ELR Citation: ELR 20166
No(s). 84-1344 (4th Cir. Feb 7, 1985)

The court holds that appellants were not denied substantive due process by congressional designation of their property as part of the Coastal Barrier Resources System (System) pursuant to the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. Appellants claim their Topsail Island, North Carolina, property does not fit the description of "undeveloped coastal barrier" under §3 of the Act and thus should not be included in the System, under which certain construction is ineligibe for federal flood insurance. The court holds, however, that the §3 description is informational only. The controlling designation is found in the set of maps referenced by §4. Since the maps designate appellants' property as an undeveloped coastal barrier, the court concludes that Congress intended to include it in the System.

The court next rejects the claim that this designation lacks a rational justification. The designation had a substantial relation to the Act's objectives of preventing wasteful federal subsidies and minimizing loss of human life. Finally, the court observes that Congress can properly designate the specific coastal barrier to be included in the System, as it did in §4, and that perfection is not required in this classification.

[The opinion below appears at 14 ELR 20279.]

Counsel for Appellants
Robert D. Sokolove
Kornblut & Sokolove
5028 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 100, Washington DC 20016
(202) 686-2895

Counsel for Appellee
J. Carol Williams
Land and Natural Resources Division
Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-2757

Before Winter, Hall, and Sneeden, JJ.