R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-1
§ 46-23-1. Legislative findings.
Status: in_force

(a)(1) Under article 1, § 17 of the Rhode Island Constitution, the people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this state, including, but not limited to, fishing from the shore, the gathering of seaweed, leaving the shore to swim in the sea and passage along the shore; and they shall be secure in their rights to use and enjoyment of the natural resources of the state with due regard for the preservation of their values; and it is the duty of the general assembly to provide for the conservation of the air, land, water, plant, animal, mineral and other natural resources of the state, and to adopt all means necessary and proper by law to protect the natural environment of the people of the state by providing adequate resource planning for the control and regulation of the use of the natural resources of the state and for the preservation, regeneration, and restoration of the natural environment of the state.

(2) The general assembly recognizes and declares that the coastal resources of Rhode Island, a rich variety of natural, commercial, industrial, recreational, and aesthetic assets, are of immediate and potential value to the present and future development of this state; that unplanned or poorly planned development of this basic natural environment has already damaged or destroyed, or has the potential of damaging or destroying, the states coastal resources, and has restricted the most efficient and beneficial utilization of these resources; that it shall be the policy of this state to preserve, protect, develop, and, where possible, restore the coastal resources of the state for this and succeeding generations through comprehensive and coordinated long range planning and management designed to produce the maximum benefit for society from these coastal resources; and that preservation and restoration of ecological systems shall be the primary guiding principle upon which environmental alteration of coastal resources will be measured, judged, and regulated.

(b)(1) That effective implementation of these policies is essential to the social and economic well-being of the people of Rhode Island because the sea and its adjacent lands are major sources of food and public recreation, because these resources are used by and for industry, transportation, waste disposal, and other purposes, and because the demands made on these resources are increasing in number, magnitude, and complexity; and that these policies are necessary to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1452 (The Coastal Zone Management Act), the general assembly hereby directs the council (referred to as CRMC) to exercise effectively its responsibilities in the coastal zone through the development and implementation of management programs to achieve wise use of the land and water resources of the coastal zone.

(2) Furthermore, that implementation of these policies is necessary in order to secure the rights of the people of Rhode Island to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources of the state with due regard for the preservation of their values, and in order to allow the general assembly to fulfill its duty to provide for the conservation of the air, land, water, plant, animal, mineral, and other natural resources of the state, and to adopt all means necessary and proper by law to protect the natural environment of the people of the state by providing adequate resource planning for the control and regulation of the use of the natural resources of the state and for the preservation, regeneration, and restoration of the natural environment of the state.

(c) That these policies can best be achieved through the creation of a coastal resources management council as the principal mechanism for management of the states coastal resources.

(d) The general assembly recognizes and declares that maintenance dredging is required to remove natural silt accumulations; Rhode Island has not had a general maintenance dredging policy and programs for ports, port facilities, channels, harbors, public and private marinas and boating facilities, recreational facilities and habitat areas; other major coastal states have maintenance dredging policies and in-water maintenance dredge disposal sites; as a result of the lack of a general maintenance dredging policy and program and as a result there has been:

(1) A decrease in the depth of the Providence Channel from forty-four (44) feet in 1971 to twenty-four (24) feet in 1996;

(2) Navigational restrictions on ocean going vessels through the states waterways and channels; and

(3) A decrease in the number of available slips and moorings at marinas throughout the state; and the lack of a maintenance dredging policy and programs have significant adverse environmental and economic effects on the state and therefore it is in the best interest of the state, the cities and towns of the state, and the citizens thereof for the state to have a general maintenance dredging policy and programs to resolve issues related to dredge maintenance and disposal and avoid future significant direct and indirect adverse impact on the environment and economy of the state.

(e) The coastal resources management council is hereby designated as the lead state agency for purposes of dredging in tidal waters and as such shall have the following duties and responsibilities:

(1) To coordinate the interest of the state with regard to dredging;

(2) To formulate and adopt a state policy with regard to dredging which integrates those interests;

(3) To cooperate with, negotiate, and to enter into agreements on behalf of the state with the federal government and with other public bodies and private parties with regard to dredging;

(4) To act as the initial and primary point of contact for all applications to the state for dredging projects in tidal waters;

(5) To develop, prepare, adopt pursuant to § 46-23-11, implement, and maintain a comprehensive plan for dredge material management; and

(6) To cooperate and coordinate with the departments of environmental management, transportation, administration, and health, and the economic development corporation in the conduct of these duties and responsibilities.

(f)(1) The legislature recognizes that under Article I, § 17, the submerged lands of the state are impressed with a public trust and that the state is responsible for the protection of the publics interest in these lands. The state maintains title in fee to all soil within its boundaries that lies below the high water mark, and it holds that land in trust for the use of the public. In benefiting the public, the state preserves certain public rights which include, but are not limited to, fishery, commerce, and navigation in these waters and the submerged lands that they cover.

(2) Since its establishment in 1971, the CRMC has had the authority to manage and plan for the preservation of the coastal resources of the state including, but not limited to, submerged lands. The legislature hereby declares that, in light of the unique size, scope, and overall potential impact upon the environment of large scale filling projects involving twenty-five (25) acres or more, any lease of tidal lands, or any license to use those lands, is subject to approval, disapproval, or conditional approval by the direct enactment of the general assembly by legislative action. The CRMC shall review all requests for leases, licenses to use the land, and other authority to use the land made by any applicant prior to presentation of the request to the general assembly, and the CRMC shall make recommendations on the request to the general assembly. With the exception of any and all projects to fill land of twenty-five (25) acres or more, the general assembly hereby recognizes and declares that the CRMC is delegated the sole and exclusive authority for the leasing of submerged and filled lands and giving licenses for the use of that land. Accordingly, the CRMC will develop, coordinate, and adopt a system for the leasing of submerged and filled lands, and licenses for the use of that land, and will ensure that all leases and licenses are consistent with the public trust. Pursuant thereto, the CRMC shall impose a maximum fee of eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) per annum for any transatlantic cable that makes landfall in Rhode Island. All such fees collected shall be deposited into the Bays, Rivers and Watersheds Fund, established pursuant to § 46-31-12.1, and shall be disbursed according to the purposes of that fund. Nothing contained in this subsection negates, repeals, or alters the provisions, processes, and requirements for the leasing of submerged land for the conduct of aquaculture as set out under chapter 10 of title 20. Therefore, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit or impair the authority of the state, or any duly established agency of the state, to regulate filling or dredging affecting tidal lands owned by the state or any other entity, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit or impair the obligation of the applicant to obtain all applicable regulatory approvals. Specifically, and without limiting the foregoing, nothing in this subsection negates, repeals, or alters the provisions, processes, and requirements for water quality certification contained in chapter 12 of this title.

(3) Definitions.

(i) Filled land means portions of tidal lands which have been rendered by the acts of man to be no longer subject to tidal action or beneath tidal waters.

(ii) Tidal Lands means those lands that are below the mean high water.

(iii) Mean high water means a line of contour representing the 18.6 year average as determined by the metonic cycle and/or its equivalent as evidenced by the records, tidal datum, and methodology of the United States Coastal Geodetic Survey within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-15-19 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-15 / Section 46-15-19
§ 46-15-19. Construction of references.
Status: in_force

Whenever in any general or public law the words, water resources coordinating board or the director of the department of the environment shall appear, the same shall be deemed to refer to and to mean the water resources board .
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-26 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-26
§ 46-9-26. Penalty for violations.
Status: in_force

Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, or order issued by the commission pursuant thereto, shall be subject to a civil penalty, to be assessed by the commission, of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). In the case of a continuing violation, each days continuance thereof shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-2
§ 46-25-2. Legislative findings.
Status: in_force

It is hereby found and declared that:

(1) There exists in the Providence metropolitan area and Narragansett Bay severe water quality problems resulting from the discharge of pollutants, conventional, and unconventional, into Narragansett Bay.

(2) It is further found and declared that Narragansett Bay may be the greatest natural resource of the state of Rhode Island, and continuing discharge of these pollutants jeopardizes the environmental integrity of the entire Narragansett Bay and creates severe and detrimental ecological and economic impact upon the people of the state of Rhode Island.

(3) It is further found and declared that because of the scope and complexity of the work necessary to correct and minimize these pollution discharges and the scope of financing required, local municipal governments in the Providence metropolitan area have been unable alone to cope properly and immediately with the magnitude of the pollution discharges.

(4) It is further found and declared that economy and efficiency dictate the desirability for an overall plan for dealing with pollution discharges in the Narragansett Bay and the Providence metropolitan area.

(5) It is further found and declared that the most effective and efficient method to combat the discharge of pollutants in the Narragansett Bay is to create a Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission, to be charged with the acquisition, planning, construction, financing, extension, improvement, and operation and maintenance of publicly owned sewage treatment facilities in the Narragansett Bay water quality management district, with appropriate provision for a portion of the financing of the activities to be undertaken by the pledging of the full faith and credit of the state of Rhode Island.

(6) Title 46, chapter 21 created the Blackstone Valley district commission and charged it with the planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities to deal with the sewage and industrial wastes which originate in municipalities and industries located in the Blackstone and Moshassuck Valleys and are discharged into the waters of the state including the Seekonk and Blackstone rivers which flow into the Narragansett Bay without proper treatment.

(7) Economy, efficiency and technological advances dictate the desirability of having one entity to formulate, coordinate, and regulate an overall plan to reduce the discharge of sewerage and industrial wastes originating from the Blackstone and Moshassuck Valleys into the waters of this state and the discharge of pollutants into Narragansett Bay from the Narragansett Bay water quality management district.

(8) The most effective and efficient method of effectuating such an overall plan is to merge the Blackstone Valley district commission with and into the Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission.

(9) The most effective and efficient method of effectuating an overall plan for dealing with discharges in the watershed of the Narragansett Bay is the merger, consolidation, acquisition, operation and management of other sewage treatment facilities located in the state with or by the Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission as the commission may from time to time determine.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-6-9 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-6 / Section 46-6-9
§ 46-6-9. Notice to owner to remove obstruction  Penalty.
Status: in_force

(a) If any person resident or being in the United States is known to the director as the owner of a vessel, or any interest therein, or as having or exercising any control over the vessel as master, agent, insurer, or otherwise, or, in case of any other unlawful or unauthorized obstruction, as having alone or with others built, deposited, or caused the obstruction, or as owning, maintaining, or using the obstruction in whole or in part, the director shall give notice in writing to the owner or other person to remove the vessel or other obstruction within thirty (30) days of the date of the notice, or such extension of time as may be granted by the director.

(b) It shall be deemed a sufficient notice to all owners and other persons, if served upon any one or more of them by the director, or by the directors order, by delivering the notice in hand, or by leaving it at the usual place of business, residence, or abode, or by duly mailing it to the post office address of the owner or other person on whom the notice is to be served.

