R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-33-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-33 / Section 23-33-4
§ 23-33-4. Enforcement by inspectors  Disposition of fees.
Status: in_force

The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the compliance inspectors of the division of occupational safety within the department of labor and training. The proceeds of any fees or fines collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited as general revenues.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-11-5 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-11 / Section 23-11-5
§ 23-11-5. Reports of cases by public and private institutions.
Status: in_force

The superintendent or other officer or other person in charge of public or private institutions, such as hospitals or other licensed health care facilities, dispensaries, clinics, homes, asylums, and charitable and correctional institutions, shall promptly report the identity of every patient suffering from a sexually transmitted disease in any form in a manner that may be prescribed by the director of the department of health.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-11-20 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-11 / Section 23-11-20
§ 23-11-20. Expedited partner therapy.
Status: in_force

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a physician licensed under chapter 37 of title 5, a physician assistant licensed under chapter 54 of title 5 or a certified registered nurse practitioner licensed under chapter 34 of title 5 who is authorized to prescribe and dispense prescription drugs, and who diagnoses a sexually transmitted chlamydia or gonorrhea infection in an individual patient, may prescribe prescription drugs to the patients sexual partner or partners for the treatment of the sexually transmitted chlamydia or gonorrhea infection without an examination of the sexual partner or partners.

(b) Neither a licensed physician, licensed physician assistant or certified registered nurse practitioner who, in good faith, prescribes prescription drugs to a patients sexual partner or partners for the treatment of a sexually transmitted chlamydia or gonorrhea infection in accordance with this section, nor the group or healthcare facility for which they work, shall be subject to civil or criminal liability and shall not be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-59-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-59 / Section 23-59-3
§ 23-59-3. Disclosure statement.
Status: in_force

(a) The disclosure statement of each facility shall contain all of the following information unless the information is contained in the continuing care contract and a copy of that contract is attached to and made a part of the initial disclosure statement:

(1) The name and business address of the provider and a statement of whether the provider is a partnership, foundation, association, corporation, or other type of business or legal entity.

(2) Full information regarding ownership of the property on which the facility is or will be operated and of the buildings in which it is or will be operated.

(3) The names and business addresses of the officers, directors, trustees, managing or general partners, and any person having a ten percent (10%) or greater equity or beneficial interest in the provider, and a description of that persons interest in or occupation with the provider.

(4) For the provider, any person named in response to subsection (a)(3), or the proposed management, if the facility will be managed on a day-to-day basis by a person other than an individual directly employed by the provider:

(i) A description of any business experience in the operation or management of similar facilities.

(ii) The name and address of any professional service, firm, association, foundation, trust, partnership, or corporation or any other business or legal entity in which the person has, or which has in the person, a ten percent (10%) or greater interest and which it is presently intended will or may provide goods, leases, or services to the provider of a value of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, within any year, including:

(A) A description of the goods, leases, or services and the probable or anticipated cost thereof to the provider;

(B) The process by which the contract was awarded;

(C) Any additional offers that were received; and

(D) Any additional information requested by the department detailing how and why a contract was awarded.

(iii) A description of any matter in which the person:

(A) Has been convicted of a felony or pleaded nolo contendere to a felony charge, or been held liable or enjoined in a civil action by final judgment if the felony or civil action involved fraud, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, or misappropriation of property; or

(B) Is subject to an injunctive order of a court of record, or within the past five (5) years had any state or federal license or permit suspended or revoked as a result of an action brought by a governmental agency or department, arising out of or relating to business activity or health care, including without limitation actions affecting a license to operate a foster care facility, nursing home, retirement home, home for the aged, or facility registered under this chapter or similar laws in another state; or

(C) Is currently the subject of any state or federal prosecution or administrative investigation involving allegations of fraud, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, or misappropriation of property.

(5) A statement as to:

(i) Whether the provider is or ever has been affiliated with a religious, charitable, or other nonprofit organization, the nature of any such affiliation, and the extent to which the affiliate organization is or will be responsible for the financial and contractual obligations of the provider; and

(ii) Any provision of the federal Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., under which the provider is exempt from the payment of income tax.

(6) The location and description of the real property of the facility, existing or proposed, and to the extent proposed, the estimated completion date or dates of improvements, whether or not construction has begun and the contingencies under which construction may be deferred.

(7) The services provided or proposed to be provided under continuing care contracts, including the extent to which medical care is furnished or is available pursuant to any arrangement. The disclosure statement shall clearly state which services are included in basic continuing care contracts and which services are made available by the provider at extra charge.

(8) A description of all fees required of residents, including any entrance fees and periodic charges. The description shall include: (i) a description of all proposed uses of any funds or property required to be transferred to the provider or any other person prior to the residents occupancy of the facility and of any entrance fee, (ii) whether provisions exist for the escrowing and return of any such funds, property, or entrance fee and the manner and any conditions of return, and (iii) the manner by which the provider may adjust periodic charges or other recurring fees and any limitations on such adjustments. If the facility is already in operation, or if the provider operates one or more similar facilities within this state, there shall be included tables showing the frequency and average dollar amount of each increase in periodic rates at each facility for the previous five (5) years or such shorter period that the facility has been operated by the provider.

(9) Any provisions that have been made or will be made to provide reserve funding or security to enable the provider to fully perform its obligations under continuing care contracts, including the establishment of escrow accounts, trusts, or reserve funds, together with the manner in which such funds will be invested and the names and experience of persons who will make the investment decisions.

(10) Certified financial statements of the provider, including: (i) a balance sheet as of the end of the two (2) most recent fiscal years and (ii) income statements of the provider for the two (2) most recent fiscal years or such shorter period that the provider has been in existence.

(11) A pro forma income statement for the current fiscal year.

(12) If the operation of the facility has not yet commenced, a statement of the anticipated source and application of the funds used or to be used in the purchase or construction of the facility, including:

(i) An estimate of the cost of purchasing or constructing and equipping the facility including such related costs as financing expense, legal expense, land costs, occupancy development costs, and all other similar costs that the provider expects to incur or become obligated for prior to the commencement of operations.

(ii) A description of any mortgage loan or other long-term financing intended to be used for any purpose in the financing of the facility and of the anticipated terms and costs of the financing, including without limitation all payments of the proceeds of the financing to the provider, management, or any related person.

(iii) An estimate of the percentage of entrance fees that will be used or pledged for the construction or purchase of the facility, as security for long-term financing or for any other use in connection with the commencement of operation of the facility.

(iv) An estimate of the total entrance fees to be received from or on behalf of residents at or prior to commencement of operation of the facility.

(v) An estimate of the funds, if any, which are anticipated to be necessary to fund start-up losses and provide reserve funds to assure full performance of the obligations of the provider under continuing care contracts.

(vi) A projection of estimated income from fees and charges other than entrance fees, showing individual rates presently anticipated to be charged and including a description of the assumptions used for calculating the estimated occupancy rate of the facility and the effect on the income of the facility of any government subsidies for health care services to be provided pursuant to the continuing care contracts.

(vii) A projection of estimated operating expenses of the facility, including (i) a description of the assumptions used in calculating any expenses and separate allowances for the replacement of equipment and furnishings and anticipated major structural repairs or additions and (ii) an estimate of the percentage of occupancy required for continued operation of the facility.

(viii) Identification of any assets pledged as collateral for any purpose.

(ix) An estimate of annual payments of principal and interest required by the mortgage loan or other long-term financing.

(13) A description of the providers criteria for admission of new residents.

(14) A description of the providers policies regarding access to the facility and its services for nonresidents.

(15) Any other material information concerning the facility or the provider that may be required by the department or included by the provider.

(b) The disclosure statement shall state on its cover that the filing of the disclosure statement with the department does not constitute approval, recommendation, or endorsement of the facility by the department.

(c) A copy of the standard form or forms for continuing care contracts used by the provider shall be attached as an exhibit to each disclosure statement.

(d) If the department determines that the disclosure statement does not comply with the provisions of this chapter, it shall have the right to take action pursuant to § 23-59-16.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-54 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-54
§ 23-17-54. Provisions of interpreter services.
Status: in_force

(a) Every hospital and freestanding emergency-care facility shall, as a condition of initial or continued licensure, provide a qualified interpreter, if an appropriate bilingual clinician is not available to translate, in connection with all services provided to every non-English speaker who is a patient or seeks appropriate care and treatment and is not accompanied or represented by an appropriate, qualified interpreter or a qualified sign-language interpreter who has attained at least sixteen (16) years of age.

(b) Each hospital and freestanding emergency-care facility shall post a multi-lingual notice in conspicuous places setting forth the requirement in subsection (a) in English and the, at minimum, three (3) most-common foreign languages used by the hospital or freestanding emergency-care facility as determined by the hospital or freestanding emergency-care facility.

(c) The receipt by a non-English speaker of interpreter services shall not be deemed the receipt of a benefit under any provisions of law restricting benefits or assistance on the basis of immigrant status.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect or limit any rights, remedies, or obligations under chapter 24 of title 11 or under chapters 87 or 112 of title 42.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-33-18 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-33 / Section 23-33-18
§ 23-33-18. Assistance to owners  Appeal of decisions to commission.
Status: in_force

Any owner of an elevator or device may consult with the director of labor and training or the chief inspector for advice and assistance in complying with the provisions of the code of rules and of this chapter. In case the owner shall be dissatisfied with any decision of the director or chief regarding the operation, inspection, and maintenance under the code of rules, the owner may, within thirty (30) days of the decision, appeal to the occupational safety and health review board for a variation or modification of the decision under the provisions of §§ 28-20-19 and 28-20-29.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-94-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-94 / Section 23-94-4
§ 23-94-4. Prohibition on state funding for conversion therapy.
Status: in_force

No state funds, nor any funds belonging to a municipality, agency, or political subdivision of this state, shall be expended for the purpose of conducting conversion therapy; referring a person for conversion therapy; health benefits coverage for conversion therapy; or a grant or contract with any entity that conducts conversion therapy or refers individuals for conversion therapy.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-26 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-26
§ 23-3-26. Persons required to keep records.
Status: in_force

(a) Every person in charge of an institution, as defined in this chapter, shall keep a record of personal particulars and data concerning each person admitted or confined to that institution. This record shall include the information required by the standard certificates of birth, death, and fetal death forms issued under the provisions of this chapter. The record shall be made at the time of admission from information provided by those persons, but when it cannot be so obtained, it shall be obtained from relatives or other persons acquainted with the facts. The name and address of the person providing the information shall be a part of the record.

(b) When a dead human body is released or disposed of by an institution, the person in charge of the institution shall keep a record showing the name of the deceased, date of death, name and address of the person to whom the body is released, date of removal from the institution, or if finally disposed of by the institution, the date, place, and manner of disposition shall be recorded.

(c) A funeral director, embalmer, or other person who removes from the place of death or transports or finally disposes of a dead body or fetus, in addition to filing any certificate or other form required by this chapter, shall keep a record which shall identify the body, and information pertaining to his receipt, removal, and delivery of the body that may be prescribed in regulations adopted by the director of health.

(d) Records maintained under this section shall be retained for a period of not less than five (5) years and shall be made available for inspection by the state registrar of vital records or his or her representative upon demand.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-9-8 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-9 / Section 23-9-8
§ 23-9-8. Unauthorized departure from vessel under quarantine.
Status: in_force

Every person who shall leave any ship or vessel under order of quarantine without permission from the health officer or the city or town council of that city or town, shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars ($20.00); and the city or town council may order that person to be returned on board of that vessel, and to remain there until the council orders him or her to be dismissed.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-10 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-10
§ 23-3-10. Birth registration.
Status: in_force

(a) A certificate of birth for each live birth which occurs in this state shall be filed with the state registrar of vital records, or as otherwise directed by the state registrar, within four (4) days after that birth.

(b) When a birth occurs in an institution, the person in charge of the institution, or his or her designated representative, shall obtain the personal data; prepare the certificate; secure the signatures required by the certificate; and file it with the state registrar of vital records, or as otherwise directed by the state registrar. The physician and/or midwife in attendance, or his or her authorized designee as defined in department regulations, shall certify to the facts of birth and provide the medical information required by the certificate within three (3) days after the birth.

(c) When a birth occurs outside an institution, the certificate shall be prepared and filed by one of the following in the indicated order of priority:

(1) The physician in attendance at, or immediately after, the birth, or in the absence of a physician;

(2) Any other person in attendance at, or immediately after, the birth, or in the absence of any person in attendance at or immediately after the birth;

(3) The father, the mother, or, in the absence of the father and the inability of the mother, the person in charge of the premises where the birth occurred.

(4) When a birth occurs in a moving conveyance, the place of birth shall be that address in the city or town where the child is first removed from the conveyance.

(d)(1) If the mother was married either at the time of conception or birth, the name of the husband shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child unless paternity has been determined otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction, in which case the name of the father as determined by the court shall be entered.

(2) [Deleted by P.L. 2020, ch. 59, § 3 and P.L. 2020, ch. 60, § 3.]

(e) The state registrar shall not decline to register and/or issue any birth certificate or certified copy of any birth certificate on the grounds that medical or health information collected for statistical purposes has not been supplied.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-14.3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-14.3
§ 23-17-14.3. Review criteria.
Status: in_force

Except as otherwise provided in this section, a review by the health services council of an application for an initial license or a license in the case of a proposed change in the owner, operator, or lessee of any licensed health care facility may not be made subject to any criterion unless the criterion directly relates to the statutory purpose expressed in § 23-17-3. In conducting reviews of the applications, the health services council shall specifically consider:

(1) The character, commitment, competence, and standing in the community of the proposed owners, operators, or directors of the health care facility;

(2) In cases of initial licensure or of proposed change in owner, operator, or lessee, the extent to which the facility will provide or will continue to provide, without material effect on its viability at the time of initial licensure or of change of owner, operator, or lessee, safe and adequate treatment for individuals receiving the health care facilitys services;

(3) The extent to which the facility will provide or will continue to provide safe and adequate treatment for individuals receiving the health care facilitys services; and

(4) The extent to which the facility will provide or will continue to provide appropriate access with respect to traditionally underserved populations and in consideration of the proposed continuation or termination of health care services by the health care facility.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-13 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-13
§ 23-19-13. Municipal participation in state program.
Status: in_force

(a)(1) Any person or municipality which intends to transfer, treat, or dispose of solid waste originating or collected within the state, or which intends to make arrangements to do so, shall utilize, exclusively, a system or facility designated by the corporation as provided under this chapter. All transfer stations in existence as of December 1, 1986, are empowered so long as they maintain the appropriate license to continue their operations, and the corporation shall not exercise its powers under this chapter to compete with their operation and activity. No municipality shall have power to engage in, grant any license, or permit for or enter into any contract for the collection, treatment, transportation, storage, or disposal of solid waste, and no municipality or any person shall engage in any activities within the state, including disposal of solid waste, which would impair the ability of the corporation to meet its contractual obligations to its bondholders and others, or which would be in competition with the purposes of the corporation as provided in this chapter. The corporation shall not be empowered to engage in the transportation, transfer, or storage of solid waste, except in temporary situations where a municipality has defaulted in its obligation under this section, or in conjunction with its activities at its disposal sites. Provided, however, that municipal contracts which were in existence on March 1, 1985, are excepted from this requirement until expiration of the original term of the contract or the expiration of any extension approved by the corporation, or sooner termination of the contracts, and provided, further, that municipalities operating their own landfills on December 1, 1986, shall be free to continue to use the landfills until closure of the landfills. Without limiting the generality of the preceding, municipalities and persons are expressly empowered to contract with the corporation and/or, subject to the approval of the corporation, with a duly licensed private disposal facility for the disposal of solid wastes. The approval shall be conditioned upon a finding by the board of commissioners of the corporation that any proposed contract with a Rhode Island municipality or person is in conformity with the statewide resource recovery system development plan and this chapter, and that the proposed contract will not impair the ability of the corporation to meet its contractual obligations to its bondholders and others. The contracts may have a maximum total term, including all renewals, of up to fifty (50) years.

