COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina developers and environmentalists are gearing for a fight over wetlands and building when lawmakers open their news legislative session this week.
The (Columbia) State reports the question is whether South Carolina should establish a statewide permitting program for isolated wetlands, or pass a law limiting the impact of a state Supreme Court ruling.
The future of hundreds of thousands of acres of isolated wetlands is at stake.
The state's high court ruled last summer that developers needed a state permit to fill a patch of swampy land at a country club south of Myrtle Beach.
The decision set a new standard because South Carolina regulators haven't required permits to fill isolated wetlands.
Draft legislation is being circulated to negate or limit the Supreme Court ruling's effect.