(c) Failure to comply with the notice shall result in a fine of one hundred dollars ($100) per day until the obstruction is removed.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-5-13 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-5 / Section 46-5-13
§ 46-5-13. Disposition of revenues.
Status: in_force

All moneys paid for the wharfage, cranage, or dockage of vessels, all rents and other moneys paid to the state, from whatever source, on account of the use of any of the property, improved or unimproved, acquired in the name of and on behalf of the state by the department, shall be paid to the general treasurer by the director.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-22-15 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-22 / Section 46-22-15
§ 46-22-15. Owners civil liability.
Status: in_force

The owner of a vessel shall be liable for any injury or damage occasioned by the negligent operation of the vessel, whether the negligence consists of a violation of the provisions of the statutes of this state, or neglecting to observe such ordinary care and such operation as the rules of the common law require. The owner shall not be liable, however, unless the vessel is being used with his or her express or implied consent. It shall be presumed that the vessel is being operated with the knowledge and consent of the owner, if at the time of the injury or damage, it is under the control of his or her spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or other immediate member of the owners family. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to relieve any other person from any liability which he or she would otherwise have, but nothing contained herein shall be construed to authorize or permit any recovery in excess of the injury or damage actually incurred.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.3
§ 46-4-6.3. Town of South Kingstown  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

The provisions of § 46-22-14, or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the town council of the town of South Kingstown, authority shall also be granted to the town council of the town of South Kingstown to authorize for the appointment of a harbormaster and by ordinance grant such authority as the town council may deem necessary to the harbormaster for the enforcement and supervision of any ordinances, rules, and regulations governing the public waters within its jurisdiction, and to regulate by ordinance the speed, management, and control of all vessels and the size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorings within the public waters within the confines of the town including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to prohibit waterskiing on any of the public waters, to designate upon a map of the public waters within the town the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained, to assign moorings, to remove moorings, to collect a fee for the use of moorings, to provide for minimum mooring specifications, to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled, to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions, to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks, and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances, not exceeding in amount one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction, for any one offense, the fines to be recovered to the use of the town.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-56 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-56
§ 46-25-56. Credit of state not pledged.
Status: in_force

Notes issued under the provisions of this chapter shall not constitute a debt, liability, or obligation of the state or of any political subdivision thereof other than the commission, or a pledge of the faith and credit of the state or any political subdivision other than the commission, but shall be payable solely from the revenues or assets of the commission legally available for that purpose. Each note issued under this chapter shall contain on the face thereof a statement to the effect that the state shall not be obligated to pay the note or interest thereon, and that neither the faith and credit nor the taxing power of the state or any political subdivision thereof other than the commission is pledged to the payment of the principal or of the interest on the obligation.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-10 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-10
§ 46-12-10. Emergency powers.
Status: in_force

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the director, upon receipt of evidence that a pollution source or combination of sources is presenting an imminent and substantial endangerment to the health of persons or to the welfare of persons where that endangerment is, to the livelihood of those persons, or to protect the environment, may, without prior notice of violation or hearing, take such action as the director deems necessary to protect the public health or safety or the environment. The actions may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) Issuing an immediate compliance order stating the existence of the violation and the action that the director deems necessary. Any order issued under this section without notice and prior hearing shall be effective no longer than forty-five (45) days; provided, however, that for good cause shown an order may be extended one additional period of up to forty-five (45) days; and/or

(2) Obtaining injunctive relief or other order from the superior court.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-4 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-4
§ 46-10-4. Inventory of property  Compensation and reimbursement of commissioner.
Status: in_force

The commissioner shall, upon finding any wreck or shipwrecked goods, take an inventory of all the property that shall come into his or her possession; and, whenever required by the owner of the property or the owners agent or by any insurance company or underwriter or other person interested in the property, he or she shall make an oath to the truth of the inventory and shall deliver a copy thereof, together with all the property to the owner, agent, or other person lawfully authorized to receive it; provided, that there shall be paid or secured to be paid to the commissioner a reasonable compensation for the commissioners services and expenses and any customhouse duties and other charges, if any, that he or she shall have paid or become liable to pay on or for the property in question.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-1
§ 46-9-1. Declaration of policy.
Status: in_force

(a) It is declared to be the policy and intent of the general assembly and the purpose of this chapter:

(1) To provide maximum safety from the dangers of navigation for vessels entering or leaving the waters of this state;

(2) To maintain a state pilotage system devoted to the preservation and protection of lives, property, and vessels entering or leaving waters of this state at the highest standard of efficiency; and

(3) To insure an adequate supply of pilots well qualified for the discharge of their duties.

(b) The general assembly recognizes, finds, and declares that it is the policy of the State of Rhode Island that the waters, harbors and ports of the State of Rhode Island are important resources, and it is deemed necessary in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare to provide laws regulating the piloting of vessels utilizing the navigable waters of the state in order that the resources, the environment, life, and property may be protected to the fullest extent possible.

(c) The general assembly further finds and declares that it is a policy of the State of Rhode Island to have pilots experienced in the handling of vessels aboard vessels in certain of the state waters with prescribed qualifications and licenses issued by the state.

(d) It is further the intent of the general assembly not to place in jeopardy Rhode Islands position as an able competitor for waterborne commerce from other ports and nations of the world, but rather to continue to develop and encourage that commerce.

(e) It is the further intent of the general assembly to regulate pilots, piloting, and pilotage to the full extent of any congressional grant of authority, except as limited in this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-2 / Section 46-2-6
§ 46-2-6. Powers supplemental.
Status: in_force

The powers granted in §§ 46-2-2  46-2-5 shall be deemed to be in addition to and not in derogation of all the powers previously vested in the director of the department of environmental management.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-6.2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-6.2
§ 46-23-6.2. Abandonment of rights-of-way.
Status: in_force

No city or town shall abandon a right-of-way designated as such by the council unless the council approved the abandonment.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13-15 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-13 / Section 46-13-15
§ 46-13-15. Public nuisances.
Status: in_force

(a) Any violation of any provision of this chapter, any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or any term or condition of any permit, shall constitute a public nuisance. Any person or municipality committing a violation shall be liable for the costs of abatement of any pollution and any public nuisance caused by the violation. The superior court is hereby given jurisdiction over actions to recover the costs of abatement.

(b) Any activity or condition declared by this chapter to be a nuisance or which is otherwise in violation of this chapter, shall be abatable in the manner provided by law or equity for the abatement of public nuisances. In addition, the director may proceed in equity to abate nuisances or to restrain or prevent any violation of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-15-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-15 / Section 46-15-6
§ 46-15-6. Supply of water to other water supply systems.
Status: in_force

(a) On any application for a new or additional water supply or source of water supply, the water resources board, after obtaining the recommendations of the director of the department of health and the division of planning, may require or authorize any applicant to make provisions for the supply and to supply water to any area of the state which, as determined by the water resources board in its decision on that application, properly should be supplied with water from the source or sources of water supply sought by the applicant.

(b) Any municipal water department or agency, special water district, or private water company within the area may apply to the water resources board for the right to take water from that source of water supply or from any part of the water supply system of the applicant supplied in whole or in part from that source. If the water resources board requires, or if it approves the application, it shall be the duty of the applicant to supply water, subject to such requirements as the water resources board may impose.

(c) The amount of water to be taken and the price to be paid therefor may be agreed upon between the applicant and the taker of the water, or if they cannot agree, fair and reasonable amounts and rates shall be fixed by the administrator of public utilities and carriers; provided, further, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed as diminishing the powers of the administrator of public utilities and carriers in respect to rates of water suppliers subject to his or her jurisdiction.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-14-5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-14 / Section 46-14-5
§ 46-14-5. Judicial aid in enforcement.
Status: in_force

The superior court, upon the application of the director of health, or the commissioner of environmental management or the director of the department of environmental management until such time as the governor provides by executive order for the actual transfer of functions from the department of environmental management to the department of the environment pursuant to the provisions of § 42-17.1-40, or the chief of police of any city or town in which a violation of this chapter occurs, or the president of the town council of any town, or the mayor of any city or the executive officer of any district, institution, or company whose water supply is involved in that violation, shall have jurisdiction in equity to enjoin the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter and to enforce the orders of the director made pursuant thereto.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-20-5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-20 / Section 46-20-5
§ 46-20-5. Costs.
Status: in_force

The costs of the petition and all the proceedings thereon under this chapter shall be taxed at the discretion of the town council or of the court, and execution shall issue therefor as in civil cases.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-7.5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-7.5
§ 46-23-7.5. Prosecution of criminal violations.
Status: in_force

The chairperson and anyone designated by the chairperson, without being required to enter into any recognizance or to give surety for cost, may institute proceedings in the name of the state. It shall be the duty of the attorney general and/or the solicitor of the city or town in which the alleged violation has occurred to conduct the prosecution of all the proceedings. The chairperson may delegate his or her authority to bring prosecution by complaint and warrant to any law enforcement officials authorized by law to bring complaints for the issuance of search or arrest warrants pursuant to chapters 5 and 6 of title 12.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.13 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.13
§ 46-4-6.13. Town of Portsmouth  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

(a) The provisions of § 46-22-14 or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding, and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the town council of the town of Portsmouth authority shall also be granted to the town council of the town of Portsmouth to authorize for the appointment of a harbormaster and by ordinance grant such authority as the town council may deem necessary to the harbormaster for the enforcement and supervision of any ordinances, rules, and regulations governing the public waters within its jurisdiction, to regulate by ordinance the speed, management, and control of all vessels, both wind and power, and the number, size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorings within the public waters within the confines of the town, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to prohibit waterskiing on any of the public waters, to provide for the regulation of skin diving and scuba diving, to designate upon a map of the public waters within the town the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained, to assign moorings, to remove moorings, to set and collect a fee for the use of moorings, to provide for minimum mooring specifications, to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled, to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions, to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks, and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances, not exceeding in amount one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction, for any one offense, the fines to be recovered to the use of the town.

(b) No powers or duties granted herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers or duties granted to the coastal resources management council as provided in chapter 23 of this title and, further, the provisions of this section shall not affect the location or assignment of any moorings existing on June 27, 1986, except that those deemed by the harbormaster to be located at an unacceptable site shall be moved should he or she so order.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-19 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-19
§ 46-12-19. Public access to information.
Status: in_force

(a) Any permit, permit application, or effluent data shall be available to the public for inspection and copying.