(2) The corporation shall charge fees for its solid waste management services that, together with other revenues available to the corporation, will, at a minimum, be sufficient to provide for the support of the corporation and its operations on a self-sustaining basis, including debt service on its bonds and other obligations.

(b) Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the provisions of any other laws of this state, general, special, or local, restricting the power of any municipality to enter into long-term contracts with the corporation, the provisions of this chapter shall be controlling. The corporation shall provide suitable and appropriate assistance to communities under these circumstances. Notwithstanding the preceding, if the corporation deems it desirable, it may from time to time permit municipalities to contract among themselves for the disposal of their wastes.

(c) Municipalities, along with private producers of waste which contract with the corporation for disposal of their wastes, shall continue to be free to make their own arrangements for collection of wastes at the source and/or the hauling of wastes to the designated processing and/or transfer stations, so long as those arrangements are in compliance with the provisions of chapter 18.9 of this title and with this chapter, and any municipal license relating thereto.

(d) All municipalities and state agencies which are participants in the state waste disposal program shall initiate a separation and recycling program within one year after the date on which the resource recovery facility utilized by that municipality or agency is operational and accepting waste for incineration.

(e)(1) The corporation and any municipality may enter into a contract or contracts providing for or relating to the disposal of solid waste originating in the municipality and the cost and expense of the disposal.

(2) The contract may be made with or without consideration and for a specified or unspecified time not to exceed fifty (50) years, and on any terms and conditions which may be approved by the municipality and which may be agreed to by the corporation in conformity with its contracts with the holders of any bonds or other obligations. Subject to the contracts with the holders of bonds, the municipality is authorized and directed to do and perform any and all acts or things necessary, convenient, or desirable to carry out and perform the contract and to provide for the payment or discharge of any obligation under the contract in the same manner as other obligations of the municipality.

(3) All municipalities that contract with the corporation for the disposal of solid waste shall prepare as an addendum to its fiscal year 2010 contract with the corporation and any contracts with the corporation for the subsequent years a plan that includes a description of the process by which thirty-five percent (35%) of its solid waste will be recycled and fifty percent (50%) of its solid waste will be diverted beginning July 1, 2012. This addendum shall include a residential and municipal waste stream evaluation, a plan for the reduction of solid waste and recyclables generated and the process by which recyclable materials are to be segregated. The corporation shall have the right to execute or deny execution of the municipal solid waste and recycling services contract pending approval of the addendum. Once the corporation approves this addendum, the municipality must implement the plan and report on the results annually to the corporation. The corporation shall enforce the provisions of this section pursuant to subdivision (g)(3).

(4) The corporation shall notify every city or town that it contracts with as to the addendum requirements that must be included in contracts to recycle thirty-five percent (35%) and divert fifty percent (50%) of solid waste beginning July 1, 2012.

(f) The municipalities and the state have shared responsibility for the payment of the cost of municipal solid waste disposal. The state will pay its share of the cost of the solid waste disposal services to be provided by the corporation to the municipalities at its solid waste management facilities and its central landfill in the town of Johnston, and at any back-up facility which the corporation is required to provide, by providing solid waste disposal operating subsidies as provided in subsections (i) and (j).

(g)(1) The corporation shall charge each municipality with which it has a long-term contract for solid waste disposal services a tipping fee per ton of source separated solid waste excluding separated recyclable materials, sludge, and demolition debris delivered to any corporation facility computed in accordance with this subsection. For purposes of this chapter, fiscal year shall mean the twelve-month period, July 1 to June 30. The municipal tipping fee shall be equal to one hundred seven and one-half percent (107.5%) of the prior fiscal years municipal tipping fee through the end of the 2009 fiscal year. One dollar and ten cents ($1.10) per ton on all garbage, including recycled garbage, collected by the corporation as tipping fee shall be paid to the town of Johnston. In addition to any other fees the corporation shall also charge a six dollar ($6.00) tipping fee per vehicle. Any vehicle carrying municipal solid waste shall be exempt from this six dollar ($6.00) tipping fee. All fees collected shall be paid to the town of Johnston on an annual basis. No tipping fee shall be charged for recyclable materials delivered to a recycling facility provided by or through the corporation.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (g)(1), the municipal tipping fee may be increased, if, due to the commencement of operation of a new resource recovery facility during the previous fiscal year, the state subsidy as calculated pursuant to subsection (i), not considering landfill revenues and losses, is projected to be greater than the state subsidy projected by the corporation and the department of administration when the projections were officially accepted by the corporation on the basis of contracts entered into for the initial resource recovery facility. The amount by which the projected state subsidy exceeds the original projections will be apportioned between the state and the municipalities in the same ratio as the state subsidy for the previous year divided by the number of tons of municipal solid waste processed by the corporation bears to the municipal tipping fee for that year. The increased municipal tipping fee herein provided shall be subject to the same escalation factor as the municipal tipping fee set forth above.

(3) The corporation shall establish in the contract, the maximum amount of municipal solid waste that each municipality will be entitled to deliver to the corporation at the municipal tipping fee. Solid waste in excess of the contract amount will be charged to the municipality at the non-municipal rate. In determining the maximum amount of municipal solid waste which will qualify for the municipal tipping fee, the corporation shall consider the municipalitys solid waste per capita average, the statewide solid waste per capita average, and any other factors that it shall deem appropriate.

(4) Seaweed collected and removed by a municipality shall be deemed yard waste for purposes of this chapter and any rules, regulations and/or plans promulgated by the corporation pursuant to this chapter, and shall be accepted by the corporation at the same rate and cost as all other municipal yard waste.

(h) The corporation, after the initial resource recovery facility becomes operational, shall charge each non-municipal user of its facilities a fee per ton equal to the projected annual resource recovery system cost less energy revenues and interest earnings on bond reserve funds, if any, divided by the projected tons to be processed by the corporation at its resource facilities for the year. Landfill costs shall not be considered in the calculation unless landfill costs exceed revenues generated at the landfills; in those cases, excess landfill costs will be added to the system costs.

(i) The annual state subsidy for the cost of disposal of municipal solid waste shall be calculated for each fiscal year or portion of each fiscal year according to the following formula: The annual state subsidy shall equal the total projected annual resource recovery system costs (minus costs associated with the central landfill) for the next fiscal year less the sum of the following: (1) Projected resource recovery system revenues for the year; and (2) Projected landfill revenues; provided, however, that in the event that the landfill is projected to operate at a loss, the amount of the loss shall be added to the subsidy.

(j)(1) On or before October 1 of each year, the corporation shall submit a budget to the director of administration for the succeeding fiscal year using actual resource recovery system revenues and costs, and the audit of the preceding fiscal year prepared by the corporations independent auditors and accepted by the auditor general. On or before December 1 of each year, the director of administration, in consultation with the corporation, shall review the budget of the corporation and shall determine and certify the annual state subsidy for the succeeding fiscal year to the governor who shall submit to the general assembly printed copies of a budget which shall include the state subsidy as previously determined in this subsection. The state subsidy appropriation shall be on a system basis but shall contain specific appropriations for each resource recovery facility. If the amount appropriated exceeds the amount needed for a specific facility, the corporation, with the approval of the director of administration, may reallocate the appropriated but unadvanced funds to other corporation facilities or costs. If the audit prepared by the corporations independent auditors indicates that the amounts appropriated and disbursed to the corporation as a subsidy were in excess of the amounts which would have been required for the year if actual resource recovery system revenues and costs had been used in the calculation of the subsidy, the excess shall be credited against the current fiscal years subsidy.

(2) At any time, if the corporation determines that the state subsidy will be insufficient to discharge the corporations obligations for the current fiscal year, it shall request, in writing, to the director of administration for a supplemental appropriation. After review, the director of administration will recommend to the governor additional funding for the corporation, and the governor after further review, shall submit a supplemental appropriation bill request for the funds to the general assembly.

(3) From the appropriations made by the general assembly, the state controller is authorized and directed to draw the controllers orders upon the general treasurer every month for the payment of those sums that may be required upon receipt by the controller of properly authenticated vouchers.

(k) If, in any fiscal year, the appropriation for the state subsidy is not made and if the corporation has insufficient other funds to discharge its obligations to holders of its bonds and notes as certified by the state auditor general, the corporation shall be empowered to charge both municipal and non-municipal users whatever fees are necessary to discharge its obligations to holders of its bonds and notes, and the municipal tipping fee set forth in subsection (g) shall not be applicable for the fiscal year.

( l ) On or after the date established for separation of recyclable solid waste in the statewide plan for separation of recyclables by the department of environmental management, only segregated solid waste shall be accepted at the corporations facilities.

(m) Costs associated with participation in the state program shall not constitute state mandated costs under § 45-13-7.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-54 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-54
§ 23-1-54. Fees payable to the department of health.
Status: in_force

Fees payable to the department shall be as follows:
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-59-2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-59 / Section 23-59-2
§ 23-59-2. Registration.
Status: in_force

(a) Except as provided in § 23-59-13, no provider shall engage in the business of providing or offering to provide continuing care at a facility in this state unless the provider has registered with the department with respect to the facility.

(b) A registration statement shall be filed with the department by the provider on forms prescribed by the department and shall include:

(1) All information required by the department pursuant to its enforcement of this chapter; and

(2) The initial disclosure statement required by § 23-59-3.

(c) Registration shall be deemed complete if the department has not notified the provider of incompleteness within ninety (90) days of the filing.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-9-23 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-9 / Section 23-9-23
§ 23-9-23. Action for recovery of expenses.
Status: in_force

If any owner, freighter, mariner, or passenger shall refuse to pay those wages and charges settled, adjusted, and fixed pursuant to § 23-9-22, then the city or town shall sue for and recover those wages and charges, and the court where the action is brought and maintained shall tax double costs for the plaintiff.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-61-5 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-61 / Section 23-61-5
§ 23-61-5. Licensing and certification.
Status: in_force

(a) All persons providing or offering to provide the following services must be certified or licensed in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to the authority conferred by this chapter:

(1) Screening sampling/testing of air for radon/radon progeny;

(2) Diagnostic sampling/testing of air for radon/radon progeny;

(3) Mitigation planning services for radon/radon progeny;

(4) Training courses offered for the purpose of meeting any of the licensing and/or certification requirements mandated by this chapter.

(b) The director may assess fees for licenses and certifications issued in accordance with regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that those fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed. The fees collected shall be deposited in a restricted receipt account as provided for under § 23-61-8 of this chapter.

(c) Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity who shall perform or otherwise engage in:

(1) Screening sampling/testing of air for radon/radon progeny;

(2) Diagnostic sampling testing of air for radon/radon progeny;

(3) Mitigation planning services for radon/radon progeny; or

(4) Training courses offered for the purpose of meeting any of the licensing and/or certification requirements mandated by this chapter:

(i) Without a license shall be fined five hundred dollars ($500) for each offense and shall be ordered to forfeit all fees derived from such activity for the first offense and shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the second and each subsequent offense and shall be ordered to forfeit all fees derived from such activity on the second and subsequent offenses. The attorney general is authorized to pursue forfeiture actions against all violators and also to apply for and obtain injunctive relief against continuing violations of this section.

(d) All fines and all fees that have been forfeited under this section shall be placed in the state general fund.

(e) The requirements of this section shall not apply to: (a) those individuals testing or mitigating a private residence owned or leased by the individual who is performing the testing or mitigation; or (b) any individual testing their own living area.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-26-31 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-26 / Section 23-26-31
§ 23-26-31. Fees.
Status: in_force

(a) The per annum fees imposed for registrations issued pursuant to § 23-26-30 shall be as follows:

(1) Every applicant classified as a manufacturer of articles of bedding for sale at wholesale or retail or as a supply dealer shall pay, prior to the issuance of a general registration, a per annum fee of two hundred ten dollars ($210) and the registrant may be engaged in any or all of the following:

(i) Manufacture of articles of bedding for sale at wholesale;

(ii) Manufacture of articles of bedding for sale at retail;

(iii) Supply dealer;

(iv) Repairer-renovator.

(2) Every applicant classified as a repairer-renovator or retailer of second-hand articles of bedding shall pay, prior to the issuance of a limited registration, a per annum fee of sixty dollars ($60.00), and the registrant may be engaged in any or all of the following:

(i) Repairer-renovator;

(ii) Retailer of second-hand articles of bedding; provided, however, that if a registrant is reclassified from one category to another that calls for a higher registration fee, he or she shall pay a pro rata share of the higher registration fee for the unexpired period and shall be issued a new registration to expire on the expiration date of the original registration.

(b) If, through error, a registrant has been improperly classified as of the date of issue of his or her current registration, the proper fee for the entire period shall be payable. Any overpayment shall be refunded to the registrant. No refunds shall be allowed to any registrant who has discontinued business, or whose registration has been revoked or suspended or who has been reclassified to a category calling for a greater or lesser registration fee, except as provided herein. The fee shall be paid to the director of business regulation. For reissuing a revoked or expired registration the fee shall be the same as for an original registration.

(c) All payments for registration fees, sterilization process, fines and penalties, and other money received under this chapter shall constitute inspection fees for the purpose of enforcing this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-67-1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-67 / Section 23-67-1
§ 23-67-1. Declaration of intent.
Status: in_force

WHEREAS, The state of Rhode Island recognizes that many women who are uninsured and underinsured, who are victims of breast and cervical cancer, as well as their families, are forced to bear substantial physical, emotional, social, and financial hardships associated with these cancerous illnesses; and

WHEREAS, The financial costs for treatment and continued health care for women stricken with these types of cancer are often prohibitive, because these women are uninsured or underinsured; and

WHEREAS, Many nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island attempt to ameliorate this distressing situation for the victims of breast and cervical cancer by providing services to help defray the costs associated with the care and treatment of these women not otherwise provided for; and

WHEREAS, As admirable as the efforts of these nonprofit organizations are, it is widely acknowledged that they lack the funding to meet all of the needs of the women in this state stricken with breast and cervical cancer.

It is hereby declared to be the intent of the state to provide a means by which breast and cervical cancer victims, whose needs for research, further diagnostic testing and treatment are not otherwise provided for because they are women, who are uninsured or underinsured, may be financed through a special fund as set forth in §23-67-2. It is also intended that funds generated by this special fund be supplemental to any funds which would otherwise be available for the above purposes, and that the funds be used only for research, further diagnostic testing, and treatment.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-68-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-68 / Section 23-68-4
§ 23-68-4. Safety standards established.
Status: in_force

The director of the department of health shall, by regulation, establish minimum safety standards for tanning facilities. The standards shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Establishment of a maximum safe time of exposure to radiation and a maximum safe temperature at which tanning devices may be operated;

(2) A requirement that a timer device be incorporated into each tanning device;

(3) A requirement that a patron at a tanning facility wear protective eye glasses when using tanning equipment and that a patron be supervised as to the length of time the patron uses tanning equipment at the facility;

(4) Requiring that the facility operator post easily legible, permanent warning signs near the tanning equipment that state: Danger  Ultra-violet radiation. Follow all instructions. Avoid overexposure; as well as a list, prepared by the director of the department of health, of prescription and non-prescription drugs that may cause photosensitivity in patients using a tanning center;

(5) Require that the facility have protective shielding for tanning equipment in the facility; and

(6) A prohibition on the use of tanning facilities by a person younger than eighteen (18) years of age.

(a) [Deleted by P.L. 2018, ch. 77, § 1 and P.L. 2018, ch. 88, § 1].

