(a) This subpart sets forth the requirements for management program approvability with respect to authorities and organization. The authorities and organizational structure on which a State will rely to administer its management program are the crucial underpinnings for enforcing the policies which guide the management of the uses and areas identified in its management program. There is a direct relationship between the adequacy of authorities and the adequacy of the overall program. The authorities need to be broad enough in both geographic scope and subject matter to ensure implementation of the State's enforceable policies. These enforceable policies must be sufficiently comprehensive and specific to regulate land and water uses, control development, and resolve conflicts among competing uses in order to assure wise use of the coastal zone. (Issues relating to the adequate scope of the program are dealt with in § 923.3.)

(b) The entity or entities which will exercise the program's authorities is a matter of State determination. They may be the state agency designated pursuant to section 306(d)(6) of the Act, other state agencies, regional or interstate bodies, and local governments. The major approval criterion is a determination that such entity or entities are required to exercise their authorities in conformance with the policies of the management program. Accordingly, the essential requirement is that the State demonstrate that there is a means of ensuring such compliance. This demonstration will be in the context of one or a combination of the three control techniques specified in section 306(d)(11) of the Act. The requirements related to section 306(d)(12) of the Act are described in §§ 923.42 through 923.44 of this subchapter.

(c) In determining the adequacy of the authorities and organization of a state's programs, the Assistant Administrator will review and evaluate authorities and organizational arrangements in light of the requirements of this subpart and the finding of section 302(h) of the Act.

(d) The authorities requirements of the Act dealt with in this subpart are those contained in subsections 306(d)(2)(D)—Means of Control; 306(d)(10)-Authorities; 306(d)(10)(A)-Control Development and Resolve Conflicts; 306(d)(10)(B)-Powers of Acquisition; 306(d)(11)—Techniques of Control; and 307(f)—Air and Water Quality Control Requirements. The organization requirements of the Act dealt with in this subpart are those contained in sections 306(d)(2)(F)—Organizational Structure; 306(d)(6)—Designated State Agency; and 306(d)(7)—Organization.

(a)(1) The management program must identify the means by which the state proposes to exert control over the permissible land uses and water uses within the coastal zone which have a direct and significant impact on the coastal waters, including a listing of relevant state constitutional provisions, laws, regulations, and judicial decisions. These are the means by which the state will enforce its coastal management policies. (See section 304(6a) of the Act.)

(2) The state chosen agency or agencies (including local governments, area-wide agencies, regional agencies, or interstate agencies) must have the authority for the management of the coastal zone. Such authority includes the following powers:

(i) To administer land use and water use regulations to control development to ensure compliance with the management program, and to resolve conflicts among competing uses; and

(ii) To acquire fee simple and less than fee simple interests in land, waters, and other property through condemnation or other means when necessary to achieve conformance with the management program.

(b) In order to meet these requirements, the program must identify relevant state constitutional provisions, statutes, regulations, case law and such other legal instruments (including executive orders and interagency agreements) that will be used to carry out the state's management program, including the authorities pursuant to sections 306(d)(10) and 306(d)(11) of the Act which require a state to have the ability to:

(1) Administer land and water use regulations in conformance with the policies of the management program;

(2) Control such development as is necessary to ensure compliance with the management program;

(3) Resolve conflicts among competing uses; and

(4) Acquire appropriate interest in lands, waters or other property as necessary to achieve management objectives. Where acquisition will be a necessary technique for accomplishing particular program policies and objectives, the management program must indicate for what purpose acquisition will be used (i.e., what policies or objectives will be accomplished); the type of acquisition (e.g., fee simple, purchase of easements, condemnation); and what agency (or agencies) of government have the authority for the specified type of acquisition.

(a) The management program must provide for any one or a combination of general techniques specified in subsection 306(d)(11) of the Act for control of land uses and water uses within the coastal zone. The first such control technique, at subsection 306(d)(11)(A) of the Act, is state establishment of criteria and standards for local implementation, subject to administrative review and enforcement (control technique A).

(b) There are 5 principal requirements that control technique A must embody in order to be approved:

(1) The State must have developed and have in effect at the time of program approval enforceable policies that meet the requirements of § 923.3. These policies must serve as the standards and criteria for local program development or the State must have separate standards and criteria, related to these enforceable policies, that will guide local program development.

(2) During the period while local programs are being developed, a State must have sufficient authority to assure that land and water use decisions subject to the management program will comply with the program's enforceable policies. The adequacy of these authorities will be judged on the same basis as specified for direct State controls or case-by-case reviews.