(b) Other records, reports, or information obtained under this chapter also may be made available to the public for inspection and copying; provided, that upon a showing, satisfactory to the director by any person, that the records, reports, or information or any part thereof, except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, would if made public divulge methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets of the person, the director shall consider, treat, and protect the record, report, or information, or part thereof, as confidential; provided, however, that the record, report, or information accorded confidential treatment may be disclosed or transmitted to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of this state or of the United States concerned with carrying out this chapter or, when relevant, in any proceeding under this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-6-8 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-6 / Section 46-6-8
§ 46-6-8. Duty of department to remove obstructions.
Status: in_force

Whenever a wrecked, sunken or abandoned vessel, an abandoned hulk, hull, barge or pilings, or any unlawful or unauthorized structure or thing is deposited or suffered to be or remain in the tidewaters of this state, and in the judgment of the director of the department of environmental management is, or is liable to cause or become an obstruction to the safe and convenient use of the waters for navigation and other lawful purposes, it shall be the duty of the department of environmental management, and, the department shall have power, to remove the obstruction, or cause the obstruction to be removed, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-16 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-16
§ 46-9-16. Pilots bond.
Status: in_force

No person shall receive a license or exercise the office of pilot until he or she has given to the general treasurer of the State of Rhode Island a bond with two (2) sureties to be approved by the commission, or a surety bond of a surety company authorized to transact business in this state, in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of his or her office and upon compliance with the rules and regulations of the commission.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-43 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-43
§ 46-25-43. Investment of receipt pending expenditures.
Status: in_force

All moneys in the fund, not immediately required for payment pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, may be invested by the state investment commission, as established by chapter 10 of title 35, pursuant to the provisions of that chapter; provided, however, that the securities in which the fund is invested shall remain a part of the funds, as shall other securities for which the funds may from time to time, pursuant to that chapter, be exchanged, and provided, further, that the income from the investment shall become part of the fund, and shall be used to the extent possible to pay debt service costs.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.2
§ 46-4-6.2. Town of Bristol  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

(a) The provisions of § 46-22-14 or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the town council of the town of Bristol, authority shall also be granted to the town council of the town of Bristol to enact ordinances as the town council may deem necessary or desirable for the enforcement and supervision of any rules and regulations established by the town council governing the public waters and harbors within its jurisdiction, and to regulate by ordinance the speed, management, and control of all vessels and the size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorages within the public waters within the confines of the town, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to regulate waterskiing upon any of the public waters; to designate upon a map of the public waters within the town the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained; to assign moorings; to remove moorings; to collect fees for the use of moorings; to provide for minimum mooring specifications; to provide for inspection of moorings; to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled; to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions; and to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks; to provide for the regulation of skin diving and scuba diving; and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances not exceeding in amount one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction for any one offense and the fines to be recovered to the use of the town.

(b) No powers or duties granted herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers or duties granted to the coastal resources management council as provided in chapter 23 of this title, as amended.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-5.1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-5.1
§ 46-4-5.1. Cranston harbor lines  Jurisdiction.
Status: in_force

The jurisdiction of the city of Cranston shall include all of the public waters westerly of the westerly sides of the ship channels in the Providence River and harbor from the Providence-Cranston city line southerly to the Cranston-Warwick city line.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-6-10.3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-6 / Section 46-6-10.3
§ 46-6-10.3. Derelict and abandoned vessel and obstruction removal account.
Status: in_force

(a) All fees assessed pursuant to § 46-6-10.4 shall be deposited into a restricted receipt account, hereby created and known as the derelict and abandoned vessel and obstruction removal account. The account is also authorized to receive fund transfers and appropriations from the general fund, and from any moneys collected pursuant to § 46-6-12. Funds from the account may only be used to cover the costs of removing, disposing, and/or selling derelict and abandoned vessels and other obstructions, including any associated administrative or environmental remediation costs, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(b) Priority for use of funds from the account is for (1) The removal of derelict and abandoned vessels that are in danger of sinking or have sunk, are breaking up or have broken up, pose a hazard to navigation, and/or pose threats to the environment; and (2) The removal of obstructions that pose a hazard to navigation, and/or pose threats to the environment.

(c) The department shall keep all authorized public entities apprised of the balance of the derelict and abandoned vessel and obstruction removal account and the funds available for disbursement.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-24 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-2 / Section 46-2-24
§ 46-2-24. Prevention of encroachments.
Status: in_force

Each city or town shall prescribe regulations designed to prevent encroachments on the improved channels, and shall enforce the regulations, and shall take such means as may be necessary to prevent any encroachments upon the flood channel and conduit capacities to be provided by the improvements.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-18.2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-18.2
§ 46-23-18.2. Rules and regulations.
Status: in_force

The council, upon recommendation by the coastal resources advisory committee, shall issue reasonable rules and regulations governing the dredging, transporting and disposal of all dredge materials in accordance with this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-15-4 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-15 / Section 46-15-4
§ 46-15-4. Procedure for approval of maps and plans.
Status: in_force

(a) Whenever the approval of any project as provided in this chapter is required, the application shall be made by the petitioner in writing, the application shall be accompanied by proof of adequate authorization for the project, and such exhibits as may be necessary clearly to indicate the scope of the proposed project, including, but not limited to, a map of the lands to be acquired, if any, and preliminary plans of the works proposed to be constructed. The application shall also show, where applicable, the need for the particular source or sources of supply and the reasons therefor, and shall also indicate the method of determining and providing for the payment of the proper compensation for any and all legal damages to persons or property, whether direct or indirect, which will result from the acquiring of the lands and the execution of the plans. The petition shall also be accomplished by such proof as to the character and purity of the water supply proposed to be acquired or used as the director of the department of health shall require and any proposed method of treatment of the supply.

(b) The water resources board shall thereupon cause public notice to be given in a newspaper of general circulation, at least seven (7) days prior, that on a day and at a place therein specified it will hold a public hearing for the purpose of receiving evidence and hearing arguments from all persons and organizations that may be affected by the proposed project, including the recommendations of the director of the department of health and of the state planning council.

(c) The water resources board shall, upon the day specified in the notice, or upon such subsequent day or days to which it may adjourn the hearing, proceed to examine the maps and plans and to hear the proofs and arguments submitted in support of and in opposition to the proposed project. The water resources board, after a hearing, shall determine whether the plans proposed are justified by public necessity, whether they provide for the proper and safe construction of all work connected therewith, whether they provide for the proper protection of the supply and the watershed from contaminations or provide for the proper treatment of an additional supply, whether the plans are just and equitable to the other municipalities affected thereby and to the inhabitants thereof, particular consideration being given to their present and future necessities for sources of water supply, and whether the plans make fair and equitable provisions for the determination and payment of any and all legal damages to persons and property, both direct and indirect, which will result from the execution of the plans or the acquiring of those lands.

(d) The water resources board shall within ninety (90) days after the close of the hearing, and after consideration of the recommendations of the director of the department of health and of the state planning council, make a final decision in writing, either approving the application, maps, and plans as presented, or under such conditions or with such modifications in the application, maps, and plans as may be determined to be necessary to provide satisfactory compliance by the applicant with any and all of the subjects and matters required to be determined by the water resources board in this subsection, or to bring into cooperation all persons, municipal water departments or agencies, special water districts, or private water companies which may be affected by the project; or it may reject the application entirely or permit another to be filed in lieu thereof, but it shall, however, make a reasonable effort to meet the needs of the applicant, with due regard to the actual or prospective needs, interests, and rights of others which may be affected by the proposed projects.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-16-3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-16 / Section 46-16-3
§ 46-16-3. Development of training standards.
Status: in_force

The New England interstate water pollution control commission, hereinafter called the commission , may develop standards for the training, educational, and experience requirements for operating personnel necessary to the proper operation of sewage and other waste treatment plants.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-19-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-19 / Section 46-19-6
§ 46-19-6. Access of agents to private property.
Status: in_force

The director and the directors duly authorized agents may, in the discharge of his or her or their duties, enter upon and pass over private property without rendering himself or herself or themselves liable in an action for trespass.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-6-2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-6 / Section 46-6-2
§ 46-6-2. Approval of plans for construction of wharves and piers.
Status: in_force

All persons who shall build into or over public tidewaters, by authority of the department or by authority of the general assembly, any wharf, pier, bridge, or other structure, or drive any piles into the land under public tidewater, or fill any flats, shall, before beginning the work, give written notice to the department of environmental management of the work they intend to do, and submit plans of any proposed wharf or other structure and of the flats to be filled, and of the mode in which the work is to be performed; and no work shall be commenced until the plan and mode of performing the work shall be approved in writing by the director of the department of environmental management; and the director may alter the plans at his or her discretion and may prescribe the direction, limits, and mode of building the wharves or other structures; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair the rights of any riparian proprietors to erect wharves authorized to be erected under any of the laws establishing harbor lines within the state or otherwise by the general assembly.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-7 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-7
§ 46-4-7. Town of East Providence  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

In addition to any authority and powers conferred upon city or town councils by this title, the city council of East Providence is hereby further authorized to regulate by ordinance speed limits, management, and control of all vessels on the public waters within the jurisdiction of the city, the size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorings, fix permit fees for anchorages and moorings, and to provide penalties, in accordance with the provisions of § 46-4-4, for the violation of any of the provisions of the ordinances pertaining thereto.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-5
§ 46-12-5. Prohibitions.
Status: in_force

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to place any pollutant in a location where it is likely to enter the waters or to place or cause to be placed any solid waste materials, junk, or debris of any kind whatsoever, organic or non organic, in any waters.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant into the waters except as in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated hereunder and pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.

(c) It shall be unlawful to construct or install any industrial, commercial, or other establishment, to make any modification or addition thereto, or to undertake any development which may result in the discharge of any pollutant into the waters of the state, unless the discharge is made to a system or means to prevent pollution approved by the director.

(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) above, an applicant seeking a water quality certification from the department of environmental management in connection with the disposal of dredge material at a site as provided for in § 46-23-18.3 and in a manner consistent with a comprehensive program as provided for in § 46-23-6(1)(ii)(H), shall be granted said water quality certification if the department of environmental management determines that the proposal is consistent with the water quality standards adopted pursuant to § 46-12-3(24).
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-26 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-26
§ 46-12-26. Penalty for failure to report.
Status: in_force

Any person, firm, or corporation who shall fail to submit reports as required by § 46-12-25, shall be punished by a fine of four hundred dollars ($400) per day for each day that a report is not filed.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-22-22 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-22 / Section 46-22-22
§ 46-22-22. Owner required to make written reports.
Status: in_force

The owner of a vessel involved in an accident, casualty, vandalism, or theft in excess of five hundred dollars ($500), shall, within five (5) days after the incident, forward a written report of the incident to the department of environmental management, on forms provided by the department.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-3-16 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-3 / Section 46-3-16
§ 46-3-16. Technical advice  Acquisition and supervision expense.
Status: in_force

The department of environmental management is authorized to furnish at the request and expense of the legislative body such technical advice consisting of plans, specifications, surveys, appraisals, cost estimates, engineering, and inspection services as the legislative body may deem advisable. Whenever the legislative body contracts with the state for the acquisition of land or for the supervision and inspection of any construction undertaken by it, the expenses thereof shall be deemed part of the cost of the construction or land acquisition.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-6-8.1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-6 / Section 46-6-8.1
§ 46-6-8.1. Definitions.
Status: reserved

As used in this chapter:

(1) Abandoned vessel means a vessel that has been left, moored, or anchored in the same area without the express consent, or contrary to the rules of, the owner, manager, or lessee of the submerged lands or waters below or on which the vessel is located for more than forty-five (45) consecutive days or for more than a total of ninety (90) days in any three hundred sixty-five (365) day period, and the vessels owner is: (i) Not known or cannot be located; or (ii) Known and located but is unwilling to take control of the vessel. Examples of abandoned vessels shall, include, but not be limited to, the following:

(A) Any vessel that is left unattended or has remained illegally on public property, including docks, boat launching ramps, or moorings for more than forty-five (45) days.