(b) [Deleted by P.L. 2018, ch. 77, § 1 and P.L. 2018, ch. 88, § 1].
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-18 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-18
§ 23-3-18. Permits.
Status: in_force

(a) The funeral director, his or her duly authorized agent, or another person acting as a duly authorized agent, who first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus shall prepare a burial-transit permit prior to final disposition or removal from the state of the body or fetus and within seven (7) calendar days after death.

(b) The burial-transit permit shall be signed by the funeral director and by the certifying physician as designated in § 23-3-16(c).

(c) A burial-transit permit issued under the law of another state which accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into this state shall be authority for final disposition of the body or fetus in this state.

(d) A permit for disinterment and re-interment shall be required prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus except as authorized by regulation or otherwise provided by law. The permit shall be issued by the local registrar of vital records at the place of disinterment to a licensed funeral director, embalmer, his or her duly authorized agent, or another person acting as a duly authorized agent, upon proper application.

(e)(1) The body of a deceased person shall not be cremated within twenty-four (24) hours after his or her death unless he or she dies of a contagious or infectious disease. The body shall not be received or cremated by any corporation authorized to cremate the bodies of the dead until its officers have received the burial permit required by law before burial, and a cremation certificate issued by the Rhode Island office of state medical examiners. A cremation certificate shall be issued only if the office of state medical examiners determines that the cause and manner of death is such that no further examination or judicial inquiry concerning the cause and manner of death is necessary.

(2) The cremation certificate issued to the funeral director by the medical examiner, in duplicate, shall accompany the body to the crematory. The crematory shall retain the duplicate copy and mail the original copy to the state division of vital records.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-67-2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-67 / Section 23-67-2
§ 23-67-2. The Rhode Island research and treatment fund for breast and cervical cancer  Uses of the fund.
Status: in_force

(a) There is hereby established a fund to be called the Rhode Island research and treatment fund for breast and cervical cancer which shall be administered by the general treasurer in accordance with the same laws and fiscal procedures as the general funds of the state. The general treasurer is authorized to accept any grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift, services in kind, assignment of money, bonds or other valuable securities for deposit in and credit of the fund. Taxpayer funds shall not be co-mingled as deposited in this fund.

(b) The monies received under this chapter shall be made available by the treasurer annually by September 30 to qualified organizations and shall be distributed equally among all qualified organizations which have been certified by the department of health for the funding year.

(c) Upon distribution to qualified organizations, the monies shall be used exclusively for prevention research and for further diagnostic testing and treatment.

(d) Any eligible organization which seeks qualified organization status for a funding year shall submit an application to the department of health not later than July 15 of the year for which they seek qualified organization status. The application must include:

(1) The specific nature of the services the eligible organization is proposing to provide and which type of cancer said services are proposed to be provided to;

(2) Eligible services that the eligible organization has provided in the past year or is currently providing and the annual cost of the services;

(3) Whether the monies sought under this chapter will be used to fund new or existing programs for eligible services; and

(4) Any other information the department of health deems necessary to facilitate the purposes of this chapter.

(e) Upon receipt of the annual application from eligible organizations as provided in this section, the director of the department of health shall review each application to determine if it complies with the intent and requirements of this chapter. Upon a finding by the director of the department of health that the application so complies, the director of the department of health shall certify that the eligible organization has been designated as a qualified organization for the funding year. The director of the department of health shall provide notice of approval or denial of certification not later than September 15 to each eligible organization which has submitted an annual application.

(f) The director of the department of health is hereby authorized to promulgate any rules or regulations and prescribe forms necessary to facilitate the provisions of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-15-2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-15 / Section 23-15-2
§ 23-15-2. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter:

(1) Affected person means and includes the person whose proposal is being reviewed, or the applicant, healthcare facilities located within the state that provide institutional health services, the state medical society, the state osteopathic society, those voluntary nonprofit area-wide planning agencies that may be established in the state, the state budget office, the office of health insurance commissioner, any hospital or medical service corporation organized under the laws of the state, the statewide health coordinating council, contiguous health-systems agencies, and those members of the public who are to be served by the proposed, new institutional health services or new healthcare equipment.

(2) Cost-impact analysis means a written analysis of the effect that a proposal to offer or develop new institutional health services or new healthcare equipment, if approved, will have on healthcare costs and shall include any detail that may be prescribed by the state agency in rules and regulations.

(3) Director means the director of the Rhode Island state department of health.

(4)(i) Healthcare facility means any institutional health-service provider, facility or institution, place, building, agency, or portion of them, whether a partnership or corporation, whether public or private, whether organized for profit or not, used, operated, or engaged in providing healthcare services that are limited to hospitals, nursing facilities, home nursing-care provider, home-care provider, hospice provider, inpatient rehabilitation centers (including drug and/or alcohol abuse treatment centers), freestanding emergency-care facilities as defined in § 23-17-2, certain facilities providing surgical treatment to patients not requiring hospitalization (surgi-centers, multi-practice, physician ambulatory-surgery centers and multi-practice, podiatry ambulatory-surgery centers), and facilities providing inpatient hospice care. Single-practice physician or podiatry ambulatory-surgery centers (as defined in § 23-17-2(17), (18), respectively) are exempt from the requirements of chapter 15 of this title; provided, however, that such exemption shall not apply if a single-practice physician or podiatry ambulatory-surgery center is established by a medical practice group (as defined in § 5-37-1) within two (2) years following the formation of such medical practice group, when such medical practice group is formed by the merger or consolidation of two (2) or more medical practice groups or the acquisition of one medical practice group by another medical practice group. Medical spas as defined in chapter 105 of this title are exempt from the requirements of this chapter. The term healthcare facility does not include Christian Science institutions (also known as Christian Science nursing facilities) listed and certified by the Commission for Accreditation of Christian Science Nursing Organizations/Facilities, Inc.

(ii) Any provider of hospice care who provides hospice care without charge shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.

(5) Healthcare provider means a person who is a direct provider of healthcare services (including but not limited to physicians, dentists, nurses, podiatrists, physician assistants, or nurse practitioners) in that the persons primary current activity is the provision of healthcare services for persons.

(6) Health services means organized program components for preventive, assessment, maintenance, diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitative services provided in a healthcare facility.

(7) Health services council means the advisory body to the Rhode Island state department of health established in accordance with chapter 17 of this title, appointed and empowered as provided to serve as the advisory body to the state agency in its review functions under this chapter.

(8) Institutional health services means health services provided in or through healthcare facilities and includes the entities in or through that the services are provided.

(9) New healthcare equipment means any single piece of medical equipment (and any components that constitute operational components of the piece of medical equipment) proposed to be utilized in conjunction with the provision of services to patients or the public, the capital costs of which would exceed two million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,250,000); provided, however, that the state agency shall exempt from review any application that proposes one-for-one equipment replacement as defined in regulation. Further, beginning July 1, 2012, and each July thereafter, the amount shall be adjusted by the percentage of increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Department of Labor Statistics as of September 30 of the prior calendar year.

(10) New institutional health services means and includes:

(i) Construction, development, or other establishment of a new healthcare facility.

(ii) Any expenditure, except acquisitions of an existing healthcare facility, that will not result in a change in the services or bed capacity of the healthcare facility by, or on behalf of, an existing healthcare facility in excess of five million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($5,250,000) which is a capital expenditure including expenditures for predevelopment activities; provided further, beginning July 1, 2012, and each July thereafter, the amount shall be adjusted by the percentage of increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Department of Labor Statistics as of September 30 of the prior calendar year.

(iii) Where a person makes an acquisition by, or on behalf of, a healthcare facility or health maintenance organization under lease or comparable arrangement or through donation, which would have required review if the acquisition had been by purchase, the acquisition shall be deemed a capital expenditure subject to review.

(iv) Any capital expenditure that results in the addition of a health service or that changes the bed capacity of a healthcare facility with respect to which the expenditure is made, except that the state agency may exempt from review, by rules and regulations promulgated for this chapter, any bed reclassifications made to licensed nursing facilities and annual increases in licensed bed capacities of nursing facilities that do not exceed the greater of ten (10) beds or ten percent (10%) of facility licensed bed capacity and for which the related capital expenditure does not exceed two million dollars ($2,000,000).

(v) Any health service proposed to be offered to patients or the public by a healthcare facility that was not offered on a regular basis in or through the facility within the twelve-month (12) period prior to the time the service would be offered, and that increases operating expenses by more than one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000), except that the state agency may exempt from review, by rules and regulations promulgated for this chapter, any health service involving reclassification of bed capacity made to licensed nursing facilities. Further, beginning July 1, 2012, and each July thereafter, the amount shall be adjusted by the percentage of increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Department of Labor Statistics as of September 30 of the prior calendar year.

(vi) Any new or expanded tertiary or specialty-care service, regardless of capital expense or operating expense, as defined by and listed in regulation, the list not to exceed a total of twelve (12) categories of services at any one time and shall include full-body magnetic resonance imaging and computerized axial tomography; provided, however, that the state agency shall exempt from review any application that proposes one-for-one equipment replacement as defined by and listed in regulation. Acquisition of full body magnetic resonance imaging and computerized axial tomography shall not require a certificate-of-need review and approval by the state agency if satisfactory evidence is provided to the state agency that it was acquired for under one million dollars ($1,000,000) on or before January 1, 2010, and was in operation on or before July 1, 2010.

(11) Person means any individual, trust or estate, partnership, corporation (including associations, joint stock companies, and insurance companies), state or political subdivision, or instrumentality of a state.

(12) Predevelopment activities means expenditures for architectural designs, plans, working drawings, and specifications, site acquisition, professional consultations, preliminary plans, studies, and surveys made in preparation for the offering of a new, institutional health service.

(13) State agency means the Rhode Island state department of health.

(14) To develop means to undertake those activities that, on their completion, will result in the offering of a new, institutional health service or new healthcare equipment or the incurring of a financial obligation, in relation to the offering of that service.

(15) To offer means to hold oneself out as capable of providing, or as having the means for the provision of, specified health services or healthcare equipment.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-15-8 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-15 / Section 23-15-8
§ 23-15-8. Funds for administration.
Status: in_force

There is authorized to be appropriated from the state treasury those sums that may be necessary for the purposes of administering this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-12.11 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-12.11
§ 23-17-12.11. Nursing facility quality improvement program.
Status: in_force

(a) Established. Each licensed nursing facility shall develop and implement a quality improvement program and establish a quality improvement committee.

(b) Each licensed nursing facility shall designate a qualified individual, who shall be determined by the facilitys administrator, to coordinate and manage the nursing facilitys quality improvement program.

(1) The nursing facilitys quality improvement committee shall include at least the following members:

(i) The nursing facility administrator;

(ii) The director of nursing;

(iii) The medical director;

(iv) A social worker; and

(v) A representative of dietary services.

(2) The quality improvement committee shall:

(i) Meet at least quarterly;

(ii) Maintain records of all quality improvement activities; and

(iii) Keep records of committee meetings that shall be available to the department during any on-site visit.

(3) The quality improvement committee for a nursing facility shall annually review and approve the quality improvement plan for the nursing facility. Said plan shall be available to the public upon request.

(c) Each nursing facility shall establish a written quality improvement plan that shall be reviewed by the department during the facilitys annual survey and that:

(1) Provides criteria to monitor nursing care, including medication administration, prevention and treatment of decubitus ulcers, dehydration and nutritional status and weight loss or gain, accidents and injuries, unexpected deaths, changes in mental or psychological status, and any other data necessary to monitor quality of care; and

(2) Includes methods to identify, evaluate and correct problems.

(d) The nursing facility administrator shall take appropriate remedial actions based on the recommendations of the nursing facilitys quality improvement committee.

(e) The director may not require the quality improvement committee to disclose the records and the reports prepared by the committee except as necessary to assure compliance with the requirements of this section.

(f) Good faith attempts by the quality improvement committee to identify and correct quality deficiencies will not be used as a basis for sanctions.

(g) If the department determines that a nursing facility is not implementing its quality improvement program effectively and that quality improvement activities are inadequate, the department may impose sanctions on the nursing facility to improve quality of resident care including mandated hiring of, directly or by contract, an independent quality consultant.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-13.2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-13.2
§ 23-19-13.2. Disposal of infectious and pathological waste.
Status: in_force

(a) No resource recovery system or facility made available by the corporation shall accept or burn any infectious or human or animal pathological waste from any hospital, clinic, medical laboratory, nursing home, medical examiner, or teaching hospital. Any facility violating this provision shall be fined not less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000). The fine shall be paid to the city or town in which the facility is located.

(b) Any person who shall knowingly and willfully perform any act or shall conspire with any person, hospital, clinic, medical laboratory, medical examiner, or teaching hospital to perform any act in violation of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-26-12 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-26 / Section 23-26-12
§ 23-26-12. Sterilization registrations.
Status: in_force

Any sterilization process, before being used in connection with this chapter, must receive the approval of the director. Every person, firm, or corporation desiring to operate the sterilization process shall first obtain a numbered registration from the director and shall not operate the process unless the registration is kept conspicuously posted in the establishment. The fee for original registration shall be eighty-four dollars ($84.00). Application for the registration shall be accompanied by specifications in duplicate, in such form as the director shall require. Each registration shall expire one year from date of issue. The fee for annual renewal of a sterilizing registration shall be one-half (Â½) the original fee.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-1.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-1.1
§ 23-1-1.1. Health planning  Findings.
Status: in_force

It is found and determined that health planning is essential to promote appropriate access to high quality health services at a reasonable cost and is a precondition to effective public health practice by the department of health; and that health planning is a prerequisite to the effective discharge of the department of healths certificate of need responsibilities.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-14 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-14
§ 23-19-14. Bonds and notes of the corporation.
Status: reserved

(a) The corporation shall have the power and is authorized to issue from time to time its negotiable bonds and notes in one or more series in principal amounts that in the opinion of the corporation shall be necessary to provide sufficient funds for achieving its purposes, including the payment of interest on bonds and notes of the corporation, the establishment of reserves to secure the bonds and notes (including the reserve funds created pursuant to § 23-19-17), and the making of all other expenditures of the corporation incident to and necessary or convenient to carrying out its purposes and powers.

(b) All bonds and notes issued by the corporation may be secured by the full faith and credit of the corporation, or may be payable solely out of the revenues and receipts derived from the lease, mortgage, or sale by the corporation of its projects or of any part of its projects, from repayment from any loans made by the corporation with regard to any of its projects or any part of its projects, or from other contractual arrangements entered into by the corporation with respect to its projects, all as may be designated in the proceedings of the corporation under which the bonds or notes shall be authorized to be issued. The bonds and notes may be executed and delivered by the corporation at any time from time to time, may be in any form and denominations and of any tenor and maturities, and may be in bearer form or in registered form, as to principal and interest or as to principal alone, all as the corporation may determine.

(c) Bonds and notes may be payable in installments and at times not exceeding fifty (50) years from the date issued as shall be determined by the corporation.

(d) Bonds and notes may be payable at any place, whether within or without the state, may bear interest at a rate or rates payable at the time or times and at any place or places and evidenced in any manner, and may contain any provisions not inconsistent herewith, all as shall be provided in the proceedings of the corporation under which they shall be authorized to be issued.

(e) There may be retained by provision made in the proceedings under which any bonds or notes of the corporation are authorized to be issued, an option to redeem all or any part of the bonds or notes, at prices and upon notice, and on further terms and conditions that shall be set forth on the record of the proceedings and on the face of the bonds or notes.

(f) Any bonds or notes of the corporation may be sold from time to time at the prices, at public or private sale, and in the manner that shall be determined by the corporation, and the corporation shall pay all expenses, premiums, and commissions as it shall deem necessary or advantageous in connection with the issuance and sale of any bonds or notes.

