South Carolina General Assembly
108th Session, 1989-1990

Bill 303


                    Current Status

Bill Number:               303
Ratification Number:       48
Act Number                 32
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Coordinate system for defining location
                           of points within state changed
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A32, R48, S303)

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 2, TITLE 27, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, THE "SOUTH CAROLINA COORDINATE ACT", SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE STATE AS ONE ZONE INSTEAD OF DIVIDING IT INTO A NORTH AND SOUTH ZONE AND TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS IN THE COORDINATE SYSTEM, MAPPING, AND GEODETIC DATA DISSEMINATION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Coordinate system for defining location of points within State changed

SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Title 27 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"CHAPTER 2

Coordinate System for Defining Location

of Points Within State

Section 27-2-10. The system of plane coordinates which has been established by the National Ocean Survey and the National Geodetic Survey for defining and stating the positions or location of points on the surface of the earth within this State may be cited as the 'South Carolina Coordinate System Act'.

For the purpose of the use of this system the State is designated as one zone.

Section 27-2-20. As established, the South Carolina Coordinate System is named, and in a land description in which it is used it is designated, the 'South Carolina Coordinate System'.

Section 27-2-30. The plane coordinates of a point on the earth's surface, to be used in expressing the position or location of a point in the State, consist of two distances, expressed in feet and decimals of a foot. One of these distances, to be known as the easting (x-coordinate), gives the distance in an east-and-west direction; the other, to be known as the northing (y-coordinate), gives the distance in a north-and-south direction. These coordinates must be made to depend upon and conform to the coordinates, on the South Carolina Coordinate System, of the monumented points of the North American Horizontal Geodetic Control Network as published by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (now the National Geodetic Survey) within this State as those coordinates have been determined by the survey.

Section 27-2-50. For purposes of more precisely defining the South Carolina Coordinate System, the following definition by the National Ocean Survey and the National Geodetic Survey is adopted:

The South Carolina Coordinate System is a Lambert conformal projection of the North American Datum, 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 32 Degrees 30' and 34 Degrees 50', along which parallels the scale must be exact. The origin of coordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 81 Degrees 00' west of Greenwich and the parallel 31 Degrees 50' north latitude. This origin is given the coordinates: x = 2,000,000 feet and y = 0 feet. For the purposes of the South Carolina Coordinate System, the foot is the International Foot with one inch being exactly equal to 2.54 centimeters.

The position of South Carolina Coordinate System is as marked on the ground by monumented points of the North American Horizontal Geodetic Control Network established in conformity with standards adopted by the Federal Geodetic Control Committee for first-order and second-order work, whose geodetic positions have been rigidly adjusted on the North American Datum of 1983, and whose coordinates have been computed on the system defined in this section. Any such stations may be used for establishing a survey connection with the South Carolina Coordinate System.

Section 27-2-60. No coordinates based on the South Carolina Coordinate System, purporting to define the position of a point on a land boundary, may be presented to be recorded in public land records or deed records unless that point is established in accordance with Federal Geodetic Control Committee specification for second order-class two. The limitation may be modified by the South Carolina Geodetic Survey to meet local conditions.

Section 27-2-70. The use of 'South Carolina Coordinate System' on a map, report of survey, or other document, must be limited to coordinates based on the South Carolina Coordinate System as defined in this chapter.

Section 27-2-80. The South Carolina Geodetic Survey established within the Division of Research and Statistical Services of the Budget and Control Board shall establish horizontal and vertical geodetic control within the State at a density that will effectively provide land and land-related items and records to be referenced to the national horizontal and vertical coordinate system, ensure the accuracy and integrity of new geodetic data entered into the State and national reference system, maintain geodetic files for the State, and disseminate geodetic information as necessary.

Section 27-2-90. To the extent possible, the South Carolina Geodetic Survey of the Division of Research and Statistical Services of the Budget and Control Board shall utilize the office's responsibility of coordinating mapping activities in the State to ensure that mapping products are compatible with the South Carolina Coordinate System. As part of this activity, the office shall establish, develop, and promulgate standards for maps and map products to ensure quality, accuracy, and compatibility of mapping products, encourage the development of accurate mapping systems that are compatible with and suitable for incorporation into a standardized statewide mapping system, develop, maintain, and administer programs for funding qualified mapping projects, and serve as the focal point for federal, state, and local mapping programs and activities in South Carolina.

Section 27-2-100. Where county boundaries are ill-defined, unmarked, or poorly marked, the South Carolina Geodetic Survey on a cooperative basis shall assist counties in defining and monumenting the locations of county boundaries and positioning the monuments using geodetic surveys. The South Carolina Geodetic Survey shall act as a mediator between counties to resolve county boundary disputes.

Section 27-2-110. Nothing contained in this chapter requires a purchaser or mortgagee to rely on a description, a part of which depends exclusively upon the South Carolina Coordinate System."

Change of system

SECTION 2. The change from a two-zone Lambert Conformal projection system to a single-zone Lambert Conformal projection system as provided in Section 1 becomes effective with publication of the 1983 North American Datum. The use of either the two-zone system or the single-zone system is allowed until 1990 to insure compatibility during the transformation.

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.