(B) Any vessel that has been found adrift or unattended in or upon the waters or submerged lands of the state of Rhode Island, and is found in a condition of disrepair as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the use of the waters and submerged lands of the state or presents a potential health or environmental hazard.

(2) Authorized public entity means the department of environmental management or any municipality with jurisdiction or management authority over the harbor areas where an abandoned or derelict vessel or other obstruction is located.

(3) Department means the department of environmental management.

(4) Derelict vessel means a vessel whose owner is known and can be located, and who is able to exert control of a vessel that:

(i) Has been moored, anchored, or otherwise left in the waters or submerged lands of the state or on public property contrary to the rules adopted by an authorized public entity;

(ii) Is sunk or in danger of sinking;

(iii) Is obstructing a waterway; and/or

(iv) Is endangering life or property.

(5) Director means the director of the department of environmental management.

(6) Mean high water means a line of contour representing the eighteen and six-tenths (18.6) year average as determined by the metonic cycle and/or its equivalent as evidenced by the records, tidal datum, and methodology of the United States Coastal Geodetic Survey within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(7) Obstruction means any unlawful or unauthorized structure or thing that is deposited or suffered to be or remain in the tidal waters or upon the tidal lands of the state, and in the judgment of the director, is, or is liable to cause or become an obstruction to the safe and convenient use of the waters and submerged lands of the state for navigation and other lawful purposes.

(8) Owner means a person, other than a lienholder, having a property interest in or title to a vessel or other obstruction. The term includes a person entitled to use or have possession of a vessel or other obstruction subject to an interest in another person, reserved, or created by agreement and securing payment or performance of an obligation, but it does not include a lessee under a lease not intended as security.

(9) Tidal lands means those lands that are below the mean high water.

(10) Tidal waters means all waters seaward of mean high water.

(11) Vessel means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

(12) Waters and submerged lands of the state means all tidal waters and tidal lands within the territorial limits of the state, all inland waters of the state, and all publicly owned submerged lands lying beneath the inland waters of the state.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.16 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.16
§ 46-4-6.16. Town of Warren  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

(a) The provision of § 46-22-14 or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the town council of the town of Warren, authority shall also be granted to the town council of the town of Warren to authorize for the appointment of a harbormaster and by ordinance grant such authority as the town council may deem necessary to the harbormaster for the enforcement and supervision of any ordinances, rules, and regulations governing the public waters within its jurisdiction, to regulate by ordinance the speed, management, and control of all vessels, both wind and power, and the number, size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorings within the public waters within the confines of the town including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to prohibit waterskiing on any of the public waters, to provide for the regulation of skin diving and scuba diving, to designate upon a map of the public waters within the town the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained, to assign moorings, to remove moorings, to set and collect a fee for the use of moorings, to provide for minimum mooring specifications, to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled, to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions, to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks, and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances, not exceeding in amount one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction, for any one offense, the fines to be recovered to the use of said town.

(b) No powers or duties granted herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers or duties granted to the coastal resources management council as provided in chapter 23 of this title.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-5-3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-5 / Section 46-5-3
§ 46-5-3. Vesting of title to land taken.
Status: in_force

Upon the filing of the description, plat, and statement, the title to and immediate right of possession of such land shall vest in the state of Rhode Island in fee simple unless a lesser estate or interest therein is specified in the statement as taken by the department of environmental management, in which last case, title to and right of possession of such land shall vest in the state to the extent and according to the nature of the title therein taken.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-2 / Section 46-2-5
§ 46-2-5. Payment of state contributions.
Status: in_force

Where an appropriation has been made by the general assembly for that purpose, the director of the department of environmental management, with the approval of the governor, is authorized to provide for the payment by the state of the cash contribution required by the United States for the improvement or protection project.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-29 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-29
§ 46-23-29. Effective date.
Status: in_force

(a) Within thirty (30) business days of the date of passage of this section, the council shall post for notice and comment revisions of its coastal resources management program (referred to as red book) and management procedures in order to implement the changes to the council.

(b) Within fourteen (14) days of promulgation of the revised coastal resources management program (referred to as red book) and management procedures, the council shall submit a coastal zone management act program change request to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the approval of the amendments to this chapter and the management procedures.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-28 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-28
§ 46-10-28. Director of the department of environmental management  Salary and expenses.
Status: in_force

The general assembly shall annually appropriate such sum as it may deem necessary, for the salary of the director of the department of environmental management and for his or her expenses.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-26 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-2 / Section 46-2-26
§ 46-2-26. Provisions additional.
Status: in_force

Sections 46-2-12  46-2-26 shall be construed to be in addition to and an enlargement of the provisions of §§ 46-2-7  46-2-11.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-22-18 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-22 / Section 46-22-18
§ 46-22-18. Funds.
Status: in_force

All money collected under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid into a restricted receipt account of the department of environmental management to be made available and shall be allocated, distributed and used in amounts sufficient to fully fund:

(1) Expenses of the department of environmental management, incurred in the administration and enforcement of this chapter;

(2) Expenses of boating safety, boating safety services and programs, boating education, marine patrols, enforcement training programs, and promotion and publicity relating to boating and boating safety and equipment related to boating safety;

(3) Grants for the purpose set forth in subdivision (2) above;

(4) Maintenance and improvement of recreational, commercial and navigational facilities relating to boating safety; including, but not limited to, the installation, financing, improvement, and maintenance of aids to navigation, and support facilities; and

(5) Expenses incurred in cooperation with the government of the United States in boating and boating safety matters.

(6) To the extent otherwise authorized by the general laws, funding services to mariners.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-15-15 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-15 / Section 46-15-15
§ 46-15-15. Consultants.
Status: in_force

The water resources board is authorized to employ such technical consultants as may be required by the board for the proper performance of its powers and duties within the limit of funds provided therefor.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-22-13 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-22 / Section 46-22-13
§ 46-22-13. Regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, or exhibitions.
Status: in_force

(a) No regatta, motorboat or other boat race, marine parade, tournament, or exhibition (but not including a navigational or piloting contest), in which vessels participating are to be propelled by machinery, may be held on any waters of this state unless authorized by the department of environmental management, as set forth in this section. The department shall adopt and may, from time to time, amend regulations concerning the safety of motorboats and other vessels and persons thereon, either observers or participants.

(1) Whenever a regatta, motorboat or other boat race, marine parade, tournament, or exhibition is proposed to be held, the person in charge thereof, shall, at least fifteen (15) days prior thereto, file an application with the department of environmental management for permission to hold the regatta, motorboat or other boat race, marine parade, tournament, or exhibition. The application shall set forth the date, time, and location where it is proposed to hold the regatta, motorboat or other boat race, marine parade, tournament, or exhibition, and it shall not be conducted without authorization of the department of environmental management in writing.

(2) No application for a motorboat race (not including a navigational or a piloting contest), in which vessels participating are to be propelled by machinery on any waters of this state, shall be approved by the department of environmental management until the applicant shall furnish proof to the department that the applicant has in force regatta liability insurance in the following amounts:

(b) A special permit shall be obtained from the department of environmental management for authorization to engage in a trial run (other than a trial run held under the provisions of§46-22-8) for a motorboat regatta or race, with or without cutouts and/or mufflers, the permit setting forth the time, place, and other conditions under which the trial run may be made.

(c) Motorboats used exclusively for racing, operating on the waters of this state, other than when competing in a duly authorized regatta or race, or making trial runs as set forth in this chapter, shall comply with all the provisions of this chapter.

(d) The provisions of this section shall not exempt any person from compliance with applicable federal law or regulation, but nothing contained herein shall be construed to require the securing of a state permit pursuant to this section if a permit therefor has been obtained from an authorized agency of the United States.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-20 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-20
§ 46-23-20. Administrative hearings.
Status: in_force

All contested cases, all contested enforcement proceedings, and all contested administrative fines shall be heard by the administrative hearing officers, or by subcommittees as provided in § 46-23-20.1, pursuant to the regulations promulgated by the council; provided, however, that no proceeding and hearing prior to the appointment of the hearing officers shall be subject to the provisions of this section. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the commissioner of coastal resources management shall be authorized, in his or her discretion, to resolve contested licensing and enforcement proceedings through informal disposition pursuant to regulations promulgated by the council.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-14-3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-14 / Section 46-14-3
§ 46-14-3. Service of notice.
Status: in_force

The notice shall be in writing, signed by the director of health or the person performing the duties of that official, and shall be served by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or constable by reading the notice in the presence or hearing of the owner, occupant, or his or her authorized agent, or by leaving a copy of the notice in the hands or possession of, or at the last and usual place of abode of, the owner, occupant, or agent if within this state; provided, however, that if the owner, occupant, or agent is a corporation incorporated in this state, the notice shall be served by leaving a copy thereof at the last and usual place of abode of the president or person performing the duties of president of the corporation. But if the premises are unoccupied, or the residence of the owner is unknown or without this state, or if the owner is a corporation incorporated without this state, the notice may be served by posting a copy of the notice on the premises and by advertising the notice in some newspaper published in Providence County in such manner and for such length of time as the director of health may determine.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-24-13 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-24 / Section 46-24-13
§ 46-24-13. Meetings.
Status: in_force

(a) The board shall meet at least once a month at a place within the participating communities, and all meetings shall be open to the public, and all decisions shall be made public; provided, however, nothing contained herein shall prohibit the board from closing a meeting to the public when the nature of the item under discussion involves personnel or other matters which, in the interest of the public welfare, should remain confidential.