(3) A State must be able to ensure that coastal programs will be developed pursuant to the State's standards and criteria, or failing this, that the management program can be implemented directly by the State. This requirement can be met if a State can exercise any one of the following techniques:

(i) Direct State enforcement of its standards and criteria in which case a State would need to meet the requirements of this section which address the direct State control technique;

(ii) Preparation of a local program by a State agency which the local government then would implement. To use this technique the State must have statutory authority to prepare and adopt a program for a local government, and a mechanism by which the State can cause the local government to enforce the State-created program. Where the mechanism to assure local enforcement will be judicial relief, the program must include the authority under which judicial relief can be sought;

(iii) State preparation and enforcement of a program on behalf of a local government. Here the State must have the authority to:

(A) Prepare and adopt a plan, regulations, and ordinances for the local government and

(B) Enforce such plans, regulations and ordinances;

(iv) State review of local government actions on a case-by-case basis or on appeal, and prevention of actions inconsistent with the standards and criteria. Under this technique, when a local government fails to adopt an approvable program, the State must have the ability to review activities in the coastal zone subject to the management program and the power to prohibit, modify or condition those activities based on the policies, standards and criteria of the management program; or

(v) If a locality fails to adopt a management program, the State may utilize a procedure whereby the responsibility for preparing a program shifts to an intermediate level government, such as a county. If this intermediate level of government fails to produce a program, then the State must have the ability to take one of the actions described above. This alternative cannot be used where the intermediate level of government lacks the legal authority to adopt and implement regulations necessary to implement State policies, standards and criteria.

(4) A State must have a procedure whereby it reviews and certifies the local program's compliance with State standards and criteria. This procedure must include provisions for:

(i) Opportunity for the public and governmental entities (including Federal agencies) to participate in the development of local programs; and

(ii) Opportunity for the public and governmental entities (including Federal agencies) to make their views known (through public hearings or other means) to the State agency prior to approval of local programs; and

(iii) Review by the State of the adequacy of local programs consideration of facilities identified in a State's management program in which there is a national interest.

(5) A State must be able to assure implementation and enforcement of a local program once approved. To accomplish this a State must:

(i) Establish a monitoring system which defines what constitutes and detects patterns of non-compliance. In the case of uses of regional benefit and facilities in which there is a national interest, the monitoring system must be capable of detecting single instances of local actions affecting such uses or facilities in a manner contrary to the management program.

(ii) Be capable of assuring compliance when a pattern of deviation is detected or when a facility involving identified national interests or a use of regional benefit is affected in a manner contrary to the program's policies. When State action is required because of failure by a local government to enforce its program, the State must be able to do one or a combination of the following:

(A) Directly enforce the entire local program;

(B) Directly enforce that portion of the local program that is being enforced improperly. State intervention would be necessary only in those local government activities that are violating the policies, standards or criteria.

(C) Seek judicial relief against local government for failure to properly enforce;

(D) Review local government actions on a case-by-case basis or on appeal and have the power to prevent those actions inconsistent with the policies and standards.

(E) Provide a procedure whereby the responsibility for enforcing a program shifts to an intermediate level of government, assuming statutory authority exists to enable the immediate of government to assume this responsibility.

(a) The management program must provide for any one or a combination of general techniques specified in subsection 306(d)(11) of the Act for control of land and water uses within the coastal zone. The second such control technique, at subsection 306(d)(11)(B) of the Act, is direct state land and water use planning and regulation (control technique B).

(b) To have control technique B approved, the State must have the requisite direct authority to plan and regulate land and water uses subject to the management program. This authority can take the form of:

(1) Comprehensive legislation—A single piece of comprehensive legislation specific to coastal management and the requirements of this Act.

(2) Networking—The utilization of authorities which are compatible with and applied on the basis of coastal management policies developed pursuant to § 923.3.

(c) In order to apply the networking concept, the State must:

(1) Demonstrate that, taken together, existing authorities can and will be used to implement the full range of policies and management techniques identified as necessary for coastal management purposes; and

(2) Bind each party which exercises statutory authority that is part of the management program to conformance with relevant enforceable policies and management techniques. Parties may be bound to conformance through an executive order, administrative directive or a memorandum of understanding provided that:

(i) The management program authorities provide grounds for taking action to ensure compliance of networked agencies with the program. It will be sufficient if any of the following can act to ensure compliance: The State agency designated pursuant to subsection 306(d)(6) of the Act, the State's Attorney General, another State agency, a local government, or a citizen.

(ii) The executive order, administrative directive or memorandum of understanding establishes conformance requirements of other State agency activities or authorities to management program policies. A gubernatorial executive order will be acceptable if networked State agency heads are directly responsible to the Governor.

(3) Where networked State agencies can enforce the management program policies at the time of section 306 approval without first having to revise their operating rules and regulations, then any proposed revisions to such rules and regulations which would enhance or facilitate implementation need not be accomplished prior to program approval. Where State agencies cannot enforce coastal policies without first revising their rules and regulations, then these revisions must be made prior to approval of the State's program by the Assistant Administrator.

(a) The management program must provide for any one or a combination of general techniques specified in subsection 306(d)(11) of the Act for control of land and water uses within the coastal zone. The third such control technique, at subsection 306(d)(11)(C) of the Act, is state administrative review for consistency with the management program of all development plans, projects, or land and water use regulations, including exceptions and variances thereto, proposed by any state or local authority or private developer, with power to approve or disapprove after public notice and an opportunity for hearings (control technique C).

