§ 56-3-3950 — "Keep It Beautiful" license plates; special fund for road enhancement.

The department may issue a special commemorative "Keep It Beautiful" motor vehicle license plate for use by owners on their private passenger motor vehicles to establish a special fund to be used by the Department of Transportation for the purposes of enhancing the state's roads and highways. These enhancements may include landscaping, wildflower plantings, scenic easements, or other highway enhancement projects. The Department of Transportation, in implementing this program, may not expend beautification funds for wildflowers without prior approval of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture shall ensure, before granting approval, that the varieties of wildflowers used in beautification are not harmful to agriculture at or near a proposed project. The biennial fee for the commemorative license plate is fifty-four dollars. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the fees collected for this special license plate, the Comptroller General shall place into the State Highway Fund as established by Section 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in Section 11-43-167, an amount equal to the department's expenses in producing and administering this special license plate. Any remaining funds must be placed in a special "Highway Beautification Fund" established within and administered by the Department of Transportation. This biennial fee is in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee set forth in Article 5, Chapter 7 of this title. The commemorative plate must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates and must be imprinted with the words "Keep It Beautiful". The plates must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month they are issued.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1990 Act No. 591, SECTION 5; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, SECTION 22NN; 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, SECTION 86B; 2005 Act No. 31, SECTION 1, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on April 7, 2005); 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), SECTION 39, eff July 1, 2016.