(b) Special meetings may be called by the chairperson upon at least twenty-four (24) hours notice by either regular mail or by telephone or by a majority of the members presenting to the chairperson a petition signed by each of them setting forth the purpose of the meeting.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-3-2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-3 / Section 46-3-2
§ 46-3-2. Declaration of purpose.
Status: in_force

Consistent with the legislative determination and declaration of state policy to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the people as heretofore set forth in this chapter, it is hereby declared to be the intention of the state, by cooperative means providing for the acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of lands, or any rights, title, interest, or estate in lands in beach areas vulnerable to storm damage, to assist municipalities in arresting, protecting, and preserving the beach areas from erosion and damage by the elements.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-55 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-55
§ 46-25-55. Noteholders rights not to be affected by state.
Status: in_force

The state does hereby pledge to and agree with the holders of any notes issued under this chapter, that the state will not limit or alter the rights hereby vested in the commission to fulfill the terms of any agreements made with the holders until the notes, together with the interest thereon, with interest on any unpaid installments of interest, and all costs and expenses in connection with any action or proceeding by or on behalf of the holders, are fully met and discharged. The commission is authorized to include this pledge and agreement of the state in any agreement with the holders of the notes.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-9 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-9
§ 46-23-9. Subpoena.
Status: in_force

The council is hereby authorized and empowered to summon witnesses and issue subpoenas in substantially the following form:
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-29-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-29 / Section 46-29-6
§ 46-29-6. Severability.
Status: in_force

If any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation made thereunder, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the chapter, rule, or regulation and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. The invalidity of any section or sections or parts of any section or sections of this chapter shall not affect the validity of the remainder of the chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-17 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-17
§ 46-10-17. Appointment of agent for director.
Status: in_force

In case the director of the department of environmental management shall be absent from the island or shall be unable, from sickness or other cause, to attend to the duties of his or her office, the director may appoint some other person in the town of New Shoreham to act in his or her stead as commissioner of wrecks, while the absence or inability shall exist. The person so appointed or authorized shall be clothed with all the rights and powers which the director has under this chapter; for which the director shall be as fully responsible as if the acts were performed by himself or herself.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-3-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-3 / Section 46-3-6
§ 46-3-6. State payments toward acquisition of exposed beach areas.
Status: in_force

To carry out the purposes of this chapter, the state, acting through the department of environmental management, shall provide the payment for two-thirds ( ) of the cost of acquisition by a municipality of exposed beach areas as defined in § 46-3-5; provided, however, that the municipality has filed proper application and preliminary proposal in accordance with the provisions of this chapter on or before July 30, 1957; and provided, further, that each exposed beach area to be so acquired is certified by the department of environmental management to be endangered by erosion and to be in need of beach erosion control measures, and is found by the department of administration to be consistent with other official plans and proposed projects.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-17-3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-17 / Section 46-17-3
§ 46-17-3. Ratification by Rhode Island.
Status: in_force

When the governor shall have executed the compact on behalf of this state and caused a copy thereof to be filed in the office of the secretary of state, as required by § 46-17-2, and the compact shall have been ratified by any three (3) or more of the states named in article X thereof in accordance with the constitution and laws of the states, and when the United States has provided by law for the designation of its representation on the commission, then the compact shall become operative and effective between this state and other members of the compact. The governor is hereby authorized and directed, upon the execution of the compact by the governor and the filing of the required copy thereof in the office of the secretary of state, to notify forthwith the governors of the named states and the president of the United States, that this state on its part has ratified the compact. The original notice of ratification received from the governor or other duly authorized official of any member joining in the compact shall be filed with the official copy of the compact in the office of the secretary of state; and the notice, if any, as may be received from the president or the congress of the United States, signifying that the United States has provided by law for the designation of its representation on the commission, shall be filed in the same manner.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-3-8 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-3 / Section 46-3-8
§ 46-3-8. Application for state aid.
Status: in_force

Upon the determination that any exposed beach area requires attention, the legislative body shall apply for state aid as herein provided for acquiring any land or interest therein needed, and shall request the department of environmental management to make an inspection of the area for the purpose of entering into a cooperative agreement with respect thereto.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-7 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-7
§ 46-12-7. Subpoena of witnesses  Enforcement.
Status: in_force

(a) All subpoenas shall be served as subpoenas in civil cases in superior court, and witnesses so subpoenaed shall be entitled to the same fees for attendance and travel as are provided witnesses in civil cases in superior court. In cases of contumacy or refusal to obey the command of the subpoena so issued, the superior court shall have jurisdiction upon application of the director, with proof by affidavit of the fact, to issue a rule or order returnable in not less than two (2) nor more than five (5) days directing the person to show cause why he or she should not be adjudged in contempt.

(b) Upon return of the order, the justice before whom the matter is brought for hearing shall examine under oath the person, and the person shall be given an opportunity to be heard, and if the justice shall determine that the person has refused without reasonable cause or legal excuse to be examined or to answer a legal or pertinent question, the justice may impose a fine upon the offender or forthwith commit the offender to the adult correctional institutions, there to remain until the offender submits to do the act which the offender was so required to do, or is discharged according to law.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-37 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-37
§ 46-25-37. Bonds authorized  Maturity  Certification and endorsement.
Status: in_force

(a) The general treasurer is hereby authorized and empowered, with the approval of the governor and in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, to issue, from time to time, bonds in the name and behalf of the state, and in such amounts as may be specified, from time to time, by the governor in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed eighty-seven million, seven hundred thousand dollars ($87,700,000) to be designated as Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission loan of 1980. The bonds shall be in denominations of one thousand dollars ($1,000) each, or multiples thereof, and shall be payable in any coin or currency of the United States, which at the time of payment shall be legal tender for public or private debts. The bonds shall bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times not exceeding twenty (20) years from their respective date of issue, bear interest payable semiannually at such rate or different varying rates, be payable at such time or times, at such place or places, be subject to such terms of recall or redemption, with or without premium, be in such form with or without interest coupons attached carrying such registration, conversion, reconversion, transfer, debt requirement, acceleration, and other provisions as may be fixed by the general treasurer, with the approval of the governor, upon each issue of the bonds at the time of each issue.

(b) Whenever the governor shall approve the issuance of the bonds, he or she shall certify the approval to the secretary of state; the general treasurer shall countersign the bonds and affix the seal of the state. The approval of the governor shall be endorsed on each bond so approved with a facsimile of his or her signature.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-36 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-36
§ 46-25-36. Liberal construction.
Status: in_force

The provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally in order to accomplish the purposes hereof, and where any specific power is given to the commission by the provisions hereof, the statement thereof shall not be deemed to exclude or impair any power otherwise in this chapter conferred upon the commission.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-30 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-30
§ 46-9-30. Surrender of suspended or revoked license.
Status: in_force

A pilot whose license has been revoked or suspended shall surrender his or her license to the commission who shall retain it until the period of his or her suspension shall expire.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-5-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-5 / Section 46-5-6
§ 46-5-6. Jury assessment of damages  Consolidation of claims for trial.
Status: in_force

Any owner or person who cannot agree with the department of environmental management to the price for his or her estate or interest in any such land may, within six (6) months after personal notice of the taking, or if he or she has had no personal notice, within one year from the filing of the description, plat, and statement, apply by petition to the superior court for one of the counties in which the land is located, setting forth the taking of his or her land or his or her estate or interest in such land and praying for an assessment of damages by a jury. Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall cause twenty (20) days notice of the pendency thereof to be given to the department of environmental management by serving its director with a certified copy thereof, and, thereafterwards, the cause shall be conducted as other civil actions of law are tried including the right to except rulings, to move for a new trial and prosecute an appeal, and, upon recovery of final judgment therein, execution shall be issued therefor and shall forthwith be paid by the general treasurer out of the funds appropriated and available therefor, but the verdict and the judgment entered thereon shall not include any item of interest for any period during which such land is actually occupied or enjoyed by the owner or owners thereof. In case two (2) or more petitioners make claim to the same land or to any estate or interest therein or to different estates or interests in the same parcel of land, the court shall, upon motion, consolidate their several petitions for trial and frame all necessary issues therefor.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-17-4 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-17 / Section 46-17-4
§ 46-17-4. Appointment.
Status: in_force

After the aforesaid compact shall become operative and effective as provided in § 46-17-3, the governor shall appoint the member of the commission to represent this state on the northeastern resources commission. The member shall receive the expenses actually and necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of the commission as provided in article VII(D) of the compact.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-19-9 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-19 / Section 46-19-9
§ 46-19-9. Emergency action plans.
Status: in_force

(a) By July 1, 2008, an emergency action plan shall be prepared for each significant or high-hazard dam by the city or town wherein the dam lies. The Rhode Island emergency management agency, as established in chapter 15 of title 30, shall develop guidelines for the preparation of emergency action plans. The department of environmental management and the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns shall cooperate with the Rhode Island emergency management agency in developing the guidelines. All emergency action plans prepared pursuant to this section shall not be considered final or complete until approved by the emergency management agency, with the cooperation of the department of environmental management.

(b) The owner of any other dam, regardless of the assigned hazard classification, may also be required to prepare an emergency action plan if deemed necessary by the department of environmental management.

(c) Emergency action plans shall be updated on an annual basis and shall be filed with the Rhode Island emergency management agency, the department of environmental management, the chief of the local police department, and the local city or town emergency management official.

(d) Once an emergency action plan is complete, the city or town wherein the dam lies shall provide written notice to the dam owner of the costs for actions taken by the city or town in the development of the emergency action plan. Said costs of developing the emergency action plan shall be remitted to the city or town within ninety (90) days of the receipt of the notice. In the event that the costs are not remitted within the ninety-day (90) period, the municipality shall have a valid legal claim against the dam owner, in the amount of such costs, plus any costs associated with the pursuit of the claim.

(e) Each state agency shall, in cooperation with the municipality in which the dam lies, be responsible for the preparation of an emergency action plan for each high- and significant-hazard dam owned by that agency by the deadline specified in subsection (a).

(f) The department of environmental management may assess an administrative penalty for failure to comply with subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e) of this section, in accordance with chapter 17.6 of title 42.

