North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 15A - Environmental Quality › Chapter 07 - Coastal Management › Subchapter H - STATE GUIDELINES FOR AREAS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN › Section .0200 - THE ESTUARINE AND OCEAN SYSTEMS › Section 07H .0208 - USE STANDARDS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) General Use
				  Standards
(1) Uses that are not water
				  dependent shall not be permitted in coastal wetlands, estuarine waters, and
				  public trust areas. Restaurants, residences, apartments, motels, hotels,
				  trailer parks, private roads, factories, and parking lots are examples of uses
				  that are not water dependent. Uses that are water dependent include: utility
				  crossings, wind energy facilities, docks, wharves, boat ramps, dredging,
				  bridges and bridge approaches, revetments, bulkheads, culverts, groins,
				  navigational aids, mooring pilings, navigational channels, access channels and
				  drainage ditches;
(2) Before being
				  granted a permit, the CRC or local permitting authority shall find that the
				  applicant has complied with the following standards:
(A) The location, design, and need for
				  development, as well as the construction activities involved shall be
				  consistent with the management objective of the Estuarine and Ocean System AEC
				  in Rule .0203 of this Section and shall be sited and designed to avoid
				  significant adverse impacts upon the productivity and biologic integrity of
				  coastal wetlands, shellfish beds, submerged aquatic vegetation as defined by
				  the Marine Fisheries Commission in
				  15A NCAC
				  03I .0101(4)(i), and
				  spawning and nursery areas;
(B)
				  Development shall comply with State and federal water and air quality rules,
				  statutes, and regulations;
(C)
				  Development shall not cause irreversible damage to documented archaeological or
				  historic resources as identified by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural
				  Resources;
(D) Development shall
				  not increase siltation;
(E)
				  Development shall not create stagnant water bodies;
(F) Development shall be timed to avoid
				  significant adverse impacts on life cycles of estuarine and ocean resources;
				  and
(G) Development shall not
				  jeopardize the use of the waters for navigation or for other public trust
				  rights in public trust areas including estuarine waters.
(3) When the proposed development is in
				  conflict with the general or specific use standards set forth in this Rule, the
				  CRC may approve the development if the applicant can demonstrate that the
				  activity associated with the proposed project will have public benefits
				  consistent with the findings and goals of the Coastal Area Management Act
				  identified in
				  G.S.
				  113A-102, that the public benefits outweigh
				  the adverse effects of the project, that there is no alternate site available
				  for the project, and that all means and measures to mitigate adverse impacts of
				  the project have been incorporated into the project design and shall be
				  implemented at the applicant's expense. Measures taken to mitigate or minimize
				  adverse impacts shall include actions that:
(A) minimize or avoid adverse impacts by
				  limiting the magnitude or degree of the action;
(B) restore the affected environment;
				  or
(C) compensate for the adverse
				  impacts by replacing or providing substitute resources.
(4) "Primary nursery areas" are defined as
				  those areas in the estuarine and ocean system where initial post larval
				  development of finfish and crustaceans takes place and populations are
				  uniformly in their early juvenile stages. Primary nursery areas are designated
				  and described by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) at
				  15A NCAC
				  03R .0103 and by the N.C. Wildlife Resources
				  Commission (WRC) at
				  15A NCAC
				  10C .0502;
(5) "Outstanding Resource Waters" (ORW) are
				  defined as those estuarine waters and public trust areas classified by the N.C.
				  Environmental Management Commission (EMC) as defined in
				  15A NCAC
				  02B .0225; and
(6) Beds of "submerged aquatic vegetation"
				  are defined as those habitats in public trust and estuarine waters, that occur
				  in both subtidal and intertidal zones and may occur in isolated patches or
				  cover extensive areas, vegetated with one or more species of submergent
				  vegetation as listed in
				  15A NCAC
				  03I .0101(4)(i). Any rules
				  relating to beds of submerged aquatic vegetation shall not apply to
				  non-development control activities authorized by the Aquatic Weed Control Act
				  of 1991 (G.S. 113A-220 et
				  seq.).
(7) "Adverse impact",
				  "adverse impacts", "adverse effects", or similar formulations, are defined as
				  an effect or impact that is opposed to the goals of the Coastal Area Management
				  Act as found in
				  G.S.
				  113A-102(b) and with the
				  provisions of
				  G.S.
				  113-229(e).
(8) "Significant" as used in this Section
				  includes consideration of both context and intensity. Context means that the
				  impact or effect shall be analyzed from several perspectives that include
				  society as a whole (human, national), the affected subregion of the North
				  Carolina coast, the local area and all directly and indirectly affected
				  parties. Both short- and long-term effects are relevant. Intensity refers to
				  the severity of impact or effect. The following shall be considered in
				  evaluating intensity:
(A) both adverse impacts
				  as defined in Subparagraph (a)(7) of this Rule and impacts that promote or
				  enhance the goals of the Coastal Area Management Act set out at
				  G.S.
				  113A-102(b);
(B) the degree to which the proposed action
				  affects public health or safety;
(C) unique characteristics of the geographic
				  area;
(D) the degree to which the
				  possible effects on the environment are uncertain or involve unique or unknown
				  risks;
(E) the degree to which the
				  CRC's permit decisions may establish a precedent for future CRC permit
				  decisions;
(F) the degree to which
				  the CRC's permit decisions are related to other CRC permit decisions with
				  individually insignificant but cumulatively significant impacts. Significance
				  cannot be avoided by terming an action temporary or by breaking it down into
				  smaller component parts; and
(G)
				  the degree to which the CRC's permit decision may cause the loss or destruction
				  of scientific, cultural, historical, and environmental resources as those terms
				  are commonly defined and understood.