MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Marine Resources
By: Representative Ladner
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 49-27-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AMEND THE COASTAL WETLANDS PROTECTION ACT TO DEFINE "ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK" TO MEAN A MARK ON THE SHORE DETERMINED BY THE DEPARTMENT STAFF, ESTABLISHED BY FLUCTUATIONS IN WATER LEVEL AND INDICATED BY PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WATER STAINS, CHANGES IN THE CHARACTER OF THE SOIL, SCOUR LINES, PRESENCE OF DEBRIS LINES, CHANGES IN PLANT COMMUNITIES AND OTHER APPROPRIATE MEANS THAT CONSIDER THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SURROUNDING AREA; TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "COASTAL WETLANDS" TO MEAN ALL PUBLICLY OWNED LANDS SUBJECT TO THE EBB AND FLOW OF THE TIDE; WHICH ARE BELOW THE ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK; ALL PUBLICLY OWNED ACCRETIONS ABOVE THE ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK AND ALL PUBLICLY OWNED SUBMERGED WATER BOTTOMS BELOW THE ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK AND INCLUDES THE FLORA AND FAUNA ON THE WETLANDS AND IN THE WETLANDS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 49-27-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-27-5. (a) "Coastal
wetlands" means all publicly-owned lands subject to the ebb and flow of
the tide; which are below the * * * ordinary high * * * water mark; all publicly-owned
accretions above the * * * ordinary high * * * water mark and all publicly-owned
submerged water-bottoms below the * * * ordinary high * * * water mark and includes the flora
and fauna on the wetlands and in the wetlands.
(b) "Department" means the Department of Marine Resources.
(c) "Regulated activity" means any of the following activities:
(i) The dredging, excavating or removing of soil, mud, sand, gravel, flora, fauna or aggregate of any kind from any coastal wetland;
(ii) The dumping, filling or depositing of any soil, stones, sand, gravel, mud, aggregate of any kind or garbage, either directly or indirectly, on or in any coastal wetlands;
(iii) Killing or materially damaging any flora or fauna on or in any coastal wetland;
(iv) The erection on coastal wetlands of structures which materially affect the ebb and flow of the tide; and
(v) The erection of any structure or structures on suitable sites for water dependent industry.
(d) "Dredging" means the removal or displacement by any means of soil, sand, gravel, shells or other material, whether of intrinsic value or not, from coastal wetlands.
(e) "Executive director" means the Executive Director of the Department of Marine Resources.
(f) "Filling" means either the displacement of waters by the deposition into coastal wetlands of soil, sand, gravel, shells or other material; or the artificial alteration of water levels or water currents by physical structures, drainage ditches or otherwise.
(g) "Person" means any natural person, partnership, joint stock company, corporation, unincorporated association or society, or the state and any agency thereof, or any county, municipality or political subdivision, or any other corporation of any character whatsoever.
(h) "Commission" means the Mississippi Advisory Commission on Marine Resources.
(i) "Water dependent
industry" means those commercial, industrial or manufacturing activities
which, for purposes basic to their existence must occur or locate on or
adjacent to the estuaries, sounds, channels, shores or marshlands of the coast.
"Suitable sites for water dependent industry" means those areas of
land which are suitable for the development of water dependent industry because
of their proximity to waters of navigable depth, size and configuration,
topography, soil conditions and access to other means of transportation. After
consultation with local governments, port authorities, development commissions,
port and harbor commissions and other interested parties, and after full
consideration of zoning ordinances duly adopted by local governments, the * * * department shall designate
those sites it deems suitable for water dependent industry. The definition of
"suitable sites for water dependent industry" shall be limited to,
but not necessarily inclusive of, waterfront sites owned by county port
authorities, development commissions and port and harbor commissions, and to
areas that are now or are later made to be within one thousand (1,000) feet of
the centerline of any natural or maintained channel having a depth of seven (7)
feet or greater at mean low water. However, additional sites may be included
in the definition of suitable sites for water dependent industry with the concurrence
of the board of supervisors in the county affected.
(j) "Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM)" means a mark on the shore determined by the department staff, established by fluctuations in water level and indicated by physical and biological characteristics including, but not limited to, water stains, changes in the character of the soil, scour lines, presence of debris lines, changes in plant communities and other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding area. The determination of OHWM shall not be made by the department staff during high tide where the above referenced characteristics are not observable. OHWM is not the same as mean high water and should not be used for determination of the boundary between private property and public trust tidelands.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.