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Because South Carolina's Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) is federally-approved, a number of Federal Agency activities and permits are required to comply with the enforceable policies of the state's approved coastal management program. This "Federal Consistency" authority resides under the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (FCZMA) which was enacted on October 27, 1972, to encourage coastal states to develop comprehensive programs to manage and balance competing uses of and impacts to state's coastal resources or the uses of them. The FCZMA applies to any Federal Agency activity that is undertaken in the state's coastal zone that may reasonably affect any coastal resource or use within the coastal zone (even if the activity occurs outside of the coastal zone) if the Federal Agency activities consist of the following:

  • Consistency for Federal Agency Activities (Subpart C) - is a Federal Agency activity (federal properties and actions);
  • Consistency for Activities Requiring a License or Permit (Subpart D): requires a Federal license or permit;
  • Consistency for Outer Continental Shelf Exploration, Development and Production Activities (Subpart E): a plan for exploration, development or production from any area leased under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and;
  • Consistency for Federal Assistance to State and Local Governments (Subpart F): local governments that receive Federal Assistance;
  • Consistency of Federal Activities Having Interstate Effects (Subpart I): instances where a federal action occurring exclusively in one state that will have effects on the uses or resources of another state's coastal zone.

The Federal Consistency Regulations and overview of Federal Consistency (linked below) provide detailed information on the review of the five types of federal consistency pursuant to 15 CFR 930:

Submittal Requirements

For Consistency for Federal Agency Activities (Subpart C, 15 CFR 930.30), the applicant Agency (or designated representative) must submit a Consistency Determination (letter) that contains a statement of consistency and an analysis that demonstrates the project is “Consistent to the maximum extent practicable” with applicable (project specific) CZMP Enforceable Policies. The statement must be based upon an evaluation of the relevant enforceable policies of the management program. A description of this evaluation shall be included in the consistency determination or provided to the State agency simultaneously with the consistency determination if the evaluation is contained in another document. (15 CFR 930.39)

For Consistency related to Activities Requiring a License or Permit (Subpart D, 15 CFR 930.50), the applicant must demonstrate that the project is consistent with applicable (project specific) CZMP Enforceable Policies. The standard for the statement is “The proposed activity complies with the enforceable policies of (name of State) approved management program and will be conducted in a manner consistent with such program.” This statement must be provided to the Department along with all necessary data and information including an evaluation that includes a set of findings relating the coastal effects of the proposed project and its associated facilities to the relevant enforceable policies of the management program. (15 CFR 930.57 and 930.58)

For Consistency related to Outer Continental Shelf Activities (Subpart E, 15 CFR 930.70), the applicant must demonstrate that the project is consistent with applicable (project specific) CZMP Enforceable Policies. The standard for the statement is “The proposed activities described in detail in this plan comply with (name of State(s)) approved management program(s) and will be conducted in a manner consistent with such program(s).” (15 CFR 930.76(c))

For Consistency related to Federal Assistance to State and Local Governments (Subpart E, 15 CFR 930.90), the applicant must demonstrate that the project is consistent with applicable (project specific) CZMP Enforceable Policies. The applicant agency shall provide to the Department, in addition to the federal application, a brief evaluation on the relationship of the proposed activity and any reasonably foreseeable coastal effects to the enforceable policies of the management program. (15 CFR 930.94(c))

Note: For all Federal Activities, the demonstration of consistency can be submitted as part of US EPA’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Environmental Assessment (EA) or other analysis can be submitted in lieu of other submittal requirements. As to Federal Permits/Licenses (Subpart D) and Outer Continental Shelf activities (Subpart E), the Federal permitting agency (i.e., U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management) provides DHEC OCRM (and DHEC BOW) with relevant permit application and public notice that initiates the CZC Consistency review. Linked here is the Corps of Engineers and BOEM permitting information:

Linked here is the list of Federal Agencies and Actions reviewable for Consistency:

How a Federal Coastal Zone Consistency Determination is made

As part of these review processes, the proposed project is circulated to the public and a variety of State agencies for comment. When the public review period is completed, the staff will consider all relevant Department Geographic Information data, the enforceable policies, and any comments received. The Federal Consistency determination (letter) is provided to the appropriate Federal Agency, and when applicable, is also provided to the applicant and their agent.

Permit Requests of Interest

Resources

SC Department of Archives and History

Threatened and Endangered Species