The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission is kicking off the new year with a series of public hearings on more than a dozen rules its members recently voted to reinstate after another state commission rejected them.
The hearings will center around 16 rules the commission adopted earlier this month as what officials call “emergency” rules in order to get them back into the state Administrative Code.
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The rules are among 30 the state Rules Review Commission kicked back to the the coastal commission, a state rulemaking body, in October over objections based primarily on technical wording. With the action, the state’s codifier of rules pulled them from the Administrative Code.
About a month later, the Coastal Resources Commission filed a lawsuit against the Rules Review Commission and the codifier of rules. The state Division of Coastal Management officials noted that the coastal management rules had been in place for years and serve to protect vulnerable coastal cultural resources.
The public can comment on the 16 rules at one of three in-person public hearings on the following dates and locations:
- 1 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Dare County Government Center, 954 Marshall C. Collins Dr., Manteo in the board of commissioners’ room.
- 1 p.m. Jan. 9 at the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City in the upstairs conference room.
- 1 p.m. Jan. 10 in room No. 5 in the Onslow County Public Library, 1330 N.C. Highway 210, Sneads Ferry.
Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. at each of the hearings.
Written comments may be submitted to Angela.Willis@deq.nc.gov or by mail to: Braxton Davis, Director, Division of Coastal Management, 400 Commerce Ave., Morehead City, NC 28557. List “Temporary Rules” in the subject line.
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Comments must be received by 5 p.m. or postmarked by Feb. 1 when the comment period closes.
The Coastal Resources Commission anticipates voting on the temporary rules during its February meeting.
