HB370 Summary

• Defines "living shoreline" as shoreline restoration techniques including native vegetation planting, wave attenuation structures, fill material placement, and similar methods that preserve natural coastal processes and features.

• Authorizes the State Lands Division of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Management to issue permits without fees or charges to riparian property owners to dredge sand and sediment from their riparian property or adjacent property (with consent) for living shoreline construction.

• Establishes legislative findings that sand and sediment from a property owner's riparian use area is the best compatible source material for living shoreline restoration and serves the public purpose of reducing erosion, improving wildlife and fish habitat, and increasing coastal infrastructure resiliency.

• Limits the bill's authority to property touching the Gulf of Mexico proper, including Mobile Bay and connected bays, rivers, and creeks, located south of Mobile River mile 0.0 (approximately Latitude 30°41.32848'N, Longitude 88°02.39862'W).

• Takes effect on the first day of the third month following passage and approval by the Governor.