Subcommittee OKs bill to extend landing/safety rules to Santee Cooper reservoirs

The House Wildlife Subcommittee voted unanimously to advance Senate Bill 463 after testimony from Department of Natural Resources staff that the bill would extend an existing landing and safety provision to lakes owned or managed by public-service authorities.

Sergeant Adam Henderson of the Department of Natural Resources told the committee the amendment, sponsored in the Senate by Senator Grooms, would bring public-service-authority reservoirs such as portions of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie under a law that currently covers many investor-owned lakes. "This amendment would extend that, to the public service authority too, which would include Lake Marion and Moultrie," Henderson said.

Members asked operational questions about signage and enforcement. Duncan Croitwell, the department's government affairs director, said most of the required signs are already in place where appropriate and that the public-service authority (Santee Cooper) would typically be responsible for installing missing signs. Croitwell said the change would also allow DNR officers to assist with enforcement under Title 50. "These would be signs that were already placed by the public service authority, Santee Cooper," he said, and added that DNR generally prefers education and verbal warnings over issuing citations.

Representative Gibson asked about penalties and the effective date. Henderson said the minimum penalty discussed included $105 with court fees and assessments, while also referencing a $25 statutory fine in the exchange; Croitwell and Henderson agreed applicability of the law depends on signs being installed. "If the signs aren't there, it won't be applicable until the signs are actually installed," Croitwell said.

Chairlady Davis expressed support, noting Santee Cooper is in her district and she previously worked on related legislation. A motion to pass SB 463 carried on a roll-call vote, recorded as 4 yeas, 0 nays with 1 absent. The measure will proceed to the full committee for further consideration.

The subcommittee did not debate enforcement frequency or budgetary implications in detail; DNR staff indicated most enforcement is handled through warnings and that issuing fines is uncommon in routine landing-safety incidents.