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With population growth in Southeastern coastal areas, and impending threats of both gradual and punctuated hazards from climate change, this article examines the effectiveness of one of the most stringent and celebrated state coastal management laws; namely, South Carolina's Beachfront Management Act of 1988 (BMA). The BMA's efficacy is gauged using a comprehensive mixed methodology, including: mandate assessment; plan quality evaluation; external conditions for plan creation and implementation; and post-regulatory conformance-based plan implementation assessment in two barrier island communities, the Towns of Hilton Head Island and Pawleys Island. This unique synthesis of policy analysis approaches reveals that a substantial volume of development has circumvented the BMA's policies, particularly the setback lines based on a forty-year erosion record, and the retreat objective. It exposes a classic challenge of minimal state implementation, prompted by timidity from the specter of Lucas v. South Carolina ...