News Observer: House Bill 819, "An Act to Study and Modify Certain Coastal Management Policies," became law in August 2012. It gave the Coastal Resources Commission four years to develop the state's official prediction for how fast North Carolina sea levels will rise in future years.
No state agency can adopt any "rule, policy or planning guideline that defines a rate of sea-level change for regulatory purposes" until the commission formally determines a sea-level rate of change, the law says. The commission...