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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
May 27, 2004
S. 430
S. Printed 5/27/04--H.
Read the first time May 8, 2003.
TO AMEND SECTION 57-23-50, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO SCENIC HIGHWAYS, SO AS TO UPDATE AND INCREASE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE SCENIC HIGHWAYS COMMITTEE.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 57-23-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 57-23-50. (A) There is created a Scenic Highways Committee composed of eleven fifteen members as follows:
(1) the Director of the Department of Transportation or the director's designee;
(2) the Chairman of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Commission or the chairman's designee;
(3) two representatives of the outdoor advertising industry who are active members of an organization such as the Outdoor Advertising Association of South Carolina;
(4) a representative of the South Carolina hotel and motel industry Hospitality Association;
(5) a representative of the agricultural industry who is active in an organization such as the State Farm Bureau;
(6) a representative of the petroleum marketing industry;
(7) a representative of the tourism industry in South Carolina;
(8) a representative of highway beautification efforts, such as South Carolina Clean and Beautiful Keep South Carolina Beautiful;
(9) a representative of Palmetto Pride;
(10) a representative of the Department of Transportation Enhancement Advisory Committee;
(11) a representative of the South Carolina Litter Control Association;
(12) a representative of the Citizens for a Scenic South Carolina;
(9) (13) a representative involved with parks and recreation, such as the South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association;
(10) (14) a member of the general public.
(B) All members of the committee shall serve for a term of two years and, with the exception of the appointments made pursuant to items subitem (a) (1) and (2), all appointments must be made by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Members of the committee shall serve without compensation or reimbursement.
(C) If a committee member fails to attend at least fifty percent of the committee meetings during a fiscal year, then the committee member loses his voting rights during the subsequent fiscal year unless his absence is excused by a licensed physician.
(D) Committee members appointed pursuant to subitems (A)(1), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (14) may not be employed in the tourism, outdoor advertising, petroleum, or agriculture industries."
SECTION 2. Section 57-23-800 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 17 of 1999, is amended to read:
"Section 57-23-800. (A) The Department of Transportation shall conduct vegetation management of the medians, roadsides, and interchanges along the interstate highway system in accordance with the following requirements:. The department's vegetation management activities may not interfere with the visibility of any outdoor advertising signs.
(1) a median of not more than sixty feet in width shall have its mowable area mowed in its entirety. A median wider than sixty feet shall only be mowed within thirty feet from the edges of the pavement.
(2) a roadside shall be mowed thirty feet from the edge of the pavement. If fill slopes or back slopes are steep, one swath of the mower or not less than five feet shall be mowed on these slopes.
(3) an interchange shall be mowed in the same manner as a roadside, provided that the distance from the pavement required to be mowed may be increased to address any safety concerns involved.
(B) The mowing widths provided in subsection (A) may be increased when necessary to provide adequate visibility for signs erected by the department.
(C) The vegetation management activities conducted by the department shall not interfere in any way with the visibility of any outdoor advertising sign.
(D) If the Department of Natural Resources makes an assessment and written determination that vegetation management pursuant to this section causes an increase in safety risks because of the attraction of wildlife to a specific area along the highway, then the department may increase the distance from the pavement required to be mowed."
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon approval by the Governor.
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