(1) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) "FERC licensee" means an entity that possesses a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) license to operate a licensed lake.

(3) "Fund" means the Public Waters Nuisance Abatement Fund.

(4) "Licensed lake" means a public water of the State consisting of an impoundment and its associated hydropower facility that is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

(5) "Navigation" means the ability of a registered or documented self-propelled watercraft equipped with motor and rudder controls located at a point on the watercraft from which there is forward visibility over at least a one hundred eighty degree range to navigate to a department approved marine pump-out station. This definition is in addition to and not exclusive of any other departmental standards for navigation.

(6) "Removal" means to completely extricate the entire structure from the public waters of this State.

(7) "Structure" means a structure located upon any public waters of this State, whether the structure is floating upon the waters and is made fast by the use of lines, cables, anchors, or pilings, or a combination of these, or is built upon pilings embedded in the beds of the public waters of the State when the structure is being used, has been used, or is capable of being used as a place of habitation, dwelling, sojournment, or residence for any length of time; is not being used or is not capable of being used primarily as a means of transportation upon these public waters; and is not owned, occupied, or possessed pursuant to a permit issued by the department. This definition includes, but is not limited to, watercraft not being used in navigation; provided, however, that this definition does not include registered or documented watercraft that are capable of navigation and are legally anchored or legally moored to a dock or marina. Also specifically excluded from this definition are fishing camps, bait shops, restaurants, or other commercial establishments, marinas, or docks permitted under applicable South Carolina or federal law, which do not discharge sewage into the public waters of the State and are operated in conformance with the zoning ordinances, if any, of the municipality or county in which they are located.

(8) "Unpermitted structure" means a structure whose owner did not obtain a permit pursuant to this chapter or a structure remaining after the expiration or revocation of its permit.

(9) "Waters of the State" has the same meaning as in § 50-21-10.