Committee adopts amendment to LD 2173 clarifying coastal and floodplain references

Sen. Chip Curry, chair of the Housing and Economic Development Committee, opened the fifth work session on LD 2173 and asked members to consider an amendment circulated at the meeting.

Representative Amanda Collimore introduced the amendment, which replaces map-only references in multiple sections with explicit statutory definitions — including the coastal barrier resource system and the coastal sand dune system as identified in Title 38 — to make three sections of law consistent across the code. Collimore said the change is intended "to provide reference to the things that are in statute, which are the FEMA floodplain maps, the coastal dune maps, and the coastal barrier resource system," and to avoid reliance solely on an illustrative map.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about which subsections were affected and whether implementation dates or wording such as "enact or enforce" might create unintended inconsistencies if not applied uniformly. One member noted the amendment also adjusts ordinance-related provisions and suggested including finalized implementation-date language during the language-review step.

After brief discussion the committee voted on the motion to pass LD 2173 as amended. The clerk called the roll and each member present voted yes; the motion passed unanimously. Chair Curry closed the LD 2173 work session and moved on to the next item on the agenda.

The committee did not place further conditions on implementation at the work session; members agreed to resolve any remaining technical wording during language review before final drafting.