beach erosion

The state Senate may soon take up a bill that would provide money on a regular basis to help pump sand onto eroding South Carolina beaches. The bill sponsored by Sen. Chip Campsen would take 25% of all entertainment admission taxes and put them into the beach renourishment fund. The Post and Courier newspaper reported that would be about $9 million each year. Local governments would have to match any money given away from the fund. The bill passed a subcommittee and will likely head to the Senate floor soon. Currently, projects are funded by the state individually as they come in.

A politically appointed board will hear an appeal from property owners who want to bury sandbags along a South Carolina beach to fight erosion. Opponents fear sandbag walls are likely to make the beach wash away faster. A three-member committee of the Department of Health and Environmental Control board voted unanimously last week to hold a hearing before the full board early next year. The board will consider overturning a staff decision denying permission to keep sandbags in place on Debordieu Island, south of Myrtle Beach. Coastal regulators say the bags were put in illegally by seven landowners after a 2020 hurricane.