Sponsors (2)
The bill gives specific North Topsail Beach property owners clearer, faster ability to develop under local rules, but does so by removing federal coastal protections — shifting environmental risk and potential disaster costs toward local communities and taxpayers.
Property owners in North Topsail Beach with parcels zoned non‑conservation regain the ability to develop or seek permits under local zoning because those parcels are removed from Coastal Barrier Resources Unit L06.
Residents and local officials get faster, clearer federal map boundaries (30‑day deadline) which reduces regulatory uncertainty about which parcels are inside the Coastal Barrier Resources System.
Removing parcels from the Coastal Barrier Resources System reduces federal environmental protections that discourage development on vulnerable coastal barrier areas, increasing risk to local ecosystems and shoreline resilience.
If development proceeds on formerly protected barrier areas, local governments and taxpayers may face higher long‑term disaster response, recovery, and infrastructure costs that would otherwise be avoided or reduced by federal restrictions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 5, 2025 by Gregory Francis Murphy · Last progress March 5, 2025
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to correct the Coastal Barrier Resources System map for unit L06 to exclude parcels inside the town of North Topsail Beach that the town’s zoning rules designate for uses other than conservation, and to treat those excluded parcels as meeting a specified Coastal Barrier Resources Act criterion. The map correction must use the November 25, 2024 map for unit L06 as the baseline and be completed within 30 days of enactment; the change applies only to areas of unit L06 inside the North Topsail Beach municipal boundary.