(b) Under case-by-case review, States have the power to review individual development plans, projects or land and water use regulations (including variances and exceptions thereto) proposed by any State or local authority or private developer which have been identified in the management program as being subject to review for consistency with the management program. This control technique requires the greatest degree of policy specificity because compliance with the program will not require any prior actions on the part of anyone affected by the program. Specificity also is needed to avoid challenges that decisions (made pursuant to the management program) are unfounded, arbitrary or capricious.

(c) To have control technique C approved, a State must:

(1) Identify the plans, projects or regulations subject to review, based on their significance in terms of impacts on coastal resources, potential for incompatibility with the State's coastal management program, and having greater than local significance;

(2) Identify the State agency that will conduct this review;

(3) Include the criteria by which identified plans, projects and regulations will be approved or disapproved;

(4) Have the power to approve or disapprove identified plans, projects or regulations that are inconsistent with the management program, or the power to seek court review thereof; and

(5) Provide public notice of reviews and the opportunity for public hearing prior to rendering a decision on each case-by-case review.

The program must incorporate, by reference or otherwise, all requirements established by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (Clean Water Act or CWA), or the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA), or established by the Federal Government or by any state or local government pursuant to such Acts. Such requirements must be the water pollution control and air pollution control requirements applicable to such program. Incorporation of the air and water quality requirements pursuant to the CWA and CAA should involve their consideration during program development, especially with respect to use determinations and designation of areas for special management. In addition, this incorporation will prove to be more meaningful if close coordination and working relationships between the State agency and the air and water quality agencies are developed and maintained throughout the program development process and after program approval.

The State must be organized to implement the management program. The management program must describe the organizational structure that will be used to implement and administer the management program including a discussion of those state and other agencies, including local governments, that will have responsibility for administering, enforcing and/or monitoring those authorities or techniques required pursuant to the following subsections of the Act: 306(d)(3)(B); 306(d)(10); 306(d)(10) (A) and (B); 306(d) (11) and (12); and 307(f). The management program must also describe the relationship of these administering agencies to the state agency designated pursuant to subsection 306(d)(6) of the Act.

(a) For program approval, the Governor of the state must designate a single state agency to receive and administer the grants for implementing the management program.

(1) This entity must have the fiscal and legal capability to accept and administer grant funds, to make contracts or other arrangements (such as passthrough grants) with participating agencies for the purpose of carrying out specific management tasks and to account for the expenditure of the implementation funds of any recipient of such monies, and

(2) This entity must have the administrative capability to monitor and evaluate the management of the State's coastal resources by the various agencies and/or local governments with specified responsibilities under the management program (irrespective of whether such entities receive section 306 funds); to make periodic reports to the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), the Governor, or the State legislature, as appropriate, regarding the performance of all agencies involved in the program. The entity also must be capable of presenting evidence of adherence to the management program or justification for deviation as part of the review by OCRM of State performance required by section 312 of the Act.

(b)(1) The 306 agency designation is designed to establish a single point of accountability for prudent use of administrative funds in the furtherance of the management and for monitoring of management activities. Designation does not imply that this single agency need be a “super agency” or the principal implementation vehicle. It is, however, the focal point for proper administration and evaluation of the State's program and the entity to which OCRM will look when monitoring and reevaluating a State's program during program implementation.

(2) The requirement for the single designated agency should not be viewed as confining or otherwise limiting the role and responsibilities which may be assigned to this agency. It is up to the State to decide in what manner and to what extent the designated State agency will be involved in actual program implementation or enforcement. In determining the extent to which this agency should be involved in program implementation or enforcement, specific factors should be considered, such as the manner in which local and regional authorities are involved in program implementation, the administrative structure of the State, the authorities to be relied upon and the agencies administering such authorities. Because the designated State agency may be viewed as the best vehicle for increasing the unity and efficiency of a management program, the State may want to consider the following in selecting which agency to designate:

(i) Whether the designated State entity has a legislative mandate to coordinate other State or local programs, plans and/or policies within the coastal zone;

(ii) To what extent linkages already exist between the entity, other agencies, and local governments;

(iii) To what extent management or regulatory authorities affecting the coastal zone presently are administered by the agency; and

(iv) Whether the agency is equipped to handle monitoring, evaluation and enforcement responsibilities.

A transmittal letter signed by the Governor is required for the submission of a management program for federal approval. The letter must state that the Governor:

(a) Has reviewed and approved as State policy, the management program, and any changes thereto, submitted for the approval of the Assistant Administrator.

(b) Has designated a single State agency to receive and administer implementation grants;

(c) Attests to the fact that the State has the authorities necessary to implement the management program; and

(d) Attests to the fact that the State is organized to implement the management program.