(g) Money of the corporation, including proceeds from the sale of bonds or notes, and revenues, receipts, and income from any of its projects, may be invested and reinvested in obligations, securities, and other investments consistent with the provisions of § 23-19-10(35) as shall be specified in the resolutions under which the bonds or notes are authorized.

(h) Issuance by the corporation of one or more series of bonds or notes for one or more purposes shall not preclude it from issuing other bonds or notes in connection with the same project or any other project, but the proceedings upon which any subsequent bonds or notes may be issued shall recognize and protect a prior pledge or mortgage made for a prior issue of bonds or notes unless in the proceedings authorizing the prior issue, the right is reserved to issue subsequent bonds or notes on a parity with the prior issue.

(i) The corporation is authorized to issue bonds or notes for the purpose of refunding its outstanding bonds or notes, including the payment of any redemption premium and any interest accrued or to accrue to the earliest or subsequent date of redemption, purchase, or maturity of the bonds or notes, and, if deemed advisable by the corporation, for the additional purpose of paying all or part of the cost of acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, rehabilitating, or improving any project, or the making of loans on any project. The proceeds of bonds or notes issued for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds or notes may be applied, in the discretion of the corporation, to the purchase, retirement at maturity, or redemption of the outstanding bonds or notes either on the earliest or a subsequent redemption date, and may, pending the application, be placed in escrow. The escrowed proceeds may be invested and reinvested in obligations of or guaranteed by the United States of America, or in certificates of deposit, time deposits, or repurchase agreements secured or guaranteed by the state or the United States, or an instrumentality of either, maturing at a time or times that shall be appropriate to assure the prompt payment, as to principal, interest, and redemption premium, if any, of the outstanding bonds or notes to be so refunded. The interest, income and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investment may also be applied to the payment of the outstanding bonds or notes to be refunded. After the terms of the escrow have been fully satisfied and carried out, any balance of the proceeds and interests, income and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investments, may be returned to the corporation for use by it in furtherance of its purposes. The portion of the proceeds of bonds or notes issued for the additional purpose of paying all or part of the cost of acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, rehabilitating, developing, or improving any project, or the making of loans on any project, may be invested and reinvested in obligations, securities, and other investments consistent herewith as shall be specified in the resolutions under which the bonds or notes are authorized and which shall mature not later than the times when the proceeds will be needed for its purposes. The interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or realized on the investments may be applied to the payment of all parts of the costs, or to the making of the loans, or may be used by the corporation otherwise in furtherance of its purposes. All the bonds or notes shall be issued and secured, and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter in the same manner and to the same extent as any other bonds or notes issued pursuant to this chapter.

(j) The commissioners, the executive director of the corporation, and other persons executing the bonds or notes shall not be subject to personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of bonds or notes.

(k) Bonds or notes may be issued under the provisions of this chapter without obtaining the consent of any department, division, commission, board, body, bureau, or agency of the state, and without any other proceedings or the happening of any conditions or things other than those proceedings, conditions, or things which are specifically required by this chapter and by the provisions of the resolution authorizing the issue of the bonds or notes or the trust agreement securing the bonds.

(l) The corporation, subject to agreements with noteholders or bondholders that may then be in force, shall have the power, out of any available funds, to purchase bonds or notes of the corporation, which shall thereupon be cancelled, at a price not exceeding:

(1) If the bonds or notes are then redeemable, the redemption price then applicable plus accrued interest to the next interest payment date; or

(2) If the bonds or notes are not then redeemable, the redemption price applicable on the earliest date that the bonds or notes become subject to redemption, plus the interest that would have accrued to that date.

(m) Whether or not the bonds and notes are of a form and character as to be negotiable instruments under the terms of the uniform commercial code, the bonds and notes are hereby made negotiable instruments within the meaning of and for all the purposes of the uniform commercial code, subject only to the provisions of the bonds and notes for registration.

(n) If a commissioner or officer of the corporation whose signature appears on bonds, notes, or coupons shall cease to be a commissioner or officer before the delivery of the bonds or notes, the signature shall, nevertheless, be valid and sufficient for all purposes, the same as if the commissioner or officer had remained in office until the delivery.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-36 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-36
§ 23-19-36. Central landfill  Funds for acquisition.
Status: in_force

Funds for acquisition of properties under §§ 23-19-34 and 23-19-35 shall come from revenues generated by use of the central landfill and from other sources that may be available, including proceeds from the sale of houses, structures, and land under §§ 23-19-34.1 and 23-19-35.1.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-22-9 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-22 / Section 23-22-9
§ 23-22-9. Judicial review of license action.
Status: in_force

Any person aggrieved by a decision of the department of health refusing to grant an application for a license to maintain a swimming pool, or suspending or revoking a license already issued may, within thirty (30) days, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, after receiving notice of the decision, appeal the decision to the superior court for the counties of Providence and Bristol, by filing in the court his or her reasons of appeal, and the court shall, as soon as possible after notice to the department as the court may prescribe, hear and determine the appeal, following the course of equity.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-60-9 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-60 / Section 23-60-9
§ 23-60-9. Rules and regulations.
Status: in_force

The director may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-9-11 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-9 / Section 23-9-11
§ 23-9-11. Disposition of fines.
Status: in_force

The fines for the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be recovered to the use of the city or town where the offense was committed.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-4.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-4.1
§ 23-17-4.1. Rules and regulations for school-based health centers.
Status: in_force

(a) On or before January 1, 2022, the department of health shall promulgate rules and regulations for the specific licensing and operation of school-based health centers in elementary and secondary schools. All school-based health centers as defined in § 23-17-2 shall be licensed and operated pursuant to a school-based health center license.

(b) The rules and regulations promulgated by the department pursuant to the provisions of this section shall include, but not be limited to, requirements for adequate and appropriate staffing to include a requirement for a certified nurse-teacher to be employed and present in any elementary or secondary school with a school-based health center on site and for the establishment of standards of care and adequate supervision and management of staff.

(c) Pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this section, every entity applying to be licensed as a school-based health center in an elementary or secondary school shall be responsible for:

(1) Developing and implementing a staffing/personnel plan that includes the schools certified nurse-teacher as a primary source of patient referrals, and articulates the role of the certified nurse-teacher in student and family communication, care coordination, and delivery of services to students; and

(2) Submitting for review by the department of health, any written agreements, memoranda of understanding, and/or other terms and conditions agreed to between the healthcare facility or the entity operating the healthcare facility and the school district and/or collective bargaining agent.

(d) The department shall not issue licenses for school-based health centers or any other healthcare facilities to be located in elementary or secondary schools until rules and regulations are promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this section.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-19 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-19
§ 23-1-19. Inspection and examination  Penalty for obstruction.
Status: in_force

(a) The director is authorized to enter, examine, or survey at any reasonable time those places that he or she considers necessary to carry out his or her responsibilities under this chapter or under other provisions of law.

(b) Any person who willfully impedes or obstructs an inspection, examination, or survey by the director shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100) or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days, or both.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-5.4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-5.4
§ 23-1-5.4. Access to information.
Status: in_force

(a) The office of private well water contamination shall have access to the following information:

(1) The names of all persons who have registered complaints concerning private well water contamination and all information concerning their complaints; and

(2) All current records in the department of health and the department of environmental management pertaining to private well water contamination.

(b) The office of private well water contamination shall have the authority to use this information in whatever ways are necessary to carry out the duties enumerated in § 23-1-5.3.

(c) The department of environmental management, the department of health, and all other state agencies shall assist the office of private well water contamination in the performance of these duties.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-37 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-37
§ 23-17-37. Disqualifying information.
Status: in_force

(a) Information produced by a national criminal records check pertaining to conviction for the following crimes will result in a letter to the employee and employer disqualifying the applicant from employment: murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault, assault on persons sixty (60) years of age or older, assault with intent to commit specified felonies (murder, robbery, rape, burglary, or the abominable and detestable crime against nature) felony assault, patient abuse, neglect or mistreatment of patients, burglary, first-degree arson, robbery, felony drug offenses, felony larceny, or felony banking law violations, felony obtaining money under false pretenses, felony embezzlement, abuse, neglect and/or exploitation of adults with severe impairments, exploitation of elders, or a crime under section 1128(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7(a)). An employee against whom disqualifying information has been found may provide a copy of the national criminal records check to the employer who shall make a judgment regarding the continued employment of the employee. An employee against whom disqualifying information has been found may provide a copy of the national criminal records check to the employer who shall make a judgment regarding the continued employment of the employee.

(b) For purposes of this section, conviction means, in addition to judgments of conviction entered by a court subsequent to a finding of guilty or a plea of guilty, those instances where the defendant has entered a plea of nolo contendere and has received a sentence of probation and those instances where a defendant has entered into a deferred sentence agreement with the attorney general.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-34 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-34
§ 23-17-34. Criminal records review  Nursing facilities  Home nursing-care providers and home-care providers.
Status: in_force

(a) Any person seeking employment in a nursing facility, a home nursing-care provider, hospice provider, or a home-care provider who is, or is required to be, licensed, registered, or certified with the department of health if that employment involves routine contact with a patient or resident without the presence of other employees, shall undergo a national criminal records check that shall include fingerprints submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by the bureau of criminal identification of the department of attorney general. The national criminal records check shall be initiated prior to, or within one week of, employment. All persons who, as of September 30, 2014, are already employed by a covered facility or provider and all persons who, as of such date, already provide services under this chapter, shall be exempted from the requirements of this section for purposes of their current employment only.

(b) The director of the department of health may, by rule, identify those positions requiring criminal records checks. The identified employee, through the employer, shall apply to the bureau of criminal identification of the department of attorney general for a national criminal records check. Upon the discovery of any disqualifying information as defined in § 23-17-37 and, in accordance with the rule promulgated by the director of health, the bureau of criminal identification of the department attorney general will inform the applicant, in writing, of the nature of the disqualifying information; and, without disclosing the nature of the disqualifying information, will notify the employer, in writing, that disqualifying information has been discovered.

(c) An employee against whom disqualifying information has been found may provide a copy of the national criminal records check to the employer who shall make a judgment regarding the continued employment of the employee.

(d) In those situations in which no disqualifying information has been found, the bureau of criminal identification of the department of attorney general shall inform the applicant and the employer, in writing, of this fact.

(e) The employer shall maintain on file, subject to inspection by the department of health, evidence that statewide criminal records checks have been initiated on all employees seeking employment between October 1, 1991, and September 30, 2014, and the results of the checks. Failure to maintain that evidence would be grounds to revoke the license or registration of the employer. The employer shall maintain on file, subject to inspection by the department of health, evidence that national criminal records checks have been initiated on all employees seeking employment on or after October 1, 2014, and the results of those checks.

(f) The employee shall be responsible for the cost of conducting the national criminal records check through the bureau of criminal identification of the department of attorney general.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-65-7 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-65 / Section 23-65-7
§ 23-65-7. Certification process.
Status: in_force

A person who desires to be certified as an operator of a water supply treatment facility or a water transmission and distribution system shall file with the board of certification of operators of water supply facilities, established by this chapter, an application upon a form to be furnished by the board. The applicant shall include in the application his or her qualifications under oath. If the qualifications of the applicant meet or exceed the minimum qualifications established by the board for the certification type and grade for which they have applied, the applicant will be allowed to take a certification examination. Examinations shall be held at least twice each year at a time and place designated by the board. If the applicant passes the examination to the satisfaction of the board, the board shall issue the applicant a certification, which shall be in effect for three years from issuance, and may be renewed at that time, provided the operator is in good stead with the board and all conditions outlined in this chapter concerning continuing education are met. The board may establish, through its rules and regulations, provisions for the issuance of temporary emergency or provisional certification to be effective for a period of no longer than one year for good cause shown.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-34.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-34.1
§ 23-19-34.1. Removal of houses  Buffer zone.
Status: in_force

(a) The corporation shall oversee the removal of all houses and structures which are acquired per § 23-19-34. These houses and structures may be sold, but only through a public auction process. In any event, the person or persons in whom the title of any house or structure was vested at the time it was acquired by the corporation shall not have a conclusive right to reacquire the property. Further, the cost of removing these houses and structures acquired through the public auction process shall be borne by the purchaser.

(b) As a condition of purchase at the public auction, any house or structure so removed, must be moved to a location or piece of land which is more than two thousand feet (2000²) from the perimeter of the entire operational portion of the central landfill and no portion of the location or piece of land shall be encroached upon to any degree by the two thousand foot (2000²) mark.

(c) All land acquired per § 23-19-34 which is within one thousand feet (1000²) of the entire operational portion of the central landfill shall be designated as a buffer zone.

(d) The corporation shall have the right to sell all land acquired per § 23-19-34, provided the land is sold solely for industrial/business uses and in conformance with § 23-19-35.1(c). In addition, a covenant shall be placed in the deed of any land so sold notifying the purchaser of the presence of the central landfill and protecting the corporation from any legal action by the purchaser with respect to the environmental impact of it.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the corporation may utilize any property acquired pursuant to this section and §§ 23-19-34 and 23-19-35 for the development of an industrial/business park pursuant to § 23-19-35.1(c) and this development of an industrial/business park is deemed to constitute the establishment of a buffer zone as prescribed in § 23-19-34.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-15 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-15
§ 23-1-15. Providing a physician for New Shoreham.
Status: in_force

Whenever it appears that the town of New Shoreham does not have a duly licensed physician in attendance, the director of health, with the approval of the governor, may request duly qualified state physicians from any department within the state government to accept assignment to be in residence there and to serve the people of the town of New Shoreham in the general practice of medicine. The town of New Shoreham shall provide the doctor with suitable living quarters and office facilities including light and heat free of charge, and the doctor shall charge regular fees for his or her services and shall account for the fees to the director of health. In addition to the regular remuneration being paid that doctor by the state at the time of the assignment, the doctor shall also receive a percentage of all fees collected by him or her that in the discretion of the director of health shall be deemed reasonable, and the proceeds of the remaining fees shall be paid to the general treasurer and become part of the general fund of the state.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-32 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-32
§ 23-1-32. Limitation on civil liability.
Status: in_force

The director of health and his or her duly authorized agents, individually and severally, and when acting in good faith and without malice, shall not be personally liable for damages because of any act undertaken in the lawful performance of official duties. Any suit or other legal action against the director and his or her duly authorized agents, because of any act performed by them, individually or severally, in the lawful performance of official duties, shall be defended at state expense until the final termination of proceedings.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-10.3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-10.3
§ 23-3-10.3. Certificate of birth  Modification.
Status: in_force

A person eighteen (18) years of age or older may request that the description of the persons race be modified or amended on their birth certificate in a manner that utilizes culturally sensitive language and terminology. Such a request shall be made through the state office of vital records. The department of health may promulgate rules and regulations and/or develop a process to accommodate all reasonable requests in a manner which uses culturally sensitive language and terminology to identify, modify and/or amend descriptions of race.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-61-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-61 / Section 23-61-3
§ 23-61-3. Definitions.
Status: in_force

For purposes of this chapter:

(1) Department means the state department of health.

(2) Director means the director of health.

(3) High priority building means any public building or public, private and/or parochial schools (grades pre-K to 12), day care centers, and nurseries.

(4) New construction means any erection of a building, structure or part thereof not defined as a renovation for the purposes of this chapter.

(5) Owner means the person having legal title to property and/or buildings. For purposes of publicly owned property only, the owner shall be defined to be the chief executive officer of the state or municipal agency which owns, leases or controls the use of the property.

(6) Person means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, agency, political subdivision of this state, and other state or political subdivision or agency thereof, and any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.

(7) Public building means any building owned, managed, leased, furnished, or occupied by a state or municipal agency or commission or public school.

(8) Radon means the radioactive noble gas radon 222.

(9) Radon progeny means the short-lived radionuclides formed as a result of the decay of Radon 222, including Polonium 218, Bismuth 214, lead 214 and Polonium 214.

