HB 6164 Summary

• Changes the department responsible for critical dune area regulation from the Department of Environmental Quality to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

• Requires the department to appoint a team of ecologists within 120 days to review the 1989 atlas of critical dune areas and recommend changes to designations and criteria, including whether stairways and driveways should be subject to the same development restrictions as other constructed uses.

• Shifts regulatory authority toward local units of government by requiring they have the primary role in protecting critical dune areas through zoning ordinances, with the department implementing standards only when local governments do not adopt approved ordinances.

• Replaces the previous permit approval standard (which required denying permits only if use would cause "significant and unreasonable depletion or degradation") with a new standard allowing denial if a use is "not in the public interest," considering feasible alternative locations and impacts to the critical dune area.

• Extends the department's review period for special use projects from 30 days to 60 days, adds new funding requirements through section 35326, and requires local conservation district consultation in zoning ordinance development and site plan reviews.