The regulations in this part set forth the requirements for State coastal management program approval by the Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (hereafter, the Act); the grant application procedures for program funds; conditions under which grants may be terminated; and requirements for review of approved management programs.

Sections 306 and 307 of the Act set forth requirements which must be fulfilled as a condition of program approval. The specifics of these requirements are set forth below under the following headings: General Requirements; Uses Subject to Management; Special Management Areas; Boundaries; Authorities and Organization; and Coordination, Public Involvement and National Interest. All relevant sections of the Act are dealt with under one of these groupings, but not necessarily in the order in which they appear in the Act.

In summary, the requirements for program approval are that a State develop a management program that:

Identifies and evaluates those coastal resources recognized in the Act as requiring management or protection by the State;

Reexamines existing policies or develops new policies to manage these resources. These policies must be specific, comprehensive, and enforceable;

Determines specific use and special geographic areas that are to be subject to the management program, based on the nature of identified coastal concerns;

Identifies the inland and seaward areas subject to the management program;

Provides for the consideration of the national interest in the planning for and siting of facilities that meet more than local requirements;

Includes sufficient legal authorities and organizational arrangements to implement the program and to ensure conformance to it. In arriving at these elements of the management program, States are obliged to follow an open process which involves providing information to and considering the interests of the general public, special interest groups, local governments, and regional, State, interstate, and Federal agencies;

Provides for public participation in permitting processes, consistency determinations, and other similar decisions;

Provides a mechanism to ensure that all state agencies will adhere to the program; and

Contains enforceable policies and mechanisms to implement the applicable requirements of the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program of the state required by section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990.