(a) The Director of the Alabama State Port Authority is vested with power and authority to obtain and negotiate a sale of any submerged lands and made lands claimed or owned by the state, which lands are under or were formerly under any of the tidal waters of the State of Alabama, or which lands abut such tidal waters; provided, however, that if such lands abut or adjoin in whole or in part any uplands then no such sale shall be made to any purchaser other than the owner of such uplands, except a sale of so much of said land as may be used and occupied by such purchaser without interfering with the riparian rights appurtenant to such uplands, unless the owner of such uplands relinquishes such rights by appropriate instrument made in connection with such sale; and except that such sales may be made to a public body of the submerged or made land upon which docks or wharves have been constructed by such public body, the sale in such instances to be for the reasonable value of the submerged or made land used by such docks or wharves and to be fixed as of the date of the beginning of the construction of such docks and wharves, and the title in such instances to relate back to the date of the commencement of the construction of the docks or wharves. The director of the department shall certify to the Governor that such sale has been obtained and negotiated and that all requirements of law with respect to such sale have been complied with, and if such sale is concurred in by the Governor, the Governor may cause a patent to issue under the Seal of the State, signed by the Governor and attested by the Secretary of State, conveying such property. The recitals contained in such conveyance shall be conclusive evidence that all requirements for the issuance thereof have been complied with. Such conveyance shall, except to the extent otherwise stated therein, convey all of the right, title and interest of the State of Alabama in and to such lands and shall be conclusive evidence that such lands are no longer needed by the State of Alabama for any purpose and that all public rights of navigation have ceased and determined as to such lands. In negotiating any such sale, the director of the department may in his discretion obtain an appraisal of the value of the right, title and interest of the State of Alabama in and to such lands the subject of such sale. The proceeds of any such sales shall be paid by the purchaser to the Alabama State Port Authority and shall be used by it in its work of harbor development.

Except as provided in subsection (b), this section shall apply only to such lands which lie shoreward of harbor lines established by the authorities of the United States and of the State of Alabama having jurisdiction over such matters.

All departments and agencies of the state, other than the Alabama State Port Authority are relieved of any duties, responsibilities, and powers with reference to the lands to which this section applies, as and when this section becomes applicable thereto.

The word "upland," as used herein, is hereby defined to mean any land, whether artificially made land or natural land, as to which the State of Alabama has no right, title or interest, or as to which the state's only right, title or interest, is by virtue of a tax sale with respect to which there is an outstanding statutory right of redemption.

(b) This section shall not apply to any submerged lands of the state abutting the Gulf of Mexico and lying seaward of the mean high tide line that are filled in the course of, or by subsequent natural or artificial accretion to, a beach project undertaken by a coastal municipality pursuant to Article 11 of Chapter 47 of Title 11 with the permit of the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as provided in Section 9-15-56.