the act has been implemented. Land use 

 plans have been drawn up by local governments in 

 all 20 counties and 32 municipalities. Most of them 

 have been officially approved by the CRC. Under 

 the act, the CRC has no authority to enforce the 

 plans and implementation is left to county and 

 local governments. This spring and summer, sy- 

 nopses of county plans are being distributed to 

 citizens in each county. 



Public hearings were held in each county during 

 April and May to get public sentiment on the pro- 

 posed AECs. This was the third series of public 

 hearings on AECs since CAMA was implemented. 

 Following a public hearing in New Bern last sum- 

 mer, the CRC designated interim AECs. Since that 

 time developers have been required to notify the 

 CRC of proposed development in the AECs, but the 

 CRC does not yet have permit-letting authority. If 

 all goes on schedule, the final AECs will be des- 

 ignated by the CRC in June. That will mean that 

 regulations on permits in these areas will go into 

 effect by March 1978, according to Black. 



Marshland on Portsmouth Island 



