Representative Bailey presented House Bill 3,770 to streamline repairs to piers, docks and similar shoreline structures by allowing certain maintenance without a permit, followed by an as-built survey filed within 60 days. He said lengthy review times sometimes prevent urgent fixes and risk losing entire structures.

Riley Egger, director of the Land, Water, and Wildlife program at the Coastal Conservation League and a member of the Department of Environmental Services (DES) stakeholder group, urged the committee to allow stakeholder deliberation before passing a statutory change. “I would love the opportunity to discuss with…land surveyors, construction companies, and the conservation groups about if this bill meets the need of all the interest,” Egger said.

Chris Stout, chief for the Bureau of Coastal Management at the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, told the subcommittee that the statute currently contains a maintenance-and-repair exception and that DES’s review letters for maintenance are issued as a courtesy rather than as permits. Stout said DES is developing a general permit to streamline reviews and expected to put that general permit on public notice soon; he said the stakeholder group’s final report could inform regulatory changes by January.

Members and witnesses disputed whether homeowners currently need permits for minor repairs. Representative Bay pressed whether DHEC (Department of Health and Environmental Control) or DES was requiring permits despite the statutory maintenance exception. Chris Stout said the agency issues courtesy review letters to help contractors and local building officials and pledged to look into any instance where staff told a homeowner they would be jailed for repairs.

Representative Bailey said the bill’s as-built survey requirement is intended to show repairs did not enlarge a structure, and to allow owners to replace a destroyed dock where they can demonstrate they are restoring the previously permitted footprint. Committee members noted cost concerns for as-built surveys—Riley Egger estimated a simple survey could cost on the order of $350–$1,000 depending on scope—and asked whether small repairs would be burdened by new paperwork.

After discussion, Representative Bailey moved to adjourn debate until the bill’s language could be revised; the motion passed on a 4-to-1 roll call (Representatives Scribe, Harris, May and Morgan voted Aye; Chairman Burns voted No). The bill remains in subcommittee for redrafting and further stakeholder work.