(g) The department of environmental management and the Rhode Island emergency management agency shall establish a notification system for dams in the event of severe weather conditions to coordinate the actions at the federal, state, and local levels. The notification system shall include a dam advisory, a dam watch, and a dam warning.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-28-7.1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-28 / Section 46-28-7.1
§ 46-28-7.1. Power and duties of the state planning council.
Status: in_force

In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the state planning council shall adopt a rivers policy and a classification plan for the state of Rhode Island as elements of the state guide plan in accordance with the provisions of § 42-11-10. The procedure for adoption shall be as follows: Upon notification from the rivers council that it has completed preparation of the rivers policy or classification plan as set forth in § 46-28-7(c) and (d), respectively, the state planning council and rivers council shall jointly conduct a public hearing in the manner specified in chapter 35 of title 42. Following the public hearing, the rivers council shall, in consultation with the statewide planning program, make its recommendation to the state planning council. The state planning council may make any revisions or amendments to the rivers policy or classification plan as recommended by the rivers council that are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, to achieve consistency with applicable provisions of law, or to consider comments made at the public hearing.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-15 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-15
§ 46-9-15. Prior licensees.
Status: in_force

Any person holding a pilots license which was valid on May 26, 1981, shall be deemed to be licensed under the provisions of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-26-2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-26 / Section 46-26-2
§ 46-26-2. Agreements with Massachusetts.
Status: in_force

The state of Rhode Island or any of its municipalities are further authorized to negotiate and enter into agreements with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any of its municipalities to:

(1) Maintain, and improve the Ten Mile River located within or without either state or commonwealth,

(2) Provide for the financing thereof with any federal funds made available through the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, 12 U.S.C. § 1701q et seq., or any other federal funds from any other source, and if Rhode Island is delegated the recipient of those funds, then they shall be administered through the department of administration or any agency, authority, or division so designated by the department of administration,

(3) Have the authority to accept funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any of its municipalities if the commonwealth is the recipient of the federal funds, and

(4) Provide for any and all other matters which may, in the states or its municipalities discretion, be necessary or desirable to carry out any such agreement.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-28 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-28
§ 46-23-28. Enforcement and penalties for parking areas.
Status: in_force

Any entity found to have reduced, or restricted, parking near CRMC rights-of-way without complying with the provisions of this section and § 46-23-27 shall be subject to:

(1) A cease-and-desist order issued by CRMC or DEM;

(2) A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) per day for each day of non-compliance;

(3) Additional penalties or corrective measures as deemed necessary by CRMC or DEM to restore equitable access.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-15-14 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-15 / Section 46-15-14
§ 46-15-14. Emergencies and imminent hazards.
Status: in_force

The division of planning, subject to the approval of the governor, shall promulgate an adequate plan for the provision of safe drinking water for the inhabitants of the state when a water emergency has been declared by the governor. A water emergency shall include floods or situations in which water supplies are insufficient to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the state either through a water shortage or contamination of water supplies. In a water emergency, the governor may take such actions and issue such orders as may be necessary to implement the plan, including the imposition of conservation measures and the allocation of water supplies. The actions and orders may be directed to state agencies, municipalities, or entities engaged in the sale of water to the public. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the responsibility for setting rates for the purchase and sale of water shall not be affected by this section.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-16-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-16 / Section 46-16-6
§ 46-16-6. Recognition of certificates issued by commission.
Status: in_force

(a) Certificates issued by the commission shall be recognized and given in connection with personnel employed in or having responsibilities for plants discharging into any waters of this state.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any person to have a certificate in order to be employed in the operation of a sewage or other waste treatment plant. Those requirements, if any, shall be as set forth in or pursuant to other laws of this state; provided that in any case where a certificate is required, an appropriate certificate issued by the commission shall be accepted in lieu of any certificate otherwise required.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-10 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-10
§ 46-10-10. Sale of perishable goods or goods subject to reduction in value  Accounting.
Status: in_force

If the shipwrecked goods found be of a perishable nature or be much reduced in value by keeping, and if no owner or agent or other person interested appear to take the goods, the commissioner shall immediately advertise the goods in one of the daily newspapers published in the city of Providence, and also by posting notices in the town in which the goods shall be so found, and shall within six (6) days sell the goods at public auction to the highest bidder; and the commissioner shall within twenty (20) days after the sale render a just and true account in writing, subscribed by the commissioner to the town treasurer, of all the goods sold by the commissioner.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-12 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-12
§ 46-9-12. Duration and renewal of licenses.
Status: in_force

Any license issued under this chapter shall run for a period of five (5) years from the date of issue thereof unless otherwise terminated, revoked, or suspended. Licenses may be renewed in accordance with the procedures set forth in the commissions rules and regulations.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-24-10 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-24 / Section 46-24-10
§ 46-24-10. Tax exemption.
Status: in_force

It is hereby declared that the authority and the carrying out of its corporate purposes are in all respects for the benefit of the people of the state of Rhode Island for the improvement of their health, welfare, and prosperity, and the authority will perform an essential government function in the exercise of the powers conferred by this chapter, and the state of Rhode Island covenants that the authority shall be required to pay no taxes or assessments or sums in lieu of taxes, except as provided in § 46-24-11, to the state or any political subdivision thereof upon any of the property acquired by it or under its jurisdiction, control, possession, or supervision, or upon its activities in the operation and maintenance of the property, or upon any earnings, moneys, revenues, or other income derived by the authority, and the income therefrom shall at all times be exempt from taxation.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13-3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-13 / Section 46-13-3
§ 46-13-3. Determination of safety of water supply.
Status: in_force

(a) The director is hereby authorized to determine by means of laboratory tests, field tests, sanitary surveys, investigations of purification works, examinations of the distribution systems, or by other means, whether water supplied through a public water supply system is safe and potable for human consumption.

(b) The director is further authorized to enter, at all reasonable times, in or upon any private or public property for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter or making an inspection or investigation of a condition which the director believes may be hazardous to the health of the consumers served by any public water supply system or in violation of the regulations or orders promulgated under this statute.

(c) The director is further authorized to charge fees to support the collection and analysis of samples that are required to meet the minimum monitoring requirements for public drinking water supplies. The fees shall be established by regulation and shall be related to the costs incurred in operating the monitoring program, and may include administrative, personnel, equipment, and other related costs necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-18 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-18
§ 46-9-18. Lien for pilotage fees.
Status: in_force

Every licensed pilot shall have a lien for his or her pilotage fees, for the period of one year, upon the hull and appurtenances of any vessel liable to him or her therefore.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-18-14 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-18 / Section 46-18-14
§ 46-18-14. Sale of cotenants interest pending action.
Status: in_force

If several joint tenants, tenants in common or coparceners be plaintiffs in a suit, and, pending the suit, one or more of them shall sell his or her interest in the premises, alleged to be injured, to one or more of his or her cotenants, the action shall not thereby be abated, but the cause shall proceed to judgment with the same effect as if the conveyance had not been made.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-9-29 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-9 / Section 46-9-29
§ 46-9-29. Proceedings for enforcement  Injunctive relief.
Status: in_force

The superior court for Providence County shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chapter and any rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto. Proceedings for enforcement may be instituted and prosecuted in the name of the chairperson of the commission, and in any proceeding in which injunctive relief is sought, it shall not be necessary for the chairperson to show that, without the relief, the injury which will result will be irreparable, or that the remedy at law is inadequate.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-20-2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-20 / Section 46-20-2
§ 46-20-2. Notice of hearing on petition.
Status: in_force

On receipt of the petition as aforesaid, the town council shall refer the matter to some day for a hearing, and shall cause notice to be served on all parties interested, of the substance of the petition and the time and place of the hearing thereon, at least twenty (20) days before the hearing. In case any parties interested are not residents of the state, notice shall be given by sending the citation by mail to their last known place of abode, and by publishing a notice of the pendency of the petition, in some newspaper published in the county, for three (3) weeks before the time appointed for the hearing.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-6 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-6
§ 46-10-6. Compensation due persons other than commissioner  Appeal.
Status: in_force

No owner or other person interested in any shipwrecked goods shall be held to pay to any person, other than the commissioner, any charge for services or expenses in taking or securing the property, unless it be for property taken or secured before the arrival of the commissioner, in which case the commissioner shall, upon due hearing of all parties interested, determine the compensation to be received; and any party dissatisfied with the award of the commissioner may appeal therefrom according to the provisions of law with reference to appeals from town councils for the county in which the wreck or shipwrecked goods may be found.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13-22 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-13 / Section 46-13-22
§ 46-13-22. Cross-connection control.
Status: in_force

(a) The director is hereby authorized to adopt consistent statewide regulations governing the content of cross-connection control plans and to require that all community public water systems and all non-transient, non-community public water systems prepare a cross-connection control plan. The purpose of these plans shall be to protect the public water system distribution and transmission infrastructure from contamination through cross-connections. All community public water systems and all non-transient, non-community public water systems shall certify to the director that said plan complies with the regulations in accordance with the following schedule:

(1) Community and non-transient, non-community public water systems serving more than five hundred (500) people shall submit certification of compliance no later than June 30, 2011, and implement said plan immediately thereafter.

(2) Community and non-transient, non-community public water systems serving five hundred (500) people or fewer shall submit certification of compliance no later than June 30, 2012, and implement said plan immediately thereafter.

(b) The regulations governing cross-connection control plans adopted by the director shall at a minimum include: the installation of cross-connection control valves at all newly constructed service connections prior to the provision of water service; the installation of cross connection control valves at all commercial and industrial service connections. The installation of cross-connection control devices shall not be made a mandatory condition of a transfer of a residential property that exists as of the effective date of this act [June 27, 2007].

(c) Public water supply systems shall be authorized to terminate water service to any customer who fails to install the appropriate cross-connection control device upon due notice.

(d) The cross-connection control devices required to be installed shall be models approved by the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research of the University of Southern California (FCCCHR, USC), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and/or the American Society of Sanitary Engineers (ASSE).

(e) The director may also adopt and enforce standards including the establishment of fees for certification of persons engaged in cross-connection surveying or backflow prevention, assembly training, repair and maintenance testing.

(f) Any regulations and/or standards promulgated, amended and/or administered pursuant to the provisions of this section shall conform to the requirements of chapter 35 of title 42 (The Administrative Procedures Act.)
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-18-8 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-18 / Section 46-18-8
§ 46-18-8. Effect of election  Judgment.
Status: in_force

The election of the plaintiff shall be entered on the records of the court in the case, and shall be forever binding on the plaintiff and defendant and all claiming under them; and the judgment of the court shall follow the election of the plaintiff.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-31 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-31
§ 46-25-31. Notice of hearings on orders.
Status: in_force

Before adopting or entering any order applicable to any one or more specific persons, the commission shall give to each of the persons, by registered or certified mail, twenty (20) days notice in writing of the time and place of a hearing to be afforded each of the persons should he or she or it desire the hearing. The notice shall state the time and place of the holding of the hearing.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-5
§ 46-10-5. Arbitration of amount due commissioner  Action at law.
Status: in_force

If the commissioner and the other party shall not agree on the sum so due the commissioner, the matter in dispute may be submitted to three (3) arbitrators selected from the citizens of the state, for settlement; one of the arbitrators shall be chosen by the commissioner, one by the other party, and the third by the two (2) already selected. If the parties shall not agree to submit the case to arbitrators, or if the case is submitted and either party is dissatisfied with the decision of the arbitrators, the case may be decided in a civil action, to be commenced and prosecuted as the circumstances may require, unless the case shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-54 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-54
§ 46-25-54. Notes as legal investments.
Status: in_force

The notes of the commission are hereby made securities in which all public officers and bodies of this state, and all municipalities and municipal subdivisions, all insurance companies and associations, and other persons carrying on an insurance business, all banks, bankers, trust companies, savings banks and savings associations, including savings and loan associations, building and loan associations, investment companies and other persons carrying on a banking business, all administrators, guardians, executors, trustees and other fiduciaries, and all other persons whatsoever, who are now or may hereafter be authorized to invest in bonds or other obligations of the state, may properly and legally invest funds, including capital, in their control or belonging to them.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.12 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.12
§ 46-4-6.12. Town of Middletown  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

(a) The provisions of § 46-22-14, or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding, and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the town council of the town of Middletown, authority shall also be granted to the town council of the town of Middletown to authorize for the appointment of a harbormaster and by ordinance grant such authority as the town council may deem necessary to the harbormaster for the enforcement and supervision of any ordinances, rules, and regulations governing the public waters within its jurisdiction, to regulate by ordinance the speed, management, and control of all vessels, both wind and power, and the number, size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorings within the public waters within the confines of the town including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to prohibit waterskiing on any of the public waters, to provide for the regulation of skin diving and scuba diving, to designate upon a map of the public waters within the towns the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained, to assign moorings, to remove moorings, to set and collect a fee for the use of moorings, to provide for minimum mooring specifications, to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled, to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions, to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks, and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances, not exceeding in amount one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction, for any one offense, the fines to be recovered to the use of said town.

