House Bill 1421

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 49-15-9 AND 29-15-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE RIGHTS OF RIPARIAN AND LITTORAL PROPERTY OWNERS; TO AMEND SECTION 29-15-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE MAP OF PUBLIC TRUST TIDELANDS TO BE UPDATED EVERY TEN YEARS; TO AMEND SECTION 29-15-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 49-15-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-15-9. The sole right of planting, cultivating in racks or other structures, and gathering oysters and erecting bathhouses and other structures in front of any land bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or Mississippi Sound or waters tributary thereto belongs to the riparian and littoral owners and extends not more than seven hundred fifty (750) yards from the shore, measuring from the average low water mark, but where the distance from shore to shore is less than fifteen hundred (1500) yards, the owners of either shore may plant and gather to a line equidistant between the two (2) shores, but no person shall plant in any natural channel so as to interfere with navigation, and such riparian and littoral rights shall not include any reef or natural oyster bed and does not extend beyond any channel. * * * Riparian and littoral owners shall comply with the Coastal Wetlands Protection Act in exercising the use of these such rights. Stakes of such frail materials as will not injure any watercraft may be set up to designate the bounds of the plantation, but navigation shall not be impeded thereby. The riparian and littoral owners shall clearly mark such cultivation racks and other structures. The commission may adopt regulations to require that the racks are adequately marked to ensure the safety of users of public waters. Any oysters planted by such owners are the private property of such owners, subject to the right of the commission to adopt reasonable rules and regulations as to the planting and gathering of such oysters. All bathhouses, piers, wharfs, docks and pavilions, or other structures owned by riparian and littoral owners are likewise the private property of such owners, who shall be entitled to the exclusive use, occupancy and possession thereof, and may abate any private or public nuisance committed by any person or persons in the area of such ownership and may, for such purposes, resort to any remedial action authorized by law. No state, county, municipality or political subdivision of the state shall require a residential property owner with land that adjoins any land or waters held in trust under the Public Trust Tidelands Act to enter into any lease affecting bathhouses, piers, wharfs, docks and pavilions, or other structures owned by such owner. The governing authorities of any municipality and the board of supervisors of any county are authorized to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to protect riparian and littoral owners in the enjoyment of their rights, and for such purposes may regulate the use of beaches, landings, and * * * areas abutting or fronting on roads, streets or highways. Such owners shall adhere to such rules and regulations.

SECTION 2. Section 29-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

29-15-5. Tidelands and submerged lands are held by the state in trust for use of all the people, and are so held in their character as the beds and shores of the sea and its tidally affected arms and tributaries for the purposes defined by common law and statutory law. Littoral and riparian property owners have common law and statutory rights under the Coastal Wetlands Protection Law which extend into the waters and beyond the low tide line, and the state's responsibilities as trustee shall not extend to such owners in any manner that requires the residential owners of such property to enter into a lease with the state, county, municipality or political subdivision of the state. However, the state's responsibilities as trustee shall extend to protecting such owners' in the enjoyment of their riparian and littoral rights and to the other members of the public.

SECTION 3. Section 29-15-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

29-15-7. (1) The Secretary of State, in cooperation with other state agencies, shall prepare a * * * Map of Public Trust Tidelands. On July 1, 2012, and every ten (10) years thereafter, the Map of Public Trust Tidelands shall be updated to depict the boundary as the current mean high water line where shoreline is undeveloped and in developed areas or where there have been encroachments, such maps shall depict the boundary as the determinable mean high water line * * *.

(2) The state recognizes that the boundary of the public trust tidelands is ambulatory and that the natural inland expansion of tide waters over land not previously subject to the ebb and flow of the tide increases the land subject to the public trust, while natural accretion, the gradual and imperceptible accumulation of land by natural causes, and natural reliction, the increase of land by permanent withdrawal or retrocession of tidal waters by natural causes, diminish the land subject to the public trust and increase the property owned by the contiguous upland owner. Likewise, the state recognizes the common law doctrine as it pertains to such tidelands, submerged lands and riparian and littoral rights and declares such to be the law of this state. The riparian and littoral rights of property owners shall not be limited or controlled in any manner by the state, except as specifically authorized by statute and in accordance with common law.

