§ 9-7-15 — Coastal Area Board - Development of Coastal Area Management Program

The board shall provide for the development of a comprehensive coastal area management program. The program shall be prepared in cooperation with local, regional, state and federal interests. The inland boundaries of the coastal area subject to the management program are described as follows: begin at the southernmost point on the Mississippi-Alabama state line where the land surface elevation reaches 10 feet above mean sea level and continue in a general easterly direction along the 10-foot contour to the proximity of Mobile Bay; continue in a northerly direction on the 10-foot contour along the western shore of Mobile Bay and the Mobile River delta to the north line of Mobile County; thence southeastward along the north line of Mobile County to the intersection with the Baldwin County lines in the Mobile River; thence along the west and north lines of Baldwin County in the Mobile and Alabama Rivers to the intersection of the southwest corner of Monroe County; thence eastward along the Baldwin County line to the intersection of the westernmost point of Baldwin County where the land surface altitude reaches 10 feet above mean sea level; thence along the 10-foot contour in a southwesterly and southern direction along the Alabama River, the Mobile River delta and the east shore of Mobile Bay to the proximity of Bon Secour; thence continue along the 10-foot contour in an easterly and northeasterly direction to the Alabama-Florida state line.
The program shall include at least the following:
(1) Identification of all of the state’s coastal resources;
(2) Evaluation of these resources in terms of their quality, quantity and capability for their use both now and in the future;
(3) Determination of the present and potential uses and the present and potential conflicts in the uses of each coastal resource;
(4) An inventory and designation of areas of particular concern within the coastal area;
(5) Broad guidelines on priority of uses in particular areas;
(6) Provision for adequate consideration of the local, regional, state and national interest involved in the siting of facilities for the development, generation, transmission and distribution of energy, adequate transportation facilities and other public services necessary to meet requirements which are other than local in nature;
(7) Provision for consideration of whether a proposed activity of an applicant for a federal license or permit complies with the state’s coastal area program and for the issuance of notice to any concerned federal agency as to whether the state concurs with or objects to the proposed activity;
(8) Adequate provision for public notice, public hearings and judicial review as provided for under Alabama law; and
The management program shall determine permissible land and water uses which have a direct and significant impact within the boundaries of the coastal area and must give due consideration to requirements for agriculture, industry, commerce, resource conservation, residential development, recreation, extraction of mineral resources and fossil fuels, harvesting of timber and pulpwood, transportation and navigation, waste disposal and harvesting of fish, shellfish and other living marine resources.

Legislative History

(Acts 1976, No. 534, p. 686, §6.)