(10) Radon/radon progeny mitigation means any actions or measures taken and any materials or equipment installed, the purpose of which is to reduce levels of radon gas and/or radon progeny in the air or water supply of a building, or to prevent entry of radon or radon progeny into the indoor atmosphere.

(11) Renovation means an extension or increase in floor area or height of a building or structure; or a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the means of egress; or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height; or the moving from one location or position to another; or the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance. Ordinary repairs, as defined by the state building code, shall be considered as renovations for the purposes of this chapter.

(12) Residential construction means any building, structure, or parts thereof in which families or households live, or in which sleeping accommodations are provided (with or without dining facilities), excluding those that are classified as institutional buildings, and which is designated within state building code use groups R-2, R-3 or R-4.

(13) State building code means chapter 27.3 of title 23.

(14) Under roof floor space means the gross constructed floor area covered by a roof that provides shelter, plus any area adjacent to but outside of the enclosing walls that has a constructed floor and is covered by a sheltering roof contiguous with the building. This shall include the gross floor area of each floor of a multiple story building. Walkways are not included in this definition.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-70-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-70 / Section 23-70-3
§ 23-70-3. Task force.
Status: in_force

(a) In developing the program created by § 23-69-2, the director of the department of health may appoint a task force to make recommendations on strategies for educating the public on the health benefits of early detection and prevention of osteoporosis.

(b) Members of the task force are not entitled to compensation, a per diem, or expense reimbursement for their service on the task force.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-12 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-12
§ 23-3-12. Delayed registration of births.
Status: in_force

(a) When the birth of a person born in this state or adopted by residents of this state has not been registered, a certificate may be filed in accordance with regulations of the state department of health. This certificate shall be registered subject to evidentiary requirements that the state department of health shall by regulation prescribe to substantiate the alleged facts of birth.

(b) Certificates of birth registered one year or more after the date of occurrence shall be marked delayed and show on their face the date of the delayed registration.

(c) A summary statement of the evidence submitted in support of the delayed registration shall be endorsed on the certificate.

(d)(1) When an applicant does not submit the minimum documentation required in the regulations for delayed registration or when the state registrar of vital records finds reason to question the validity or adequacy of the certificate or the documentary evidence, the state registrar of vital records shall not register the delayed certificate and shall advise the applicant of the reasons for this action.

(2) The state director of health may by regulation provide for the dismissal of an application that is not actively prosecuted.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-23 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-23
§ 23-3-23. Disclosure of records.
Status: in_force

(a) To protect the integrity of vital records, to ensure their proper use, and to ensure the efficient and proper administration of the vital records system, it shall be unlawful for any person to permit inspection of, or to disclose information contained in, vital records, or to copy, or issue a copy, of all, or part of, any vital record, except as authorized by regulation or as provided for herein.

(b) The director of health may authorize, under appropriate safeguards, the disclosure of data contained in vital records for research purposes.

(c) Information in vital records indicating that a birth occurred out of wedlock shall not be disclosed, except as provided by regulation, upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or until the record becomes a public record as defined by regulations.

(d) Appeals from decisions of the custodians of permanent local records refusing to disclose information, or to permit inspection of or copying of records, of persons born one hundred (100) years before the date of inspection, under the authority of this section and regulation issued under this section, shall be made to the state registrar of vital records. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, those records shall be open for research to any member of a legally incorporated genealogy society and those societies shall be permitted to incorporate statistics derived from those records in their publications, upon receipt of permission of the director of health; and provided, further, that no person, except the person whose birth is recorded, his or her issue, parent or guardian, spouse, civil union and/or registered domestic partner, grandparent, or sibling; or attorneys at law, title examiners, or members of legally incorporated genealogical societies in the conduct of their official duties as defined in regulations shall have any access to, or be permitted to, examine the original or any copy of the birth certificate or birth record, of any person in the custody of any registrar of vital records or of the state department of health.

(e) Title examiners, attorneys, or members of legally incorporated genealogical societies, in the conduct of their official duties as defined in regulations, shall be allowed to examine death certificates that have been filed with the department of health and/or municipalities. No fees shall be charged to such persons for the searching or viewing of death certificates, but fees for copies pursuant to § 23-1-54 or § 23-3-25 shall apply.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-90-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-90 / Section 23-90-3
§ 23-90-3. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:

(1) Brand means a name, symbol, word or mark that attributes a mattress to the producer of such mattress.

(2) Covered entity means any political subdivision of the state, any mattress retailer, any permitted transfer station, any waste to energy facility, any healthcare facility, any educational facility, any correctional facility, any military base, or any commercial or non profit lodging establishment that possesses a discarded mattress that was discarded in this state. Covered entity does not include any renovator, refurbisher or any person who transports a discarded mattress.

(3) Consumer means an individual who is also a resident of this state.

(4) Corporation means the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation.

(5) Corporation Director means the executive director of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation.

(6) Council or mattress recycling council means the state wide, non-profit organization created by producers, or created by any trade association that represents producers, who account for a majority of mattress production in the United States to design, submit, and implement the mattress stewardship plan as described in this chapter.

(7) Discarded mattress means any mattress that a consumer intends to discard, has discarded, or that is abandoned.

(8) Energy recovery means the process by which all or a portion of solid waste materials are processed or combusted in order to utilize the heat content or other forms of energy derived from such solid waste materials.

(9) Foundation means any ticking-covered structure that is used to support a mattress and that is composed of one or more of the following: A constructed frame, foam, or a box spring. Foundation does not include any bed frame or base made of wood, metal, or other material that rests upon the floor and that serves as a brace for a mattress.

(10) Mattress means any resilient material, or combination of materials, that is enclosed by ticking, used alone or in combination with other products, and that is intended for, or promoted for, sleeping upon. Mattress includes any foundation, renovated foundation, or renovated mattress.

Mattress does not include any of the following:

(i) An unattached mattress pad, an unattached mattress topper, including any item with resilient filling, with or without ticking, that is intended to be used with, or on top of a mattress;

(ii) A sleeping bag, pillow;

(iii) A crib or bassinet mattress, car bed;

(iv) Juvenile products, including: a carriage, basket, dressing table, stroller, playpen, infant carrier, lounge pad, crib bumper, and the pads for those juvenile products;

(v) A product that contains liquid- or gaseous-filled ticking, including any water bed or air mattress that does not contain upholstery material between the ticking and the mattress core;

(vi) Any upholstered furniture that does not contain a detachable mattress; or

(vii) A fold-out sofa bed or futon.

(11) Mattress core means the main support system that is present in a mattress, including, but not limited to: springs, foam, air bladder, water bladder, or resilient filling.

(12) Mattress recycling council or council means the organization created by producers to design, submit, and implement the mattress stewardship program described in § 23-90-5.

(13) Mattress stewardship fee means the amount added to the purchase price of a mattress sold in this state that is necessary to cover the cost of collecting, transporting, and processing discarded mattresses by the council pursuant to the mattress stewardship program.

(14) Mattress stewardship program or program means the state wide, program described in § 23-90-5 and implemented pursuant to the mattress stewardship plan as approved by the corporation director.

(15) Mattress topper means any item that contains resilient filling, with or without ticking, that is intended to be used with or on top of a mattress.

(16) Performance goal means a metric proposed by the council, to measure, on an annual basis, the performance of the mattress stewardship program, taking into consideration technical and economic feasibilities, in achieving continuous, meaningful improvement in improving the rate of mattress recycling in the state and any other specified goal of the program.

(17) Producer means any person who manufactures or renovates a mattress that is sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state under the manufacturers own name or brand. Producer includes:

(i) The owner of a trademark or brand under which a mattress is sold, offered for sale, or distributed in this state, whether or not such trademark or brand is registered in this state; and

(ii) Any person who imports a mattress into the United States that is sold or offered for sale in this state and that is manufactured or renovated by a person who does not have a presence in the United States;

(18) Recycling means any process in which discarded mattresses, components, and by-products may lose their original identity or form as they are transformed into new, usable, or marketable materials. Recycling does not include as a primary process the use of incineration for energy recovery or energy generation by means of combustion.

(19) Renovate or renovation means altering a mattress for the purpose of resale and includes any one, or a combination of, the following: Replacing the ticking or filling, adding additional filling, rebuilding a mattress, or replacing components with new or recycled materials. Renovate or renovation does not include the:

(i) Stripping of a mattress of its ticking or filling without adding new material;

(ii) Sanitization or sterilization of a mattress without otherwise altering the mattress; or

(iii) Altering of a mattress by a renovator when a person retains the altered mattress for personal use, in accordance with regulations of the department of business regulation.

(20) Renovator means a person who renovates discarded mattresses for the purpose of reselling such mattresses in a retail store.

(21) Retailer means any person who sells mattresses in this state or offers mattresses in this state to a consumer through any means, including, but not limited to, remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogs, or the internet.

(22) Sanitization means the direct application of chemicals to a mattress to kill human disease-causing pathogens.

(23)  Sale means the transfer of title of a mattress for consideration, including through the use of a sales outlet, catalog, internet website, or similar electronic means.

(24) Sterilization means the mitigation of any deleterious substances or organisms including human disease-causing pathogens, fungi, and insects from a mattress or filling material using a process approved by the department of business regulation.

(25) Ticking means the outermost layer of fabric or material of a mattress. Ticking does not include any layer of fabric or material quilted together with, or otherwise attached to, the outermost layer of fabric or material of a mattress.

(26) Upholstery material means all material, loose or attached, between the ticking and the core of a mattress.

(27) Wholesaler means any person who sells or distributes mattresses in the state, in a nonretail setting, for the purpose of the resale of such mattresses.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-8 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-8
§ 23-19-8. Employment of executive director and support services  Books and records.
Status: in_force

(a) The commissioners shall employ an executive director who shall administer, manage, and direct the offices and business of the corporation, subject to the policies, control, and direction of the commissioners. The commissioners may employ technical experts and other officers, agents, and staff, and fix their qualifications, duties, and compensation. The executive director and the technical experts, officers, agents, and staff and attorneys so employed shall not be subject to the provisions of the classified service. The board of commissioners may delegate to one or more of its agents or employees those administrative duties that it may deem proper to accomplish its purposes. The corporation may request that the director of the department of environmental management provide within the department of environmental management facilities, administrative support, staff services, and any other services that shall be necessary for the proper performance of the powers and duties of the corporation.

(b) The executive director shall also be the secretary and shall keep a record of the proceedings of the corporation and shall be custodian of all books, documents, and papers filed with the corporation and of its minutes, books, and seal. The executive director shall have the authority to cause to be made copies of all minutes and other records and documents of the corporation, and to give certificate under the seal of the corporation that the copies are true copies and all persons dealing with the corporation may rely upon the certificate, except in the case where a secretarys certificate is required to attest to an action of the executive director, in which instance the deputy executive director shall have the authority to give certificate under the seal of the corporation as secretary.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-74-5 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-74 / Section 23-74-5
§ 23-74-5. Less customary approach.
Status: in_force

The fact that a health care practice may be a less customary approach to health care shall not constitute the basis of a disciplinary action per se.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-11 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-11
§ 23-25-11. Prohibitions for applicators.
Status: in_force

(a) No person shall use or supervise the use of any restricted use pesticide which is restricted to use by certified applicators pursuant to § 23-25-9 without first complying with the certification requirements pursuant to § 23-25-13 and any other restrictions as determined by the director as necessary to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, including injury to the applicator or other persons, for that specific pesticide use; provided, that a competent person may make an application under the direct supervision of a certified applicator.

(b) No person shall use or supervise the use of any state limited use pesticide which is restricted to use by certified applicators pursuant to § 23-25-9 without first complying with the certification requirements pursuant to § 23-25-13 or 23-25-14 and any other restrictions as determined by the director as necessary to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, including injury to the applicator or other persons, for that specific pesticide use; provided, that a competent person may make an application under the direct supervision of a certified applicator.

(c) No commercial applicator shall use or supervise the use of any pesticide on land without first becoming a licensed commercial applicator under § 23-25-12 or a certified applicator under § 23-25-13 and regulations adopted under these sections, unless he or she is making the application under the direct supervision of a licensed commercial applicator or a certified commercial applicator; provided, that a commercial applicator applying or supervising the application of a pesticide, not classified as a restricted use pesticide or state limited use pesticide, on land owned or rented by him or her or his or her employer need not comply with the requirements under § 23-25-12 or 23-25-13.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-77-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-77 / Section 23-77-4
§ 23-77-4. Creation of the Rhode Island healthcare information technology advisory committee.
Status: in_force

(a) The director of health shall establish a healthcare information technology and infrastructure advisory committee to advise in the following matters:

(1) Assessment of use of healthcare information technology by the states licensed healthcare providers and facilities;

(2) Recommendations for implementing a statewide interoperable healthcare information infrastructure to include estimates of necessary resources and for determining standards for administrative data exchange, clinical support programs, and the maintenance of the security and confidentiality of individual patient data;

(3) Criteria for selection of projects to be funded with moneys from the fund;

(4) Other related issues as requested by the director of health.

(b) The members of the healthcare information technology and infrastructure advisory committee shall include the director or directors designees of the departments of health and human services and additional members to be appointed by the director of the department of health to include persons representing Rhode Island licensed hospitals and other licensed facilities/providers, the medical and nursing professions, health insurers and health plans, the state quality improvement organization and other parties, such as consumer advisory organizations, with an interest and expertise in health care information technology. The director may designate an existing state nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to improve healthcare quality to fulfill the responsibilities of the Rhode Island Healthcare Information Technology Advisory Committee.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-12 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-12
§ 23-19-12. Powers of the department of health and the department of environmental management.
Status: in_force

Nothing else contained in this chapter shall be construed to affect the powers granted to the department of health and the department of environmental management pursuant to chapters 1 and 18.9 of this title as amended. Further, any solid waste facilities under the jurisdiction of the corporation shall be subject to the regulatory and enforcement activities of the department of environmental management.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-21 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-21
§ 23-3-21. Correction and amendment of vital records.
Status: in_force

(a) A certificate or record registered under this chapter may be amended only in accordance with this chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter by the director of health to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital statistics records.

(b) A certificate that is amended under this section shall be marked amended except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. The date of amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on or made a part of the record. The director of health shall prescribe by regulation the conditions under which additions or minor corrections shall be made to birth certificates within one year after the date of birth without the certificate being considered as amended.

(c) Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order changing the name of a person born in this state and upon request of that person or his or her parent, guardian, or legal representative, the state registrar of vital records shall amend the certificate of birth to reflect the new name.

(d) Upon request and receipt of a sworn acknowledgement of paternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents, the state registrar of vital records shall amend a certificate of birth to show paternity if paternity is not shown on the birth certificate. The department of human services and the division of taxation within the department of administration are authorized to accept a sworn acknowledgment of paternity of a child born out of wedlock signed by both parents on forms prescribed in accordance with § 23-3-9, to forward the acknowledgment to the state registrar of vital records, and the state registrar of vital records shall amend the certificate of birth to show paternity if paternity is not shown on the birth certificate. Upon request of the parents, after approval by a court of competent jurisdiction, the surname of the child shall be changed on the certificate to that of the father. The certificate shall not be marked amended.

