AN ACT to clarify that a terminal groin is not an erosion control structure and therefore is not subject to limitations on those structures.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 113A‑115.1(a) reads as rewritten:

(a)      As used in this section:The following definitions apply in this section:

(1)        Erosion control structure means a Erosion control structure. – A breakwater, bulkhead, groin, jetty, jetty (other than a jetty that is a terminal groin or a portion of a terminal groin), revetment, seawall, or any similar structure.

(1a)      Estuarine shoreline means all Estuarine shoreline. – All shorelines that are not ocean shorelines that border estuarine waters as defined in G.S. 113A‑113(b)(2).

(2)        Ocean shoreline means the Ocean shoreline. – The Atlantic Ocean, the oceanfront beaches, and frontal dunes. The term ocean shoreline includes an ocean inlet and lands adjacent to an ocean inlet but does not include that portion of any inlet and lands adjacent to the inlet that exhibits characteristics of estuarine shorelines.

(3)        Terminal groin means one Terminal groin. – One or more structures constructed at the terminus of an island or on the side of an inlet, with a main stem generally perpendicular to the beach shoreline, that is primarily intended to protect the terminus of the island from shoreline erosion and inlet migration. A terminal groin shall be pre‑filled with beach quality sand and allow sand moving in the littoral zone to flow past the structure. A terminal groin may include other design features, such as a number of smaller supporting structures, that are consistent with sound engineering practices and as recommended by a professional engineer licensed to practice pursuant to Chapter 89C of the General Statutes. A terminal groin is not a jetty.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.