Senate Bill 465 Summary

• Authorizes cities to remove abandoned vessels from navigable waters within their ordinance-making jurisdiction using the same procedures and standards that apply to counties

• Defines an abandoned vessel as one moored, anchored, or located for more than 30 consecutive days in any 180 consecutive-day period without dock owner permission, or one that poses a navigation hazard or danger to other vessels

• Exempts underwater archeological remains, shipwrecks, vessels, cargoes, and tackle that have been in place for more than 10 years from removal without approval from the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

• Removes the previous county-only limitation for vessel removal authority, granting all North Carolina counties authority to prohibit and remove abandoned vessels

• Preserves existing local acts and ordinances regulating vessel removal that were adopted before the law's effective date