(e) When a certificate is amended under this section, the state registrar of vital records shall report the amendment to the custodian of any permanent local records and that record shall be amended accordingly.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-9-17 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-9 / Section 23-9-17
§ 23-9-17. Confinement or removal of persons on board.
Status: in_force

The city or town council of the city or town where a vessel as described in this chapter arrives shall confine on board that vessel, or send to some hospital or other suitable place, all persons who came in that vessel, for a convenient time, until those of them that have, or are likely to have, the smallpox or other infectious or contagious distemper are perfectly recovered and cleansed from that distemper, or have passed a suitable quarantine, and also all persons who have gone on board that vessel without license, at the charge and expense of those persons respectively.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-33-2.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-33 / Section 23-33-2.1
§ 23-33-2.1. Chief inspector.
Status: in_force

The director shall appoint a chief inspector who shall be a citizen of this state to coordinate, implement, administer, and enforce the provisions of the chapter. This existing position shall be responsible to and report to the administrator of the division of occupational safety. The appointee will be in the classified service of the state at a pay grade of not less than 330 and must hold and maintain a national certification as a qualified elevator inspector (QEI-1) as determined by the American society of mechanical engineers.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-41 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-41
§ 23-1-41. Rhode Island public health foundation.
Status: in_force

The Rhode Island department of health may establish a nonprofit corporation in the state for the purpose of obtaining and expediting competitive public health research, development, and innovation projects and programs funded by the federal government and private foundations. This new legal entity shall be known as the Rhode Island public health foundation.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-13 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-13
§ 23-1-13. Appropriations and disbursements.
Status: in_force

The general assembly shall annually appropriate those sums for the purposes of this chapter that it deems necessary; and the state controller is authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer for the payment of those sums, or so much of those sums as may from time to time be required, upon the receipt by him or her of proper vouchers authenticated by the director of health.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-11-15 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-11 / Section 23-11-15
§ 23-11-15. Report not violation of physician-patient relationship.
Status: in_force

Any report made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed a violation of the physician-patient relationship or otherwise contrary to the ethics of the medical profession.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-99-5 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-99 / Section 23-99-5
§ 23-99-5. Hub powers.
Status: in_force

The hub shall have the following powers and all powers necessary to carry out and effectuate its purposes, including, without limitation, all powers necessary for the performance of the following:

(1) To have perpetual succession as a public corporate body and agency of the state and to adopt bylaws, rules, regulations, and procedures for its governance and conduct of its business;

(2) To act as the central entity and coordinating organization of life sciences initiatives on behalf of the state and to work in collaboration with governmental entities, persons, companies, state public bodies, academic institutions, healthcare systems and facilities to promote such initiatives;

(3) To engage accountants, architects, attorneys, engineers, planners, real estate experts, and other consultants as may be necessary in its judgment to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

(4) To obtain insurance coverage including, but not limited to, director and officer insurance for board directors, officers, and employees in order to indemnify said persons against the claims of others;

(5) To administer the investment fund in accordance with § 23-99-6, and such other funds and accounts as the hub may establish from time to time, for the purposes of making appropriations, allocations, investments, grants, research and other funding, or loans;

(6) To apply for and accept revenues including, but not limited to, contributions of any source of money, property, labor, or any other things of value, and to invest, disburse, appropriate, grant, loan, or allocate any funds to the purposes of this chapter including, but not limited to, the purpose of investing in any life science initiative;

(7) To create access to capital, funding, and business attraction, retention, and support programs and to enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or convenient thereto;

(8) To enter into venture agreements with persons, upon such terms and on such conditions as are consistent with the purposes of this chapter, for the advancement of financial aid to such persons for the research, development, and application of specific technologies, products, procedures, services, and techniques, to be developed and produced in this state, and to condition such agreements upon contractual assurances that the benefits of increasing or maintaining employment and tax revenues shall remain in this state and shall accrue to it;

(9) To enter into contracts and agreements, whether governmental or proprietary, to further scientific research in the state, aid in the promotion of the health of residents, foster life sciences jobs, promote overall economic growth in the field of life sciences and to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and all such contracts and agreements of the hub entered into under the authority of this chapter are authorized to have a term not to exceed twenty (20) years;

(10) To borrow money and to issue and refund bonds, notes, and any other obligations, and apply the proceeds thereof for any of its corporate purposes as provided in this chapter, which bonds, notes, or other obligations may be issued at fixed or variable rates, with a maximum maturity of thirty (30) years and which bonds, notes, and obligations of the hub, shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 18 of title 35 (Rhode Island public corporation debt management) to the extent that such bonds, notes, or other obligations finance essential public facilities or are secured by a financing lease or guarantee of the state, as such terms are defined in the Rhode Island public corporation debt management act;

(11) In connection with the issuance of bonds and notes, to enter into indentures, trust agreements, credit facilities, liquidity facilities, or other agreements providing for:

(i) A mortgage, pledge or assignment of, or security interest in, any property of the hub, including, but not limited to, hub revenues, funds, and accounts; and

(ii) Any additional covenants and provisions, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, provisions defining defaults and providing for remedies in the event thereof, that are deemed desirable or necessary by the hub for the security of the holders of the bonds and notes;

(12) To have a seal, which may be altered at pleasure and to use the seal by causing it, or a facsimile of the seal, to be impressed or affixed, or in any other manner reproduced;

(13) To sue and be sued, to prosecute and defend actions relating to its properties and affairs, and to be liable in tort in the same manner as a private person; provided, however, that the hub is not authorized to become a debtor under the United States Bankruptcy Code or receivership laws of the state;

(14) To acquire real and personal property, or any interest in real or personal property, by gift, purchase, transfer, foreclosure, lease, or otherwise including rights or easements; to hold, sell, assign, lease, encumber, mortgage, grant, or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property, or any interest therein, or mortgage any interest owned by it or under its control, custody, or in its possession; to improve, maintain, equip, and furnish such real or personal property or such interest; to release, relinquish, or forgive, any right, title, claim, lien, interest, easement, or demand however acquired, including any equity or right of redemption in property foreclosed by it; to take assignments of leases and rentals, proceed with foreclosure actions, or take any other actions in furtherance of, or necessary or convenient to the performance of its corporate powers and purposes;

(15) To invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, or the hub investment fund, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, in such investments as the state investment commission is authorized to invest pursuant to chapter 10 of title 35;

(16) To appear on its own behalf before boards, commissions, departments, or other agencies of municipal, state, or federal government;

(17) To establish and collect such rents, fees, and charges as the hub without further appropriation shall determine to be reasonable; and to receive and apply revenues from rents, fees, and charges to the purposes of the hub or allotment by the state or any political subdivision thereof;

(18) To prepare, publish, and distribute such studies, reports and bulletins and other material as the hub deems appropriate;

(19) To lease or sell any property to, or purchase any property from, a state public body. Any lease by the hub to a state public body may be for a period, upon terms and conditions, with or without an option to purchase, that the hub may determine. In connection with any such lease, sale, or purchase:

(i) The provisions of any charter, other laws, general, special, or local, ordinances or of any rule or regulation of any state public body, restricting or regulating in any manner the power of any state public body to lease (as lessee or lessor) or sell property, real, personal, or mixed, shall not apply to leases and sales made with the hub pursuant to this chapter; and

(ii) Any municipality, notwithstanding any contrary provision of any charter, other laws or ordinances, general, special, or local, or of any rule or regulations of the state or any municipality, is authorized and empowered to lease, lend, pledge, grant, or convey to the hub, at its request, upon terms and conditions that the chief executive officer of the municipality, if any, or where no chief executive officer exists, the city or town council of the municipality, may deem reasonable and fair and without the necessity for any advertisement, order of court, or other action or formality, any real property or personal property which may be necessary or convenient to the effectuation of the authorized purpose of the hub, including public roads and other real property already devoted to public use; and, subject to what has been stated, the municipality consents to the use of all lands owned by the municipality which are deemed by the hub to be necessary or convenient for its purposes;

(20) To organize and operate venture capital funds to provide capital to early-stage life science companies in the state in exchange for equity and pro rate distributions of net profits, which venture capital funds may be structured as general partnerships and/or limited partnerships with the hub as a general and/or limited partner, and limited liability companies, with the hub as a member or manger; provided that, no state funds appropriated to the hub, and no net profits received on such state funds, may be paid to any for-profit company or person investing in such venture capital funds;

(21) To contract for the acquisition of any of its properties by the federal government; and to contract with any state, federal, or municipal agencies for the performance of any services essential or convenient to its purposes under this chapter;

(22) To create, empower, or otherwise establish one or more nonprofit corporations for the purpose of receiving charitable contributions for the benefit of the hub supporting the hubs corporate purposes and lessening the burdens of government, and whose organizational documents shall:

(i) Include a conflict of interest policy; and

(ii) Provide that, upon termination of such nonprofit corporations existence, all right, title, and interest in and to all such nonprofit corporations assets shall vest in the hub, in another nonprofit corporation, or in the state; and

(23) To take any actions necessary or convenient to the exercise of any power or the discharge of any duty provided for by this act.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-19.3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-19.3
§ 23-17-19.3. Patients visitation rights.
Status: in_force

(a) All health care providers as licensed under the provisions of chapter 29 or 37 of title 5 and all health care facilities as defined in § 23-17-2 shall be required to note in their patients permanent medical records the name of individual(s) not legally related by blood or marriage to the patient who the patient wishes to be considered as immediate family member(s), for the purpose of granting extended visitation rights to the individual(s), so the individual(s) may visit the patient while he or she is receiving inpatient health care services in a health care facility.

(b) A patient choosing to designate individual(s) as immediate family members for the purpose of extending visitation rights may choose up to five (5) individuals and do so either verbally or in writing. This designation shall be made only by the patient and can be initiated and/or rescinded by the patient at any time, either prior to, during, or subsequent to an inpatient stay at the health care facility.

(c) The full names of designated individual(s), along with their relationship to the patient, shall be recorded in the patients permanent medical records, both at the inpatient health care facility and with the patients primary care physician.

(d) In the event the patient has not had the opportunity to have this designation recorded in his or her medical records, a signed statement in the patients own handwriting attesting to the designation of the individual(s) as an immediate family member for the purpose of extending visitation rights during the provision of health care services in an inpatient health care facility, along with their relationship to the individual(s) shall meet all the requirements of this chapter. The patients signature on a signed statement shall be witnessed by two (2) individuals, neither of whom can be the designated individual(s). In the event a signed statement is not available, those designated as agents on a durable power of attorney for health care form shall be allowed visitation privileges.

(e) This chapter shall not be construed to prohibit legally recognized members of the patients family from visiting the patient if they have not been so designated through the provisions of this chapter. No patient shall be required to designate individual(s) under the provisions of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-18-13 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-18 / Section 23-18-13
§ 23-18-13. Notification of historical preservation and heritage commission.
Status: in_force

The historical preservation and heritage commission shall be notified whenever an ancient burial place contains or is suspected to contain the remains of one or more persons.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-13-22 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-13 / Section 23-13-22
§ 23-13-22. Early intervention program for developmentally disabled infants.
Status: in_force

(a) The director of the department of human services shall ensure that all developmentally disabled infants from birth to three (3) years of age shall be enrolled in the early intervention program. Regulations governing the delivery of services under this program, including eligibility criteria, shall be promulgated by the department of human services, with the advice of the interagency coordinating council; provided, however, that all regulations promulgated by the department of health shall remain in full force and effect until the time they are replaced by regulations promulgated by the department of human services. The regulations shall stipulate, at a minimum, the following provisions that are consistent with the intent of this chapter:

(1) The director shall develop and maintain a procedure for the earliest possible identification and efficient referral of all developmentally disabled infants;

(2) The director shall ensure that every infant identified and referred to this program is enrolled as soon as possible after birth; and further, that for infants placed on a waiting list for facility based group programming, an early intervention program shall be made available within a thirty (30) day period from the time a need is identified in the individual program plan;

(3) Unless parents refuse the service, the home visiting component of the program shall commence as soon as the infant has been identified as having a possible developmental disability;

(4) Any parent(s) who is/are dissatisfied with decisions or termination of service or with practices and procedures of a particular agency or the department of human services shall notify the director of the department of human services in writing within thirty (30) calendar days and the complaint shall be reviewed in accordance with department of health policy and procedures, as amended, and the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42.

(5) An early intervention program for purposes of this section shall mean a comprehensive array of educational, developmental, health, and social services provided on a calendar year basis to eligible infants, children, and their families as specified in program regulations.

(b) Within ninety (90) days after October 1, 2004, an evaluation plan describing outcome measures that document the programs successes and shortcomings from the previous fiscal year shall be submitted to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate and the house oversight committee and the governor and the interagency coordinating council. Development of the plan shall be made in consultation with the entities with expertise in this area and the interagency coordinating council. The plan shall include a memorandum of understanding between the department of health, department of human services and the department of elementary and secondary education that demonstrates coordination and continuity of early intervention services among these departments.

(c) Within six (6) months after January 1, 2005 where prescribed outcomes documented in the evaluation plan have not been accomplished the responsible agencies shall submit written explanations for the shortfalls, together with their proposed remedies. The report shall also include evaluation of the progress of the coordination efforts between the department of health and the department of human services and the department of elementary and secondary education and the interagency coordinating council and shall include any recommendations regarding modifications of the reimbursement mechanisms of this chapter.

(d) Within twelve (12) months after August 1, 2005 a final report shall include the progress of the coordination efforts between the department of health and the department of human services and department of elementary and secondary education, interagency coordinating council and shall include any recommendations regarding modifications to the comprehensive array of educational, developmental, health and social services provided on a calendar year basis to eligible infants, children and their families as specified in an early intervention system.

(e) All reports or documents required to be produced pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1471 et seq., shall be submitted to the speaker of the house, president of the senate and the chairpersons of the appropriate house of representatives and senate oversight committees and the governor and the interagency coordinating council. Adherence to such plans and reporting requirements, and budgets and the timely achievement of goals contained therein shall be considered by the oversight committees of the house of representatives and senate, among other relevant factors, in determining appropriations or other systemic changes.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-18-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-18 / Section 23-18-4
§ 23-18-4. Completion of structure and maintenance provisions required before interments.
Status: in_force

No structure shall be used for the purpose of depositing therein human remains until the structure is finally completed, nor until provision for maintenance of the structure has been provided in accordance with the requirements as provided by the city or town wherein the structure is located.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-11 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-11
§ 23-3-11. Infants of unknown parentage  Foundling registration.
Status: in_force

(a) Whoever assumes the custody of a living infant of unknown parentage shall report on a form and in the manner prescribed by the state registrar of vital records within four (4) days to the local registrar of the city or town in which the child was found, the following information:

(1) The date and place of finding;

(2) Sex, color or race, and approximate age of child;

(3) Name and address of the persons or institution with whom the child has been placed for care;

(4) Name given to the child by the custodian; and

(5) Other data required by the state registrar of vital records.

(b) The place where the child was found shall be entered as the place of birth and the date of birth shall be determined by approximation.

(c) A report registered under this section shall constitute the certificate of birth for the infant.

(d) If the child is identified and a certificate of birth is found or obtained, any report registered under this section shall be sealed and filed and may be opened only by order of a court of competent jurisdiction or as provided by regulation.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-68-5 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-68 / Section 23-68-5
§ 23-68-5. Certification of facilities.
Status: in_force

The director of the department of health shall certify that a facility is in compliance with the safety standards established pursuant to § 23-68-4 and shall periodically inspect the facility to ensure continued compliance with safety standards enumerated in this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-13.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-13.1
§ 23-17-13.1. Health services council.
Status: in_force

(a) There shall be established a health services council consisting of twelve (12) members, four (4) of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house, one who shall be an expert in healthcare economic and policy matters, and a second who shall represent the insurance business; four (4) of whom shall be appointed by the president of the senate, one who shall represent the business community, and a second who shall represent the general public; and four (4) of whom shall be appointed by the governor, one who shall represent the office of the health insurance commissioner, a second who shall represent the executive office of health and human services, a third who shall represent the health insurance business, and a fourth who shall represent the executive office of commerce. All members shall serve until the first day of July in the third year after appointment or until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. Any vacancy of a member appointed that may occur in the council shall be filled by appointment by the respective appointing authority for the remainder of the unexpired term. The council may also serve as an advisory council as authorized by § 23-16-3.

