FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2006

Contacts:
Wilford Kale
(757) 247-2269

Governor's Executive Order Includes Criteria to Help Coastal Property Owners Recover from Ernesto

NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – Governor Timothy Kaine has included specific criteria in Executive Order No. 34 that will enable shoreline property owners to more quickly restore water structures damaged by tropical storm Ernesto.

 The five major requirements for owners to receive the expedited authorization are in keeping with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s previous rules that applied to property in Tidewater Virginia following Hurricane Isabel in 2003:

1. The pre-existing structure must have been previously authorized and in a serviceable condition prior to the onset of the storm
2. The replacement structure must be reconstructed in the same location and in identical or smaller dimensions as the previously permitted structure  
3. Reconstruction activities must be initiated prior to Dec. 31, 2006 and be completed prior to June 30, 2008
4. Any property owner seeking to replace a previously permitted structure pursuant to the Executive Order must submit to the VMRC a letter attesting to the foregoing and containing suitable drawings of the proposed replacement structure or structures for comparison purposes
5. No person may proceed with the replacement activity without written approval from the Commissioner of Marine Resources

 Commissioner Steven G. Bowman said the Governor had amended his initial “state of emergency” declaration to include various provisions for more quickly coping with the damage that resulted from the tropical storm and among those were rules to facilitate rehabilitation coastal piers, bulkheads and other marine structures.”