State establishment of criteria and standards for local implementation—Technique A.
15 C.F.R. § 923.42
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) The management program must provide for any one or a combination of general techniques specified in subsection 306(d)(11) of the Act for control of land uses and water uses within the coastal zone. The first such control technique, at subsection 306(d)(11)(A) of the Act, is state establishment of criteria and standards for local implementation, subject to administrative review and enforcement (control technique A).
(b) There are 5 principal requirements that control technique A must embody in order to be approved:
(1) The State must have developed and have in effect at the time of program approval enforceable policies that meet the requirements of § 923.3. These policies must serve as the standards and criteria for local program development or the State must have separate standards and criteria, related to these enforceable policies, that will guide local program development.
(2) During the period while local programs are being developed, a State must have sufficient authority to assure that land and water use decisions subject to the management program will comply with the program's enforceable policies. The adequacy of these authorities will be judged on the same basis as specified for direct State controls or case-by-case reviews.
(3) A State must be able to ensure that coastal programs will be developed pursuant to the State's standards and criteria, or failing this, that the management program can be implemented directly by the State. This requirement can be met if a State can exercise any one of the following techniques:
(i) Direct State enforcement of its standards and criteria in which case a State would need to meet the requirements of this section which address the direct State control technique;
(ii) Preparation of a local program by a State agency which the local government then would implement. To use this technique the State must have statutory authority to prepare and adopt a program for a local government, and a mechanism by which the State can cause the local government to enforce the State-created program. Where the mechanism to assure local enforcement will be judicial relief, the program must include the authority under which judicial relief can be sought;
(iii) State preparation and enforcement of a program on behalf of a local government. Here the State must have the authority to:
(A) Prepare and adopt a plan, regulations, and ordinances for the local government and
(B) Enforce such plans, regulations and ordinances;
(iv) State review of local government actions on a case-by-case basis or on appeal, and prevention of actions inconsistent with the standards and criteria. Under this technique, when a local government fails to adopt an approvable program, the State must have the ability to review activities in the coastal zone subject to the management program and the power to prohibit, modify or condition those activities based on the policies, standards and criteria of the management program; or
(v) If a locality fails to adopt a management program, the State may utilize a procedure whereby the responsibility for preparing a program shifts to an intermediate level government, such as a county. If this intermediate level of government fails to produce a program, then the State must have the ability to take one of the actions described above. This alternative cannot be used where the intermediate level of government lacks the legal authority to adopt and implement regulations necessary to implement State policies, standards and criteria.
(4) A State must have a procedure whereby it reviews and certifies the local program's compliance with State standards and criteria. This procedure must include provisions for:
(i) Opportunity for the public and governmental entities (including Federal agencies) to participate in the development of local programs; and
(ii) Opportunity for the public and governmental entities (including Federal agencies) to make their views known (through public hearings or other means) to the State agency prior to approval of local programs; and
(iii) Review by the State of the adequacy of local programs consideration of facilities identified in a State's management program in which there is a national interest.
(5) A State must be able to assure implementation and enforcement of a local program once approved. To accomplish this a State must:
(i) Establish a monitoring system which defines what constitutes and detects patterns of non-compliance. In the case of uses of regional benefit and facilities in which there is a national interest, the monitoring system must be capable of detecting single instances of local actions affecting such uses or facilities in a manner contrary to the management program.
(ii) Be capable of assuring compliance when a pattern of deviation is detected or when a facility involving identified national interests or a use of regional benefit is affected in a manner contrary to the program's policies. When State action is required because of failure by a local government to enforce its program, the State must be able to do one or a combination of the following:
(A) Directly enforce the entire local program;
(B) Directly enforce that portion of the local program that is being enforced improperly. State intervention would be necessary only in those local government activities that are violating the policies, standards or criteria.
(C) Seek judicial relief against local government for failure to properly enforce;
(D) Review local government actions on a case-by-case basis or on appeal and have the power to prevent those actions inconsistent with the policies and standards.
(E) Provide a procedure whereby the responsibility for enforcing a program shifts to an intermediate level of government, assuming statutory authority exists to enable the immediate of government to assume this responsibility.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-15.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026