(b) No powers or duties granted herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers or duties granted to the coastal resources management council as provided in chapter 23 of this title.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-24-3 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-24 / Section 46-24-3
§ 46-24-3. Composition of board.
Status: in_force

(a) The board shall consist of fifteen (15) members, three (3) members to be appointed by the presidents of the town councils of Coventry, West Warwick, and Scituate, respectively, and three (3) members each to be appointed by the mayors of the cities of Warwick and Cranston. Each member so appointed shall serve for three (3) years beginning on the first day of June, except that in the case of the first members appointed, one from each of the above named participating towns and cities shall serve until June 1, 1973, one until June 1, 1974, and one until June 1, 1975. Members shall be appointed during the month of May of each year by the appointing authority, and in the event of a vacancy occurring in the board by reason of the death, resignation, or otherwise of a member, the appointing authority of the town or city, which appointed the member, shall appoint a new member for the unexpired term.

(b) There shall be minority representation on the board as follows: one of the three (3) members from Warwick and Cranston shall be of the political party other than that of the mayor, and in Coventry, West Warwick, and Scituate, one member each shall be of the political party not having a majority of the members of each respective town council. The mayor or the president of the town council shall appoint to the authority a member or members thereof, to represent the city or town, chosen from lists of qualified electors submitted by the respective chairpersons of the city or town political committee, which lists shall contain the names of five (5) times the number of persons to be appointed. These lists shall be submitted on or before May 1 in the year in which a member is to be appointed for a full term; provided, that in the event of a vacancy by reason of death, resignation, or otherwise, the lists shall be submitted within ten (10) days after the vacancy shall occur; provided, further, that for the initial appointments hereunder, the lists shall be submitted within thirty (30) days after May 1, 1972.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-6-10.1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-6 / Section 46-6-10.1
§ 46-6-10.1. Use or disposal of vessel or other obstruction.
Status: in_force

(a) After taking possession of a vessel or other obstruction, pursuant to the terms and conditions of §§ 46-6-9 and 46-9-10, the authorized public entity may use or dispose of the vessel or other obstruction in any appropriate and environmentally sound manner without further notice to any owners, but must give preference to uses that derive some monetary benefit from the vessel or other obstruction, either in whole or in scrap. If no value can be derived from the vessel or other obstruction, the authorized public entity must give preference to the least costly, environmentally sound, reasonable disposal option.

(b) If the authorized public entity chooses to offer the vessel or other obstruction for sale at public auction, either a minimum bid may be set or a letter of credit may be required, or both, to discourage future re-abandonment of the vessel or other obstruction.

(c) Proceeds derived from the sale of the vessel or other obstruction must first be applied to any administrative costs that are incurred by the authorized public entity during the notification procedures set forth in § 46-6-9, removal and disposal costs, and costs associated with environmental damages directly or indirectly caused by the vessel or other obstruction. If the proceeds derived from the sale of the vessel or other obstruction exceed all such costs, the remaining moneys must be applied to satisfying any liens registered against the vessel or other obstruction.

(d) Any value derived from the sale of a vessel greater than all liens and costs incurred shall revert to the derelict and abandoned vessel and obstruction removal account established in § 46-6-10.3.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.15 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.15
§ 46-4-6.15. Town of Cranston  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

(a) The provisions of § 46-22-14, or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding, and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the city council of the city of Cranston, authority shall also be granted to the city council of the city of Cranston to authorize for the appointment of a harbormaster and by ordinance grant such authority as the said city council may deem necessary to the harbormaster for the enforcement and supervision of any ordinances, rules and regulations governing the public waters within its jurisdiction, to regulate by ordinance the speed, management and control of all vessels, both wind and power, and the number, size, type, location and use of all anchorages and moorings within the public waters within the confines of the city including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to prohibit waterskiing on any of the public waters, to provide for the regulation of skin diving and scuba diving, to designate upon a map of the public waters within the city the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained, to assign moorings, to remove moorings, to set and collect a fee for the use of moorings, to provide for minimum mooring specifications, to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled, to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions, to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks, and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances, not exceeding in an amount of one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction, for any one offense, the fines to be recovered to the use of the city.

(b) No powers or duties granted herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers or duties granted to the coastal resources management council as provided in chapter 23 of this title.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-22-24 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-22 / Section 46-22-24
§ 46-22-24. Scuba divers, skin diving, or snorkeling  Warning flags.
Status: in_force

(a) Any person scuba diving, skin diving, or snorkeling in an area where power or motor boats are operated, shall place a warning flag on a buoy at a place of his or her submergence, the flag to be at least twelve by twelve inches (12" X 12") with a white stripe running from the diagonal corners which stripe shall be one quarter (Â¼) as wide as the flag, or conspicuously flown upon a boat which he or she is then using in the area, in which case the flag shall be at least eighteen by eighteen inches (18" X 18") and with a white stripe running from one upper corner to a diagonal lower corner, which stripe shall be one quarter (Â¼) as wide as the flag itself. The flag shall be in place only while diving operations are in progress and, during the hours between sunset and sunrise, this flag shall be illuminated by a light shining on the flag. Motorboats shall not be operated within fifty feet (50²) of any flag as above described. No person shall be in violation of this section if he or she travels within fifty feet (50²) of a scuba diver or snorkeler who is in fact obstructing navigation.

(b) Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00).

(c) However, any person using the above scuba diving, snorkel diving, or skin diving flag with the intention of obstructing navigation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall also be subject to a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00).
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-16 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-16
§ 46-12-16. Prosecution of violations.
Status: in_force

The director, without being required to enter into any recognizance or to give surety for costs, may institute civil or criminal proceedings for the violation of any provision of this chapter or of any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto. It shall be the duty of the attorney general to carry out all proceedings brought by the director.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-20.1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-20.1
§ 46-23-20.1. Hearing officers  Appointment  Compensation  Subcommittee.
Status: in_force

(a) The governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint two (2) hearing officers who shall be attorneys-at-law, who, prior to their appointment, shall have practiced law for a period of not less than five (5) years for a term of five (5) years; provided, however, that the initial appointments shall be as follows: one hearing officer shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years and one hearing officer shall be appointed for a term of five (5) years. The appointees shall be addressed as hearing officers.

(b) The governor shall designate one of the hearing officers as chief hearing officer. The hearing officers shall hear proceedings as provided by this section, and the council, with the assistance of the chief hearing officer, may promulgate such rules and regulations as shall be necessary or desirable to effect the purposes of this section.

(c) A hearing officer shall be devoted full time to these administrative duties, and shall not otherwise practice law while holding office nor be a partner nor an associate of any person in the practice of law.

(d) Compensation for hearing officers shall be determined by the unclassified pay board.

(e) Whenever the chairperson of the coastal resources management council or, in the absence of the chairperson, the commissioner of coastal resources makes a finding that the hearing officers are otherwise engaged and unable to hear a matter in a timely fashion, he or she may appoint a subcommittee which will act as hearing officers in any contested case coming before the council. The subcommittee shall consist of at least one member; provided, however, that in all contested cases an additional member shall be a resident of the coastal community affected. The city or town council of each coastal community shall, at the beginning of its term of office, appoint a resident of that city or town to serve as an alternate member of the aforesaid subcommittee should there be no existing member of the coastal resources management council from that city or town available to serve on the subcommittee. Any member of the subcommittee actively engaged in hearing a case shall continue to hear the case, even though his or her term may have expired, until the case is concluded and a vote taken thereon. Hearings before subcommittees shall be subject to all rules of practice and procedure as govern hearings before hearing officers.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-19-1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-19 / Section 46-19-1
§ 46-19-1. Periodical inspection required  Records and reports.
Status: in_force

The director of the department of environmental management shall cause to be made a thorough inspection of every dam and reservoir in the state as often as may be necessary to keep himself or herself informed of the condition thereof; and shall make and keep a record of the result of the inspection, with whatever knowledge the director shall obtain in reference to each dam or reservoir, and shall make an annual report of his or her doings in his or her office in the month of January to the governor.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-18 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-18
§ 46-25-18. Receipt and deposit of federal funds.
Status: in_force

(a) All moneys paid to the commission by the federal government for the purpose of executing the project shall be received by the executive director of the commission and applied in the following order of priority:

(1) For the payment of debt service on, or the recall, or the redemption of bonds and notes issued by the state in anticipation of the federal project payments; or

(2) If no bonds or notes of the state issued in anticipation of federal project payments are outstanding, then the moneys shall be deposited in the fund to be used for the purposes for which the federal government granted the moneys.

(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, any federal funds or assistance to the state of Rhode Island in any one federal fiscal year for sewer projects funded under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., as amended, for fiscal years commencing October 1, 1982, and thereafter, shall be allocated so that fifty percent (50%) of the federal funds or assistance so received shall be assigned to this project; provided, however, that more than fifty percent (50%) of the federal funds may be assigned to this project if the remaining fifty percent (50%) is not fully obligated for other projects in the state of Rhode Island outside the district.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-25 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-25
§ 46-12-25. Report required by owners or lessees of solid waste disposal areas.
Status: in_force

If any person, firm, or corporation continuously uses any area for the disposal of solid waste which is located within two hundred feet (200²) of any water course, then the owner of the land or lessee, if leased land, where the area is located must submit to the director a written report every sixty (60) days or more frequently if required by the director. The report shall contain among other things the content of dissolved oxygen, the biological oxygen demand, chlorides, iron, and a coliform bacteria count, from sites tested immediately upstream and downstream of the landfill area at locations prescribed by the director.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-61 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-61
§ 46-25-61. Trust funds.
Status: in_force

All money received pursuant to the issuance of revenue bonds or revenue notes or as revenues, receipts or income, shall be trust funds if such is provided for in the proceedings under which the revenue bonds or revenue notes are authorized. Any officer with whom, or any bank or trust company with which, money shall be deposited as trustee hereof shall hold and apply the money for the purposes thereof, subject to the applicable provisions of this chapter, the proceedings authorizing the revenue bonds or revenue notes, and the trust agreement securing the revenue bonds or revenue notes, if any.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-30.5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-30.5
§ 46-12-30.5. Bonds authorized.
Status: in_force

The general treasurer is hereby authorized and empowered, with the approval of the governor and in accordance with the requirements of law, to issue from time to time bonds in the name and on behalf of the state and in such amounts as may be specified in an amount not to exceed one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000).
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-25 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-25
§ 46-25-25. Orders as to pretreatment of sewage.
Status: in_force

(a) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority hereby vested in the commission shall include the authority to limit, reject, or prohibit any direct or indirect discharge of pollutants or combination of pollutants, as defined by applicable federal or state law, into the facilities of the project; to require that any person or class of user shall cause pollutants from his or her property, prior to their entry into the facilities of the project, to be submitted to such pretreatment standards and requirements as the commission may prescribe by rule or regulation. The commission shall prescribe such rules and regulations for pretreatment as in the opinion of the commission:

(1) Are required by applicable federal or state law,

(2) Are required under the terms of the projects federal permit(s), or

(3) Are necessary and appropriate for the project.