(b) A person may not be a member of the health services council if the person is required to register as a lobbyist as defined under chapter 139 of title 42.

(c) Notwithstanding any laws, rules, or regulations to the contrary, all recommendations of the health services council shall be by a majority vote of its members present at the time the vote is taken.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-46.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-46.1
§ 23-1-46.1. Psychiatry resource network account. [See Compilers Note.]
Status: in_force

(a) There is created within the general fund a restricted receipt account to be known as the PRN account. All money in the account shall be utilized by the department of health to effectuate coverage for the following services: Existing Rhode Island lines including the PediPRN and MomsPRN information lines together with any additional information line, referral service, or hotline which is available to providers or residents in the state, and which is funded pursuant to regulation adopted by the director of the department of health. Amounts collected pursuant to § 42-7.4-3(a)(1)(iv) shall be deposited in the PRN account. The funds shall be used solely for the purposes of the PRN account, and no other.

(b) Each years psychiatry resource network funding requirement in § 42-7.4-3(a)(1)(iv) shall be the amount:

(1) Projected by the department of health for the services in subsection (a) of this section; plus

(2) A ten percent (10%) contingency for unexpected expenses; and after

(3) Deduction for any projected carryover of excess funds from prior assessments.

(c) The department of health shall submit to the general assembly an annual report on the program and costs related to the program, on or before February 1 of each year. The department shall make available to each insurer required to make a contribution pursuant to § 42-7.4-3, upon its request, detailed information regarding the programs described in subsection (a) of this section and the costs related to those programs.

(d) The PRN account shall be exempt from the indirect costs recovery provisions of § 35-4-27.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-4-2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-4 / Section 23-4-2
§ 23-4-2. Establishment of office.
Status: in_force

(a) There is established in the department of health the office of state medical examiners. The director of health, with the advice of the state medical examiners commission, is authorized to adopt, amend, promulgate, and enforce rules and regulations and standards that may be designed to further the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter.

(b) The office of state medical examiners shall obtain and maintain accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners or other national accrediting organization in the field of forensic medicine and pathology.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-93-1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-93 / Section 23-93-1
§ 23-93-1. Domestic medical tourism.
Status: in_force

For purposes of this chapter, Domestic Medical Tourism means the practice of patients traveling to states other than their residence for the provision of healthcare services.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-81-1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-81 / Section 23-81-1
§ 23-81-1. Short title.
Status: in_force

This chapter shall be known as the Rhode Island Coordinated Health Planning Act of 2006.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-9-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-9 / Section 23-9-4
§ 23-9-4. Designation of time and place of quarantine.
Status: in_force

The city or town council shall designate the particular place in the harbor, bay, or river adjacent to the city or town where all arriving ships or vessels subject to examination or quarantine shall come to anchor; and shall define the limits of the quarantine ground, and assign the time for which those ships or vessels shall be detained, and where and how unladen.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-22 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-22
§ 23-25-22. Judicial action after stop sale, use, or removal order.
Status: in_force

(a) After service of a stop sale, use, or removal order is made upon any person, either that person, the registrant, or the director may file an action in a superior court in the county in which a violation of this chapter or regulations adopted under this chapter is alleged to have occurred for an adjudication of the alleged violation. The court in that action may issue temporary or permanent injunctions, mandatory or restraining, and any intermediate orders as it deems necessary or advisable. The court may order condemnation of any pesticide or device which does not meet the requirements of this chapter or regulations adopted under this chapter.

(b) If the pesticide or device is condemned, it shall, after entry of decree, be disposed of by destruction or sale as the court directs and if the pesticide or device is sold, the proceeds, less costs including legal cost, shall be paid to the general treasury as provided in § 23-25-32; provided, that the pesticide or device shall not be sold contrary to the provisions of this chapter or regulations adopted under this chapter. Upon payment of costs and execution and delivery of a good and sufficient bond conditioned that the pesticide or device shall not be disposed of unlawfully, the court may direct that the pesticide or device be delivered to the its owner for relabeling, reprocessing, removal from the state, or otherwise bringing the product into compliance.

(c) When a decree of condemnation is entered against the pesticide or device, court costs, fees, storage, and other proper expenses shall be awarded against the person, if any, appearing as claimant of the pesticide.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-5.5 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-5.5
§ 23-1-5.5. Annual report.
Status: in_force

The department of health shall prepare and issue an annual report on the status of private well water contamination in the state. The report shall be submitted to the governor and the general assembly by July 1 of each year and shall be made available to the public.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-16-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-16 / Section 23-16-3
§ 23-16-3. State advisory council.
Status: in_force

The governor shall establish a state advisory council or councils and appoint appropriate representatives, including representatives required as a condition of eligibility for benefits under the appropriate federal act or acts, to consult with the director of the state department of health in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-7-6.2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-7 / Section 23-7-6.2
§ 23-7-6.2. Board training.
Status: in_force

Newly appointed and qualified members of the board and new designees of ex officio members are required to complete a training course within six (6) months of their qualification or designation. The course shall be developed by the chair of the board, approved by the board and conducted by the chair of the board. The board may approve the use of any board or staff members or other individuals to assist with training. The course shall include instruction in the following areas: the provisions of chapters 23-7, 42-46, 36-14 and 38-2; and the boards rules and regulations. The director of the department of administration shall, within ninety (90) days of April 20, 2006, prepare and disseminate training materials relating to the provisions of chapters 42-46, 36-14 and 38-2.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-26-13 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-26 / Section 23-26-13
§ 23-26-13. Contents of tag on bedding articles for sale.
Status: in_force

Every article of bedding made for sale, sold, or offered for sale shall have attached thereto a tag which shall state the name of the material used, that the material used is new, or second-hand and, when required to be sterilized, that the material has been sterilized, and the number of the sterilizing registration. The tag shall also contain the name and address of the maker or the vendor and the registry number of the maker. All tags attached to new articles shall be legibly stamped or marked by the retail vendor with the date of delivery to the customer.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-77-6 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-77 / Section 23-77-6
§ 23-77-6. Severability.
Status: in_force

If the provisions of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of the chapter are declared to be severable.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-13-6 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-13 / Section 23-13-6
§ 23-13-6. Reports of ophthalmia neonatorum.
Status: in_force

It shall be the duty of any physician, midwife, nurse, parent, or other person or persons assisting any woman in childbirth or assisting in the care of any infant to report within twelve (12) hours after noting any case of ophthalmia neonatorum coming to his or her attention to the department of health.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-4-12 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-4 / Section 23-4-12
§ 23-4-12. Compensation for recovery of body from water.
Status: in_force

When services are rendered in bringing to land the dead body of a person found in any of the harbors, rivers, or waters of the state, compensation for services as he or she deemed reasonable may be allowed; but this privilege shall not entitle any person to compensation for services rendered in search for a dead body.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-90-11 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-90 / Section 23-90-11
§ 23-90-11. Report to the General Assembly.
Status: in_force

Not later than three (3) years after the approval of the plan pursuant to § 23-90-5 of this chapter, the corporation director shall submit a report to the general assembly. Such report shall provide an evaluation of the mattress stewardship program.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-21 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-21
§ 23-25-21. Stop sale, use, or removal order.
Status: in_force

When the director has reasonable cause to believe a pesticide or device is being distributed, stored, transported, or used in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or of any prescribed regulations under this chapter, the director may issue and serve a written stop sale, use, or removal order upon the owner or custodian of this pesticide or device. If the owner or custodian is not available for service of the order upon him or her, the director may attach the order to the pesticide or device and notify the owner or custodian and the registrant. The pesticide or device shall not be sold, used, or removed until the provisions of this chapter have been complied with and the pesticide or device has been released in writing under conditions specified by the director or the violation has been otherwise disposed of as provided in this chapter by a court of competent jurisdiction.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-22-14 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-22 / Section 23-22-14
§ 23-22-14. Enforcement.
Status: in_force

In order to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the director of health shall have the power to obtain relief in equity or by prerogative writ.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-18-11.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-18 / Section 23-18-11.1
§ 23-18-11.1. Permit required to alter or remove historic cemetery  Powers of city or town council  Appeal.
Status: in_force

(a) Before an agency or a property owner may authorize or commence alteration or removal of any historic cemetery, the agency or owner must apply to the city or town council where the historic cemetery is located for a permit to alter or remove. The city or town council shall prescribe by ordinance standards to regulate the alteration or removal of any historic cemetery within its municipal limits, but shall at a minimum provide that:

(1) The applicant examine all alternatives, and demonstrate that no prudent or feasible alternative to the proposed alteration is possible;

(2) The city or town provide for notification and participation in the permitting process of parties which may be interested in the proposed alteration or removal by virtue of their status as a governmental health or historic preservation authority, or as a private or nonprofit historical, genealogical or civic organization, or, in the case of American Indian cemeteries and burial grounds, the appropriate tribal organization; and

(3) The city or town provide for due consideration of the rights of descendants in any application to substantially alter or remove a historic cemetery.

(b) When an application for alteration or removal of a historic cemetery has been made and the boundary is unknown or in doubt, the city or town may require that the applicant, at its own expense, conduct an archaeological investigation to determine the actual size of the cemetery prior to final consideration by the city or town of the application to alter or remove.

(c) After due consideration, the city or town council may grant the application to alter or remove the historic cemetery in whole or in part, under the supervision of an archaeologist and with any restrictions and stipulations that it deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section, or deny the application in its entirety. Any person or persons aggrieved by a decision of the city or town council shall have the right of appeal concerning the decision to the superior court and from the superior court to the supreme court by writ of certiorari.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to contravene the authority of municipal bodies under § 45-5-12 to hold, manage, repair, or maintain any neglected burial ground.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-7 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-7
§ 23-25-7. Experimental use permits.
Status: in_force

(a) Provided the state is authorized by the administrator of EPA to issue experimental use permits, the director may:

(1) Issue an experimental use permit to any person applying for an experimental use permit, if he or she determines that the applicant needs the permit in order to accumulate information necessary to register a pesticide under § 23-25-6(h). An application for an experimental use permit may be filed at the time of or before or after an application for registration is filed.

(2) Refuse to issue an experimental use permit, if he or she determines that issuance of the permit is not warranted or that the pesticide applications to be made under the proposed terms and conditions may cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.

(3) Prescribe terms, conditions, and period of time for the experimental use permit, which shall be under the supervision of the director.

(4) Revoke or modify any experimental use permit, at any time, if he or she finds that its terms or conditions are being violated, or that its terms and conditions are inadequate to avoid unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.

(b) The director may develop and promulgate any other requirements by regulation that are necessary for the state plan to receive that authorization from EPA.

(c) The director may limit or prohibit the use of any pesticide for which an experimental use permit has been issued by EPA, pursuant to § 5(a) of FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. § 136c(a), and which the director finds may cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-33-2.2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-33 / Section 23-33-2.2
§ 23-33-2.2. Qualified service company.
Status: in_force

(a) Any firm or corporation engaged in the business of constructing, installing, maintaining, or repairing elevators, escalators, or other devices within the limits of this state, subject to the provisions of this chapter, shall be licensed by the division of occupational safety. The fee and the requirements for this license shall be established by regulation through the code commission.

(b) Failure to comply with any of the requirements shall cause the license to be revoked or refused and the right to conduct such business within the limits of this state shall be prohibited.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-63-2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-63 / Section 23-63-2
§ 23-63-2. Disposal of used vehicle rubber tires  Burning prohibited  Storage restricted.
Status: in_force

(a)(1) No person shall dispose of any vehicle tire within the state except by delivery of the tire to a facility operated by the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation designated for that purpose, or to a privately operated tire storage or tire recycling or recovery facility licensed by the director of environmental management for that purpose or by delivery for transportation to an out-of-state recycling facility. Prior to the delivery of any vehicle tire for export to any tire-burning facility outside the state, and within thirty (30) miles of the Scituate Reservoir watershed, the department of environmental management shall consult with the appropriate state agency regulating such tire-burning facility and shall receive assurances in writing from the agency that the facility meets all applicable state and federal pollution control standards.

(2) The burning of used tires within the state is prohibited.

(b) No person not licensed under the provisions of § 23-63-4 shall store more than four hundred (400) used vehicle tires at any location within the state. Any person not in compliance with this section on July 11, 1989 shall have one year from that date to effectuate compliance pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a).
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-59-14 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-59 / Section 23-59-14
§ 23-59-14. Rules and regulations.
Status: in_force

(a) The department shall have the authority to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations that are reasonably necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter. The department may issue regulations setting forth those transactions which shall require the payment of fees by a provider and the fees which shall be charged.

(b) Any provider may be given a reasonable time, not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of publication of any applicable rules and regulations or amendments thereto adopted pursuant to this chapter, within which to comply with the rules and standards.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-3-15.1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-3 / Section 23-3-15.1
§ 23-3-15.1. New certificates of birth following foreign adoption  Exempt from judicial proceedings.
Status: in_force

(a) A child who has automatically acquired United States citizenship following a foreign adoption and possesses a certificate of citizenship in accordance with the Child Citizenship Act (CAA, P.L. 106-395) shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter which require judicial procedures and reports to acquire a new birth certificate.

(b) The state registrar of vital records shall, upon written request, prepare a Certificate of Foreign Birth for a child who was born in a foreign country, adopted by a United States citizen and has automatically acquired citizenship in accordance with the Child Citizenship Act upon the production of the following documentations:

(1) Certificate of citizenship;

(2) Foreign birth certificate;

(3) Original documents certified by the United States Embassy abroad;

(4) Permanent United States identification card; and

(5) Social Security card.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-63-4.7 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-63 / Section 23-63-4.7
§ 23-63-4.7. Notice of determination.
Status: in_force

The tax administrator shall give written notice of his or her determination to the retailer. Except in the case of fraud or failure to make a return, or noncompliance with § 23-63-4.5, every notice of determination shall be mailed within three (3) years of the date the fees first became due. The amount of this determination shall bear interest at the rate set forth in § 44-1-7 from the date when fees should have been paid to the tax administrator until the date of payment.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-9-20 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-9 / Section 23-9-20
§ 23-9-20. Delivery of goods not infected  Cleansing or destruction of infected goods.
Status: in_force

All goods that are judged by the city or town council not to be infected shall be delivered to the owners without delay and expense of airing and as soon as may be consistent with the safety of the city or town; and all goods, wares, and merchandise imported into any city or town by land from any place infected with the smallpox or other contagious or infectious distemper, shall be aired and cleansed at the discretion of the city or town council of that city or town and at the expense of their owners, or destroyed if necessary.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-97-1 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-97 / Section 23-97-1
§ 23-97-1. Short title.
Status: in_force

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Consumer Protection in Eye Care Act.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-39 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-39
§ 23-25-39. Report on lawn care pesticide use.
Status: in_force

(a) The department of environmental management shall report to the governor, the speaker of the house and the president of the senate on or before November 1, 2007, with regard to:

(1) Health risks, especially in children, associated with lawn care pesticides, as such risks have been established in the literature, based on the best available scientific information and health data studies;

(2) Currently recognized best practices for the use and/or control of lawn care pesticides at schools and child daycare facilities;

(3) How other jurisdictions have managed lawn care pesticides used at school facilities, including school facilities that have two (2) or more of the following functions at the same location, child daycare facilities, preschools, elementary and secondary schools;

(4) What Rhode Island schools are currently doing to manage, decrease or eliminate the use of lawn care pesticides on school grounds and to implement alternative methods of pest management in lawn care;

(5) A recommended lawn care pesticide use and control program for public and private child daycare centers, preschools and elementary schools located in Rhode Island; and

(6) The enforcement activities required to implement the lawn care use and control program and the fiscal impact this program may have on state agencies and school departments.

