Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 1 - Secretary of State › Part 11 - Public Lands › Chapter 2 - Tidelands › Rule 1-11-2.4 - Management Policies and Evaluation Criteria

Current through June 25, 2024
Evaluations of proposed activities on public trust tidelands,
				  and applications to approve, approve with modifications or conditions, or deny
				  applications to lease public trust tidelands will be based on the provisions of
				  the Public Trust Tidelands Act (MCA §
									29-15-1
				  through 23, MCA §
									29-1-107),
				  and the following management policies and evaluation criteria.
A. Management
(1) All activities must comply with the
				public policy of this state which favors the preservation of the natural state
				of the public trust tidelands and their ecosystems and prevents the
				despoliation and destruction of them, except where a specific alteration of
				specific public trust tidelands would serve a higher public interest in
				compliance with the public purposes of the public trust in which such tidelands
				are held.
(2) In deciding whether
				to lease for a proposed commercial or industrial project, the Secretary of
				State will favor the location of such projects in existing, developed
				commercial or industrial sites in urban settings over their location in rural,
				residential and/or environmentally sensitive sites.
(3) In order to protect public beaches and
				public access to public beaches and adjoining tidelands, the Secretary of State
				will not grant a lease for any commercial or industrial activity adjacent to
				(south or waterward of) public beach areas or areas used by the public for
				swimming, bathing or fishing, where there exists a public seawall but no beach.
				Public Access to Public Trust Tidelands will be a high priority in the
				consideration of any new lease request.
(4) The ability of Keesler Air Force Base to
				conduct its mission is a vital public interest to the State of Mississippi and
				the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is the policy of the Secretary of State to
				protect the base from any action that could diminish its ability to conduct its
				mission. No lease will be granted if associated structures and/or activities
				would encroach on the designated air space or threaten the viability of the
				base. The Secretary of State may consult with military, federal, state and
				local officials, as appropriate, to make that determination.
(5) In order to protect the integrity of the
				ecosystems of the Mississippi Coastal Preserves, the Secretary of State will
				not favor a lease for any commercial or industrial activity in any of the
				Mississippi Coastal Preserves areas as depicted by that certain map of
				estuarine preserves delineated by the Department of Marine Resources in
				cooperation with the Mississippi Natural Heritage Program in August, 1994 as
				found at
http://www.dmr.state.ms.us/Coastal-Ecology/GEMS/Gems-Images/Gems_map1.gif.
(6) Upon a showing of extraordinary
				circumstances or extraordinary benefit to the public in accordance with MCA
				§
										29-15-1,
				et seq., the Secretary of State, as trustee of the public trust tidelands, may
				determine that a lease of specific public trust tidelands serves a higher
				public interest in compliance with the public purposes of the public trust than
				would the application of the policies set forth in Rule 4.A.1 or 5.
(7) Existing structures or activities which,
				if proposed as new activities, would require a tidelands lease shall be brought
				under lease in accordance with these rules.