(b) The commission shall have the authority to issue or deny permits to any person for the direct or indirect discharge of any pollutants into the facilities of the project; to require the development of a compliance schedule by each person to insure compliance with such pretreatment as the commission may prescribe. No person shall discharge any pollutant into the facilities, except as in compliance with the provisions of this section, and any rules and regulations promulgated hereunder, and pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.

(c) The commission may, by regulation, order, permit, or otherwise require any person who discharges into the facilities of the project to:

(1) Establish and maintain such records;

(2) Make such reports;

(3) Install, calibrate, use, and maintain such monitoring equipment or methods, including where appropriate, biological monitoring methods;

(4) Sample such discharges and effluents, in accordance with such methods, at such locations, at such intervals, and in such manner as the commission shall prescribe; and

(5) Provide such other information relating to discharges into the facilities of the project as the commission may reasonably require to insure compliance with prescribed pretreatment. The information shall include, but not be limited to, those records, reports, and procedures required by applicable federal law.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the commission shall have the authority, and shall prescribe the appropriate procedures, after informal notice to the discharger, immediately and effectively to halt or prevent any discharge of pollutants into the facilities of the project which reasonably appears to present an imminent endangerment to the health or welfare of persons. Halting or preventing may include, but shall not be limited to, physically plugging and/or blocking the dischargers connection to the facilities of the project. The commission shall also have the authority, and shall prescribe the appropriate procedures, which shall include notice to the affected discharger and an opportunity to respond, to hold, or prevent any discharge into the facilities of the project which presents or may present an endangerment to the environment or which threatens to interfere with the operation of the project. Procedures prescribed under this subsection which comply in form with those provided in § 42-17.1-2(21) shall be deemed to be appropriate.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-4-6.14 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-4 / Section 46-4-6.14
§ 46-4-6.14. Town of East Greenwich  Powers conferred.
Status: in_force

(a) The provisions of § 46-22-14, or any other provisions of the general laws notwithstanding, and in addition to any authority and powers conferred upon the town council of the town of East Greenwich, authority shall also be granted to the town council of the town of East Greenwich to authorize for the appointment of a harbormaster and by ordinance grant such authority as the town council may deem necessary to the harbormaster for the enforcement and supervision of any ordinances, rules, and regulations governing the public waters within its jurisdiction, to regulate by ordinance the speed, management, and control of all vessels, both wind and power, and the number, size, type, location, and use of all anchorages and moorings within the public waters within the confines of the town including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority and power to prohibit waterskiing on any of the public waters, to provide for the regulation of skindiving and scubadiving, to designate upon a map of the public waters within the town the places where permanent or temporary moorings or anchorages may be maintained, to assign moorings, to remove moorings, to set and collect a fee for the use of moorings, to provide for minimum mooring specifications, to provide regulations for houseboats that are not self-propelled, to provide regulations for regattas, races, marine parades, tournaments, and exhibitions, to provide for the removal of wrecks or derelict or abandoned boats or docks, and to impose penalties for violation of the ordinances, not exceeding in amount one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) days in some jail or house of correction, for any one offense, the fines to be recovered to the use of the town.

(b) No powers or duties granted herein shall be construed to abrogate the powers or duties granted to the coastal resources management council as provided in chapter 23 of this title.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-15-12 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-15 / Section 46-15-12
§ 46-15-12. Cemeteries affecting water supply.
Status: in_force

(a) In the event that any sites, lands, or other property acquired by the board pursuant to chapter 15.1 of this title, and/or in accordance with chapter 6 of title 37, as amended, for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a reservoir or other terraneous or subterraneous supply, transmission, or distribution of potable water, contain any burial ground, cemetery, historic cemetery, graves, or places of human burial, and if these places are to be flowed by water or are located so near to the reservoir or other water source as to be likely to pollute or reduce the quality or value of the waters as a potable water supply, the water resources board shall remove the remains found in the burial places.

(b) The removal is to be under the direction of a qualified funeral director and with the approval of the next of kin of the deceased, and at the expense of the water resources board. However, notwithstanding the foregoing, the board shall only be liable for those expenses associated with removal of the remains and existing headstone, and transfer and reinterment of the remains within the state of Rhode Island. In the event that the next of kin desires to have the remains transported or reinterred outside of the boundaries of the state of Rhode Island, any and all expenses related to the transportation and reinterment outside of the state of Rhode Island shall be the responsibility of the next of kin.

(c) No cadaver or remains shall be removed by the water resources board unless the water resources board shall give notice by certified mail to the nearest of kin known to the water resources board, and/or, in the case where no kin is known to the water resources board, by advertising in one or more daily newspapers having circulation within the town or city wherein the cemetery is located, at least once a week for three (3) successive weeks. The advertisement shall set forth the names of the deceased and the date of death, if the information is known or otherwise reasonably discernible from available records, as well as, the present location of the cemetery or burial site.

(d) In the event that no kin is known or that the nearest of kin shall neglect or refuse to approve the removal and reinterment, the water resources board shall cause the cadavers or remains to be removed, transferred, and interred in such other cemetery in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations of the religious denomination, if any shall be known or ascertained, to which the deceased subscribed. The water resources board may, at its option, furnish a place or places for these burials, and may establish a general burial ground or grounds therefor, and may acquire by purchase or condemnation any lands needed therefor. No general burial ground or grounds shall be established in any town without the prior approval of the town council of the town of the location or locations thereof.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-2-20 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-2 / Section 46-2-20
§ 46-2-20. Acquisition of lands in other towns.
Status: in_force

Any city or town may acquire by gift or purchase any lands or interests therein in any other city or town which are necessary for the construction and/or maintenance of the project and may appropriate such sum or sums as may be necessary therefor.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-18-1 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-18 / Section 46-18-1
§ 46-18-1. Right of owner to continue and improve dam and pond.
Status: in_force

Whenever any person, either upon his or her own land or upon the land of another with his or her consent, shall have set up any water mill or dam for the purpose of forming a pond to supply water to any mill or mills upon the stream whereon the dam is located, the owner of the mill or dam may continue and improve the pond and keep up the dam thereof on his or her own land for his or her advantage without molestations.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-23-22 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-23 / Section 46-23-22
§ 46-23-22. Solid waste disposal licenses  Hearings.
Status: in_force

The chairperson of the coastal resources management council and the commissioner of the environmental protection branch of the department of environmental management shall coordinate concurrent hearings on solid waste disposal license applications; provided, however, that the chairperson and the commissioner of the environmental protection branch of the department of environmental management may designate a hearing officer or subcommittee to hear all matters pertaining to the application and; provided further, that the hearing officer may be from the department of environmental management, the coastal resources management council hearing officer, a subcommittee, or an ad hoc hearing officer. The commissioner of coastal resources management with the approval of the chairperson may waive jurisdiction in those instances where the commissioner finds that there is no substantive coastal resources issue or that another agency or branch has adjudicated or addressed the issue.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-16-5 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-16 / Section 46-16-5
§ 46-16-5. Revision of standards.
Status: in_force

Nothing contained in this chapter shall limit or abridge the authority of the commission to revise its standards and to issue new or additional certificates. In any such case, the director of the department of environmental management may require an applicant for a certificate to present a certificate or certificates which evidence training, education, and experience meeting the current standards of the commission.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-25-25.4 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-25 / Section 46-25-25.4
§ 46-25-25.4. Enforcement authority and procedure.
Status: in_force

(a) The commission shall have authority to seek legal or equitable relief in the federal court or in the superior court of Providence county to enforce the requirements of §§ 307(b) and (c), 402(b)(8) and other applicable sections of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., and any regulations implementing those sections or authorized by this chapter and/or by chapter 12 of this title. Whenever, on the basis of any information available to the commission, the commission has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has violated any provision of §§ 46-25-25 through 46-25-25.6 or any permit, rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto the commission may institute administrative, civil or criminal proceedings in the name of the commission. The commission shall not be required to enter into any recognizance or to give surety for costs prior to instituting such proceedings. The commission has the authority to order any person who violates any provision of §§ 46-25-25 through 46-25-25.6, any permit, rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto to cease and desist the violation, or to remedy the violation and to impose administrative penalties. The commission may impose administrative penalties only in accordance with the notice and hearing provisions of §§ 42-35-1 et seq., and 46-25-25, and the commissions rules and regulations. It shall be the duty of the attorney general to carry out all such criminal proceedings initiated by the commission.

(b) The superior court for Providence County shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of §§ 46-25-25  46-25-25.6, and any rule, regulation, permit, or administrative order issued pursuant thereto. Proceedings for enforcement may be instituted and prosecuted in the name of the commission. In any proceeding on which injunctive relief is sought, it shall not be necessary for the commission to show that without that relief, the injury which will result will be irreparable or that the remedy at law is inadequate. Proceedings provided in this section shall be in addition to and may be utilized in lieu, of other administrative or judicial proceedings authorized by this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-42 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-12 / Section 46-12-42
§ 46-12-42. Testing of biosolids.
Status: in_force

(a) Any applicant seeking an order of approval from the department of environmental management for the distribution or land application of biosolids shall test its biosolids for PFAS contaminants, as that term is defined by § 46-32-2, and the results shall be submitted to the department with the application for the order of approval.

(b) Any operators with an existing order of approval for the distribution or land application of biosolids shall test its biosolids quarterly for PFAS contaminants, as that term is defined by § 46-32-2, and submit the results to the department by the last day of each calendar quarter. Sampling shall commence during the October 2025 to December 2025 quarter, with the first round of results submitted to the department no later than December 31, 2025.

(c) The director is authorized to reject any application for an order of approval on the basis that approval of said application would pose an environmental threat or pose a risk to public health, safety, or welfare.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-10-2 — RI Code / Title 46 / Chapter 46-10 / Section 46-10-2
§ 46-10-2. Commissioner to take charge of wrecked property.
Status: in_force

The commissioner shall, immediately on receiving information of any shipwreck within his or her jurisdiction or of the finding of any shipwrecked goods or property of any kind in value to the amount of twenty dollars ($20.00) or more upon the shore, repair to the place where the property may be found, and, in case the property shall not be in the custody of the owner or an agent of the owner, the commissioner shall take charge of the property and shall preserve and secure the property for the owner.