South Carolina lawmakers may move to extend a slew of development permits around the state, adding years to state permissions for land disturbance, water pollution, sensitive coastal work and even the right to install a septic tank.

Legislators passed similar measures in the past, particularly when the economy ground to a halt in the Great Recession. Some permits the S.C. General Assembly extended then were active for over a decade.

But in the intervening time, climate change continued its slow march in transforming South Carolina’s coast. Projects that were put on ice came back to life after sea-level rise had eaten away at already dynamic systems around marshes, streams and the ocean.

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