SB207: relative to rules adopted by the department of environmental services pursuant to the 2014 report of the coastal risks and hazards commission.

CHAPTER 249

SB 207 - FINAL VERSION

03/07/2019 0652s

8May2019... 1602h

2019 SESSION

19-1019

08/03

SENATE BILL 207

AN ACT relative to rules adopted by the department of environmental services pursuant to the 2014 report of the coastal risks and hazards commission.

SPONSORS: Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Rep. Cushing, Rock. 21; Rep. Somssich, Rock. 27; Rep. Abramson, Rock. 20; Rep. Cali-Pitts, Rock. 30

COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill requires state agencies to reference the 2014 report of the coastal risks and hazards commission when planning, siting, and designing certain projects.

This bill also repeals the audit of laws governing coastal regions to enable authorities to take appropriate actions.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/07/2019 0652s

8May2019... 1602h 19-1019

08/03

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen

AN ACT relative to rules adopted by the department of environmental services pursuant to the 2014 report of the coastal risks and hazards commission.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

249:1 Coastal and Great Bay Region Reports; Incorporation. Amend RSA 483-B:22 to read as follows:

483-B:22 Coastal and Great Bay Region Reports.

I. The commissioner of the department of environmental services shall convene representatives of the department of transportation, the division of homeland security and emergency management, the office of strategic initiatives, and other agencies as he or she deems appropriate, at least every 5 years, commencing July 1, 2019 to supervise an updating of storm surge, sea-level rise, precipitation, and other relevant projections recommended in the coastal risks and hazards commission 2014 report "Sea-Level Rise, Storm Surges, and Extreme Precipitation in Coastal New Hampshire: Analysis of Past and Projected Trends." This report shall be distributed to all state agencies, municipalities in the coastal and Great Bay region, the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate and the chairs of the house and senate committees with jurisdiction over issues related to such projections.

II. New Hampshire state agencies involved in planning, siting, and design of state-funded structures and facilities, public works projects, and transportation projects, as well as land acquisition and management, and other environmental activities in the coastal and Great Bay regions of New Hampshire, shall reference the Coastal Risks and Hazards Commission report, "Sea-level Rise, Storm Surges, and Extreme Precipitation in Coastal New Hampshire: Analysis of Past and Projected Trends," for guidance on all potentially affected activities. Agencies shall develop, as possible and appropriate, uniform standards of guidance, in conformity with the report. Efforts designed with a previous report identified in paragraph I shall not be required by the department to adapt their designs to accommodate the findings of an updated report but may do so as practicable.

III. The department shall maintain a link to all versions of the report on its web page.

249:2 Repeal. 2016, 195:1, relative to the coastal and Great Bay region audit and agency projects, is repealed.

249:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

Approved: Enacted in accordance with Part II, Article 44 of N.H. Constitution, without the signature of the governor, July 16, 2019

Effective Date: July 16, 2019