H 4804 General Bill, By W.D. Keyserling and Sharpe
 A Bill to amend Section 50-17-340, as amended, Code of Laws of South Carolina,
 1976, relating to planting requirements of shellfish permittees, so as to
 decrease from one hundred twenty-five to fifty the number of bushels required
 to be planted.

   03/21/96  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-9
   03/21/96  House  Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Natural
                     Resources and Environmental Affairs HJ-9

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 50-17-340, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PLANTING REQUIREMENTS OF SHELLFISH PERMITTEES, SO AS TO DECREASE FROM ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE TO FIFTY THE NUMBER OF BUSHELS REQUIRED TO BE PLANTED.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 50-17-340 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"Section 50-17-340. (A) Each permittee shall plant one hundred twenty-five fifty U.S. bushels of shell, cultch, or seed oysters annually for each acre of bottoms which is producing or capable of producing shellfish included in his permit issued under Section 50-17-310. All shell must be planted between May first and August thirty-first, except that raw shuck houses may replant green shell from current operations if the shell is replanted within three days after gathering. All shell and seed planting is under supervision of the department, which may require up to five percent of the total quota of shell or seed oysters of any permittee to be planted on state shellfish bottoms not under permit but within a twenty-mile radius of the permittee's place of business. Shell or seed oysters planted by a permittee on those bottoms must be credited to the permittee's annual quota in the amount equal to two times that of the number of bushels actually planted. The department may provide incentives to permittees for improved or innovative management and cultivation techniques in the form of additional planting credits or planting variances. If a permittee does not plant the required quota of shell or seed oysters on the permit area, the permit must be revoked by the department or the acreage of shellfish reduced based upon the percentage of the quota planted. In the event a permittee believes that a permit area or portion of it does not require planting during a given year for reasons of sound management, he may apply in writing to the department for a variance in his annual quota. The department may then conduct an inspection of the permit area or portion of it to determine whether the requested variance may be granted and notify the permittee of its decision. The decision of the department in those matters is legally binding. For the purpose of shell planting, a U.S. bushel is the standard measurement. One cubic yard of shell for planting is considered as twenty-one and seven-tenths U.S. bushels.

(B) The provisions of this section do not apply to mariculture operations as defined in Section 50-17-367. The department is authorized to specify the terms and conditions on any permit issued for the purpose of shellfish mariculture."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.