S.C. Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act — Critical Area / OCRM Permit (SC)

Tracked preemption from the South Carolina overlay bundle.

Overview

Effective
1977-06-21
Sunset
Authority
state
Scope
state:SC

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

AND
  • city.is_in_eight_coastal_counties == True
  • parcel.in_ocrm_critical_area == True

Preempted fields

3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
review_typerequirescdes_bcm_critical_area_permit§48-39-130: a permit from SCDES Bureau of Coastal Management is required for any alteration of a critical area — coastal waters, tidelands, beaches, beach/dune systems.
base_districts[*].critical_area_dredge_fill_authorityoverridestate_permit_supersedes_localDredging, filling, or alteration of tidal wetlands and marshlands is subject to state critical-area permitting regardless of local zoning.
base_districts[*].allowed_usesremoveunpermitted_critical_area_alteration

Citation

Authority source
S.C. Code Ann. §§48-39-10 through 48-39-220 (Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act, 1977); §48-39-10 (definitions including 'critical area'); §48-39-130 (permits); S.C. Code of Regulations Chapter 30
§ §§48-39-10, 48-39-30, 48-39-130; R.30-1 et seq.
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t48c039.php

Research notes

The Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act is the umbrella statute under which the Beachfront Management Act (1988) is one chapter. The CTWA covers ALL coastal critical areas (estuarine waters, tidelands, beaches, beach/dune systems) in the eight coastal counties — not just beachfront. Federal nexus: Clean Water Act §404 permits (USACE Charleston District) and CZMA §307 federal consistency apply to federal actions affecting the SC coastal zone. SC Coastal Zone Management Program is federally approved under CZMA.