
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC459e-2]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
   CHAPTER 1--NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES
 
         SUBCHAPTER LXIII--NATIONAL SEASHORE RECREATIONAL AREAS
 
Sec. 459e-2. Zoning regulations


(a) Amendment; standards for approval of ordinances

    In order to carry out the provisions of section 459e-1 of this title 
the Secretary shall issue regulations, which may be amended from time to 
time, specifying standards that are consistent with the purposes of 
sections 459e to 459e-9 of this title for zoning ordinances which must 
meet his approval.

(b) Commercial or industrial use prohibition; size, location or use 
        restrictions for commercial, residential, and other structures; 
        reconciliation of population density with protection of natural 
        resources

    The standards specified in such regulations shall have the object of 
(1) prohibiting new commercial or industrial uses, other than commercial 
or industrial uses which the Secretary considers are consistent with the 
purposes of sections 459e to 459e-9 of this title, of all property 
within the national seashore, and (2) promoting the protection and 
development for purposes of sections 459e to 459e-9 of this title of the 
land within the national seashore by means of limitations or 
restrictions on the size, location or use of any commercial, 
residential, and other structures. In accomplishing these objectives, 
such standards shall seek to reconcile the population density of the 
seashore on October 17, 1984, with the protection of the natural 
resources of the Seashore \1\ consistent with the purposes for which it 
has been established as provided by sections 459e to 459e-9 of this 
title.
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should not be capitalized.
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(c) Approval of ordinances

    Following issuance of such regulations the Secretary shall approve 
any zoning ordinance or any amendment to any approved zoning ordinance 
submitted to him that conforms to the standards contained in the 
regulations in effect at the time of adoption of the ordinance or 
amendment. Such approval shall remain effective for so long as such 
ordinance or amendment remains in effect as approved.

(d) Adverse provisions and absence of notice for variance as requiring 
        disapproval of ordinances

    No zoning ordinance or amendment thereof shall be approved by the 
Secretary which (1) contains any provisions that he considers adverse to 
the protection and development, in accordance with the purposes of 
sections 459e to 459e-9 of this title, of the area comprising the 
national seashore; or (2) fails to have the effect of providing that the 
Secretary shall receive notice of any variance granted under, or any 
exception made to, the application of such ordinance or amendment.

(e) Termination of suspension of authority for acquisition by 
        condemnation because of nonconforming variances and uses

    In the case of any property, including improved property but 
excluding undeveloped property in the Dune district referred to in 
section 459e-1(g) of this title, with respect to which the Secretary's 
authority to acquire by condemnation has been suspended under sections 
459e to 459e-9 of this title if--
        (1) such property is, after October 17, 1984, made the subject 
    of a variance under, or becomes for any reason an exception to, any 
    applicable zoning ordinance approved under this section; and
        (2) such variance or exception results, or will result, in such 
    property being used in a manner that fails to conform to any 
    applicable standard contained in regulations of the Secretary issued 
    pursuant to this section and in effect at the time such variance or 
    exception took effect;

then the suspension of the Secretary's authority to acquire such 
property by condemnation shall automatically cease.

(f) Certificate of suspension of authority for acquisition by 
        condemnation

    The Secretary shall furnish to any party in interest upon request a 
certificate indicating the property with respect to which the 
Secretary's authority to acquire by condemnation is suspended.

(g) Injunctive relief; termination

    Notwithstanding any other provision of sections 459e to 459e-9 of 
this title, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Attorney 
General of the United States, may apply to the United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of New York for a temporary restraining 
order or injunction to prohibit the use of, including construction upon, 
any property within the seashore in a manner that--
        (1) will cause or is likely to cause significant harm to the 
    natural resources of the seashore, or
        (2) is inconsistent with the purposes for which the seashore was 
    established.

Except to the extent the Court may deem necessary in extraordinary 
circumstances, no such order or injunction shall continue in effect for 
more than one hundred and eighty days. During the period of such order 
or injunction, the Secretary shall diligently and in good faith 
negotiate with the owner of the property to assure that following 
termination of the order or injunction, the inconsistent use is abated 
or the significant harm to the natural resources is mitigated.

(Pub. L. 88-587, Sec. 3, Sept. 11, 1964, 78 Stat. 930; Pub. L. 98-482, 
Secs. 3-5, Oct. 17, 1984, 98 Stat. 2256.)


                               Amendments

    1984--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-482, Sec. 4, substituted ``by means of 
limitations or restrictions on the size, location or use of any 
commercial, residential, and other structures'' for ``by means of 
acreage, frontage, and setback requirements'' and required that the 
standards seek to reconcile the population density of the seashore on 
Oct. 17, 1984, with the protection of the natural resources of the 
seashore.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 98-482, Sec. 3, designated part of existing 
provisions as pars. (1) and (2), made the provisions applicable to any 
property, and excluded undeveloped property in the Dune district.
    Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 98-482, Sec. 5, added subsec. (g).

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 459e-1, 459e-3, 459e-5, 
459e-6, 459e-7, 459e-9 of this title.
