(A) The department may charge an administrative fee upon application for a permit for alteration of a critical area as defined in § 48-39-10. Applications for permits which are noncommercial/nonindustrial in nature and provide personal benefits that have no connection with a commercial/industrial enterprise must pay an administrative fee of two hundred fifty dollars, unless the application is for a dock one hundred feet or less in length, in which case the fee must be one hundred and fifty dollars. Applications for amendments or modifications of permits that must be placed on public notice must be charged an administrative fee of one hundred dollars. The department may raise or lower the fee by regulation after complying with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act. A reasonable fee, determined by the department, must be charged for permit applications when the planned or ultimate purpose of the activity is commercial or industrial in nature.

(B) Permit applicants for construction of marina and commercial dock facilities pursuant to this section are not required to demonstrate a need for the facilities before consideration of the application.

(C) For permit applications to construct private recreational docks on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Federal Navigation Project in a county where more than eighty percent of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is outside of the critical area, the department shall defer to the United States Army Corps of Engineers in determining the total allowable dock square footage of the structure.