(3) The * * * map shall be transmitted to each of the chancery clerks of the coastal counties, and each chancery clerk shall post such map in a public place in his office. The Secretary of State shall also cause to be published for four (4) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within each coastal county and on the Secretary of State's website a notice announcing that a copy of the * * * Map of Public Trust Tidelands is available for public inspection at the office of the chancery clerk of that county, and shall post a similar notice in at least three (3) public places in each coastal county in this state. The preliminary map shall also be open to public inspection at the office of the Secretary of State.

(4) The Secretary of State shall allow sixty (60) days after publication of the * * * map for submission of comments and/or additional documentation and may, at his discretion, revise the map accordingly. * * * Twenty (20) days after the end of the period for submission of comments, the Secretary of State shall have incorporated any revisions to the Preliminary Map of Public Trust Tidelands and certify its final adoption. The certified map as finally adopted shall be published in the same manner as provided in subsection (3) of this section. The * * * certified map shall be duly recorded in the land records of the chancery clerks office in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties. Upon recordation, the certified map shall be final until a new map is certified. The Secretary of State shall issue to all consenting property owners a certificate stating that the described property does not lie within the boundary of the public trust tidelands and is not subject to the trust. The Secretary of State shall duly file such certificates with the proper chancery clerks office for recordation. In addition, the certified map shall be placed in the Secretary of State's permanent register which shall be open to public inspection. Within one hundred twenty (120) days of final adoption of the certified map, the Secretary of State shall determine those property owners whose lands are subject of the public trust and are in violation of such trust. The Secretary of State shall notify all such owners by certified mail, shall provide a written explanation that includes a map of any portion of the trust that is being violated and shall include an explanation of the procedure available to the occupant to resolve any dispute with respect to this map. The notice shall also inform occupants that * * * the boundary as set forth in the certified map shall become final unless the occupant has submitted a contrary claim to the office of the Secretary of State. Such property owner shall have six (6) months to negotiate and settle differences with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may allow extensions at his discretion. A boundary determination shall be final if there is agreement by the Secretary of State and the owner, an instrument setting forth the boundary agreement shall be duly executed and recorded in the chancery court where the property is located. Any such boundary agreement shall be binding on the state and other parties thereto.

(5) If any dispute as to the location of the boundary of the public trust cannot be negotiated and settled between the affected property owners and the Secretary of State * * * after notice by the state of its claim, either the state or a person claiming an interest in the property may apply to the chancery court of the county in which the property is located for a resolution of the dispute and a determination of the location of the boundary. All persons having an interest in the property subject to the dispute shall be made a party to such proceeding. In any such action, the state shall have the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence that any such land is subject to the trust.

(6) Nothing in this section is intended to preclude any party from pursuing remedies otherwise available at law, including but not limited to those provided in Section 11-17-1 et seq. * * *.

SECTION 4. Section 29-15-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

29-15-17. (1) After the preparation and publication of the certified preliminary map, as * * * adopted and provided for in Section 29-15-7, the commission is authorized and directed to update its comprehensive program of public trust tidelands boundary mapping with the object of providing accurate surveys of such lands of the state.

(2) In addition to other such powers as may be specifically delegated to it, the commission is authorized to perform the following functions:

(a) To coordinate the efforts of all public and private agencies and organizations engaged in the making of tidal surveys and maps of the coastal areas of this state, with the object of avoiding unnecessary duplication and overlapping;

(b) To serve as a coordinating state agency for any program of tidal surveying and mapping conducted by the federal government;

(c) To assist any court, tribunal, administrative agency or political subdivision, and to make available to them information regarding tidal surveying and coastal boundary determinations;

(d) To contract with federal, state or local agencies or with private parties for the performance of any surveys, studies, investigations or mapping activities, for preparation and publication of the results thereof, or for other authorized functions relating to the objectives of this part;

(e) To develop and update permanent records of tidal surveys and maps of the state's coastal areas;

(f) To develop uniform specifications and regulations for tidal surveying and mapping coastal areas of the state;

(g) To collect and preserve appropriate survey data from coastal areas; and

(h) To act as a public repository for copies of coastal area maps and to establish a library of such maps and charts.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.