TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 5. Water Resources, 12-5-1 through 12-5-586.

ARTICLE 4 COASTAL WATERS, BEACHES, AND SAND DUNES

12-5-322. Definitions.

As used in this part, the term:

1. "Activity" or "activities" means an action or actions which will have reasonably foreseeable effects upon land use, water use, or natural resources of the coastal area.
2. "Board" means the Board of Natural Resources.
3. "Certification of consistency" means a certification made by a person in connection with an application for a federally administered permit to conduct an activity or activities as defined in this Code section. Such certification of consistency shall be based on determination of the activity's compliance with the policies of the Georgia coastal management program. Only those activities requiring a federally administered permit will require such certification of consistency.
4. "Coastal area" or "coastal zone" means all tidally influenced waters and submerged land seaward to the state's jurisdictional limits and all lands, submerged lands, waters, and other resources within the Counties of Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Long, Liberty, McIntosh, and Wayne.
5. "Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.
6. "Determination of consistency" means a determination made by a federal agency proposing an activity or activities as defined in this Code section. Such determination of consistency shall be based on a determination of the activity's effects upon the coastal area. Only those activities proposed to be undertaken by a federal agency will be subject to a determination of consistency.
7. "Federal agency" means the United States government and all its departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, and wholly owned corporations owned by the federal government.
8. "Federally administered permit" means only those permits, licenses, or approvals required by federal law or regulation and issued by an agency of the federal government.
9. "Georgia coastal management program" means a compilation of policies to guide the public and private uses of land and waters within the coastal area administered by the department in consultation with the state agencies and local governments of the coastal area and approved by the secretary of commerce in accordance with the requirements of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, 16 U.S.C. Sections 1451 and following.
10. "Local government" means a county, as defined by Code Section 36-1-1, or an incorporated municipality, as defined by Code Section 36-40-21, or any combination thereof, which has been authorized by an Act of the General Assembly, any of which has within its jurisdiction any coastal area.
11. "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, municipal corporation, local government, association, state agency, or public or private authority.
12. "Policy" or "policies" of the Georgia coastal management program means the enforceable provisions of present or future applicable statutes of this state or regulations duly promulgated thereunder.
13. "State agency" means this state and all its departments, boards, authorities, bureaus, and commissions.
14. "State permit" means all those permits, licenses, or approvals, whether required by a federal or state law, which are administered by a state agency.
15. "Submerged land" means all lands lying or being under tidally influenced waters of the state.
16. "Tidally influenced waters" means any water where the tide ebbs and floods on a daily basis.

(Code 1981, §12-5-322, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1037, § 1.)