(b) The department of environmental management shall establish a working group, including, but not limited to: the department of health, the department of elementary and secondary education and the association of school committees, to assist with the report required in subsection (a). The department of health and the department of elementary and secondary education are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the department of environmental management in the preparation of the report required by this section.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-56 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-56
§ 23-17-56. School based health centers  Special requirements and exceptions.
Status: in_force

(a) In order to apply for and/or maintain a current license as a school based health center, a person must possess a current license as a health care facility pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(b) School based health centers shall be exempt from the provisions of §§ 23-17-14.3 and 23-17-14.4.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-101-2 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-101 / Section 23-101-2
§ 23-101-2. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter, the followings words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) Aggrieved person means:

(i) A person against whom hostile litigation is filed or prosecuted or the legal representative of a person against whom hostile litigation is filed or prosecuted; or

(ii) The employer of a person against whom hostile litigation is filed or prosecuted if the legally protected healthcare activity or aiding and assisting legally protected healthcare activity of the person that forms the basis of the hostile litigation was performed within the scope of the persons employment.

(2) Aid and assist legally protected healthcare activity and aiding and assisting legally protected healthcare activity mean:

(i) Any act or omission of a person aiding or effectuating or attempting to aid or effectuate any other person in legally protected healthcare activity; or

(ii) The provision or administration of, or attempted provision or administration of, insurance coverage for gender-affirming healthcare services or reproductive healthcare services to a beneficiary or a dependent of a beneficiary by any insurer, payor, or employer.

(iii) Aiding and assisting legally protected healthcare activity does not include any conduct that violates Rhode Island law or deviates from the applicable standard of care or that could form the basis of a civil, criminal, or administrative action under the laws of this state had the course of conduct that forms the basis for liability occurred entirely within this state.

(3) Foreign judgment means any judgment or decree of a court of another state.

(4) Gender-affirming healthcare services means all supplies, care, and services of a medical, behavioral health, mental health, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic, preventive, rehabilitative, or supportive nature, including medication, relating to the treatment of gender dysphoria and gender incongruence in accordance with the accepted standard of care as defined by major medical professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the field of gender-affirming health care, including the Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8, or subsequent version, published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Gender-affirming healthcare services does not include conversion therapy as defined by § 23-94-2.

(5) Healthcare provider means and shall apply to the following:

(i) A qualified physician licensed pursuant to chapters 37 and 37.3 of title 5;

(ii) A qualified osteopathic physician licensed pursuant to chapter 37 of title 5;

(iii) A qualified physician assistant licensed pursuant to chapter 54 of title 5;

(iv) A genetic counselor licensed pursuant to chapter 92 of title 5;

(v) A qualified psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 44 of title 5;

(vi) A qualified social worker licensed pursuant to chapter 39.1 of title 5;

(vii) An advanced practice registered nurse, and a certified nurse practitioner, licensed pursuant to chapter 34 of title 5, and a certified registered nurse anesthetist licensed pursuant to chapters 34 and 34.2 of title 5;

(viii) A certified nurse midwife licensed pursuant to chapter 13 of this title;

(ix) A licensed clinical mental health counselor or associate, and a licensed marriage and family therapist or associate, licensed pursuant to chapter 63.2 of title 5;

(x) An electrologist licensed pursuant to chapter 32 of title 5;

(xi) A speech-language pathologist licensed pursuant to chapter 48 of title 5;

(xii) An occupational therapist licensed pursuant to chapter 40.1 of title 5;

(xiii) A chiropractic physician licensed pursuant to chapter 30 of title 5; and

(xiv) A pharmacist engaging in the practice of pharmacy and licensed pursuant to chapter 19.1 of title 5.

(6) Hostile litigation means any litigation or other legal action, including civil, criminal, or administrative action, to deter, prevent, sanction, or punish any person engaging in legally protected healthcare activity or aiding and assisting legally protected healthcare activity by:

(i) Filing or prosecuting any litigation or other legal action in any other state where liability is based on legally protected healthcare activity or aiding and assisting legally protected healthcare activity that occurred in this state, including any action in which liability is based on any theory of vicarious, joint, or several liability; or

(ii) Attempting to enforce any order or judgment issued in connection with any litigation or other legal action under subsection (6)(i) of this section by any party to the action or by any person acting on behalf of any party to the action.

(iii) For purposes of this chapter, litigation or other legal action is based on legally protected healthcare activity or aiding and assisting legally protected healthcare activity that occurred in this state if any part of any act or omission involved in the course of conduct that forms the basis for liability in the action occurs or is initiated in this state, whether or not the act or omission is alleged or included in any pleading or other filing in the lawsuit.

(7) Law enforcement agency means any police department in any city or town or the state police as defined in the general laws. For purposes of this act, a law enforcement agency may include any other non-federal entity in the state charged with the enforcement of laws relating to the custody of detained persons.

(8) Legally protected healthcare activity means:

(i) The exercise and enjoyment or attempted exercise and enjoyment by any person of the right secured by this state to gender-affirming healthcare services or reproductive healthcare services; and

(ii) The provision or attempted provision of gender-affirming healthcare services or reproductive healthcare services that are permitted under the laws and regulations of this state and that are provided in accordance with the applicable standard of care by a person properly licensed under the laws of this state and physically present in this state, regardless of whether the patient is located in this state or whether the person is licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time the services are rendered.

(iii) Legally protected healthcare activity does not include any conduct that could form the basis of a civil, criminal, or administrative action under the laws of this state had the course of conduct that forms the basis for liability occurred entirely within this state and/or in violation of Rhode Island law.

(9) Reproductive healthcare services means all supplies, care, and services of a medical, behavioral health, mental health, surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic, preventive, rehabilitative, or supportive nature, including medication, relating to pregnancy, contraception, assisted reproduction, pregnancy loss management, or the termination of a pregnancy in accordance with the applicable standard of care as defined by major medical professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the field of reproductive health care.

(10) State means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The term this state refers to the state of Rhode Island.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-39-14 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-39 / Section 23-39-14
§ 23-39-14. Penalties  Action to enforce chapter.
Status: in_force

(a) A violation of any provision of this chapter shall be deemed a misdemeanor.

(b) The department may bring a civil action in any district court to enforce any provision of this chapter.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-68-7 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-68 / Section 23-68-7
§ 23-68-7. Penalties.
Status: in_force

Any person, firm or corporation who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for the first offense and by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent offense.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-3
§ 23-25-3. Declaration of purpose.
Status: in_force

The purpose of this chapter is to regulate, in the public interest, the labeling, distribution, sale, storage, transportation, use and application, and disposal of pesticides as defined in this chapter. The general assembly finds that pesticides are valuable to our states agricultural production and to the protection of human life and the environment from insects, rodents, weeds, and other forms of life which may be pests; but it is essential to the public health and welfare that they be regulated to prevent adverse effects on human life and the environment. New pesticides are continually being discovered, synthesized, or developed which are valuable for the control of pests and for use as defoliants, desiccants, and plant regulators. Those pesticides may be ineffective, may cause injury to man, or may cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment if not properly used. Pesticides may injure human life or animals, either by direct poisoning or by gradual accumulation of pesticide residues in the tissue. Crops or other plants may also be injured by their improper use. The drifting or washing of pesticides into streams, lakes, or other bodies of water may cause appreciable damage to aquatic life. A pesticide applied for the purpose of killing pests in a crop which is not itself injured by the pesticide, may drift and injure other crops or non-target organisms with which it comes in contact. It is deemed necessary to provide for regulation of pesticides.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-24-7 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-24 / Section 23-24-7
§ 23-24-7. Hearing before report of criminal violation.
Status: in_force

Before any violation of this chapter is reported by the consumer protection unit to the attorney general for institution of a criminal proceeding, the person against whom the proceeding is contemplated shall be given appropriate notice and an opportunity to present his or her view either orally or in writing with regard to the contemplated proceeding.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-7 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-7
§ 23-19-7. Commissioners  Oath of office  Conflict of interest.
Status: in_force

(a) Each member of the corporations board of commissioners, before entering upon his or her duties, shall take an oath to administer the duties of his or her office faithfully and impartially, and the oath will be filed in the office of the secretary of state.

(b) The commissioners shall be subject at all times to the provisions of chapter 14 of title 36.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-23-30 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-23 / Section 23-23-30
§ 23-23-30. Stage II vapor recovery systems.
Status: in_force

(a) For the purposes of this section, stage II vapor collection and control system means a system which collects gasoline vapors displaced from motor vehicle gasoline tanks during refueling and which routes the vapors to a stationary storage tank.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 23-23-5:

(1) A motor vehicle fuel dispensing facility shall be exempt from the departments stage II system requirements if it begins operation after the effective date of this section; and

(2) Upon department verification and approval, a motor vehicle fuel dispensing facility shall be exempt from the departments stage II system requirements if excavation of one or more underground gasoline storage tanks is required in order to install or repair a below-ground component of the stage II vapor collection and control system or the facility replaces fifty percent (50%) or more of its gasoline dispensers after the effective date of this subsection.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-48 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-1 / Section 23-1-48
§ 23-1-48. Reimbursement for medical record copies.
Status: in_force

(a) The director shall promulgate rules and regulations that establish reasonable charges for expenses incurred in responding to requests for copies of medical records by physicians pursuant to § 5-37-22(c) and (d), and by any healthcare provider as defined in § 5-37.3-3 (healthcare provider). The director may utilize data provided by the Rhode Island health information management association or other similar local professional organization in his or her determination as to the amount of the charges permitted by this section.

(b) A patient or a patients authorized representative, as defined in § 5-37.3-3 (patient or authorized representative), or a third-party requestor, also as defined in § 5-37.3-3 (third-party requestor), shall have the right to request a patients medical records.

(c) If the healthcare provider utilizes patients medical records, an electronic health records system, or database:

(1) Any patient or any patients authorized representative or any third-party requestor shall have a right to obtain from any healthcare provider a copy of the patients records in an electronic format;

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the charges for responding to requests for copies of medical records in electronic format shall not exceed a fee for clerical services, research, and handling of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), inclusive of shipping costs and the costs of data retrieval and/or the data storage device used to transport the medical records. Provided, however, that fifty cents ($.50) per page for the first one hundred (100) pages and twenty-five cents ($.25) per page for all pages thereafter may be charged. In no event shall the charge for pages exceed one hundred dollars ($100).

(d) If the healthcare provider does not utilize an electronic health records system or database, the charges for responding to requests for copies of medical records shall not exceed a fee for clerical services, research, and handling of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), inclusive of retrieval costs, plus actual shipping costs; provided, however, that fifty cents ($.50) per page for the first one hundred (100) pages and twenty-five cents ($.25) per page for all pages thereafter may be charged. In addition, the requestor shall pay for the actual shipping costs incurred.

(e) Copies of X-rays or films not reproducible by photocopy shall be provided at the healthcare providers actual cost for materials and supplies. In addition, the requestor shall pay reasonable fees for clerical services, research, and handling, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00), plus actual shipping costs incurred.

(f) A special handling fee of ten dollars ($10.00) may be charged if the records must be delivered to the patient or authorized representative or third-party requestor within forty-eight (48) hours of the request.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-21-4 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-21 / Section 23-21-4
§ 23-21-4. Regulations.
Status: in_force

The director may adopt any regulations relating to environmental sanitation and food service in recreational facilities or uses as he or she may deem necessary; provided, that in the case of all recreational facilities or uses subject to this chapter, the departments authority shall be limited to environmental sanitation and food service.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19-10 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-19 / Section 23-19-10
§ 23-19-10. General powers and duties.
Status: in_force

The corporation shall have all of the powers necessary and convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power to:

(1) Sue and be sued in its own name;

(2) Have an official seal and alter the same at pleasure;

(3) Have perpetual succession;

(4) Maintain an office at a place or places within the state as it may designate;

(5) Adopt and from time to time amend and repeal bylaws, rules, and regulations, not inconsistent with this chapter and in a manner substantially similar to procedures set forth in the Administrative Procedures Act as specified in chapter 35 of title 42, as amended, to carry into effect the powers and purposes of the corporation and the conduct of its business; and the bylaws, rules, and regulations may contain provisions indemnifying any person who is or was a commissioner, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation, in the manner and to the extent provided in § 7-1.2-814 of the Business Corporation Act;

(6) Elect or appoint officers and employ a staff and fix their duties, qualifications, and compensation;

(7) Engage the services of consultants for rendering professional and technical assistance and advice, and employ architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, construction, and financial experts and any other advisors, consultants, and agents that may be necessary in its judgment, and to fix their compensation;

(8) Conduct any hearings, examinations, and investigations that may be necessary and appropriate to the conduct of its business and purposes;

(9) Obtain access to public records;

(10) Charge reasonable fees for the services it performs and provides;

(11) Purchase, receive, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, use, and otherwise deal in and with, any project, including real or personal property, or any interest therein, wherever situated;

(12) Sell, convey, mortgage, pledge, lease, exchange, transfer, and otherwise dispose of all or any part of its property and assets for consideration and upon terms and conditions that the corporation shall determine;

(13) Make contracts and guarantees and incur liabilities, and borrow money at rates of interest that the corporation may find feasible;

(14) Make and execute agreements of lease, conditional sales contracts, installment sales contracts, loan agreements, mortgages, construction contracts, operation contracts, and other contracts and instruments necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers and functions of the corporation granted by this chapter, which contracts may include provisions for arbitration of disputes;

(15) Lend money for its purposes, invest and reinvest its funds, and at its option take and hold real and personal property as security for the payment of funds so loaned or invested;

(16) Acquire or contract to acquire, from any person, firm, corporation, municipality, the federal government, or the state, or any agency of either the federal government or the state, by grant, purchase, lease, gift, or otherwise, or obtain options for the acquisition of any property, real or personal, improved or unimproved, and interests in land less than the fee thereof; and own, hold, clear, improve, develop, and rehabilitate, and sell, assign, exchange, transfer, convey, lease, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of or encumber the same for the purposes of carrying out the provisions and intent of this chapter, for consideration that the corporation shall determine;

(17)(i) Sell, mortgage, lease, exchange, transfer, or otherwise dispose of or encumber any of its projects, (or in the case of a sale to accept a purchase money mortgage in connection with the project) or grant options for any purposes with respect to any real or personal property or interest therein, all of the foregoing for the consideration that the corporation shall determine. Any lease by the corporation to another party may be for that part of the corporations property, real or personal, for a period, upon terms or conditions, with or without an option on the part of the lessee to purchase any or all of the leased property for consideration, at or after the retirement of all indebtedness incurred by the corporation on account thereof, as the corporation shall determine;

(ii) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the corporation is expressly empowered to lease or sell any part of the real or personal property owned or controlled by the corporation to the state, or any department of the state or to any municipality. The provisions of this section or of any other laws of this state (other than this chapter) restricting the power of the state, its departments or any municipality, to lease or sell property, or requiring or prescribing publication of notice of the intention to lease or sell, that would in any manner interfere with the purpose of this section, which is to provide for the mutual cooperation by and between the corporation and the state, its departments, or any municipality, to the fullest extent possible, are not applicable to leases and sales made pursuant to this section;

(18) Manage any project, whether then owned or leased by the corporation, and enter into agreement with the state or any municipality or any person, firm, partnership, or corporation, either public or private, for the purpose of causing any project to be managed;

(19) Make plans, surveys, studies, and investigations necessary or desirable, in conformity with applicable provisions of the state guide plan as promulgated and provided for by the state planning agency, with the participation of the state planning council with due consideration to local plans and other state plans;

(20) Design or provide for the design of the solid waste management facilities that the corporation will construct or cause to be constructed, as well as designs for the alteration, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement, or extension of the facilities;

(21) Construct or to cause to be constructed solid waste transfer station facilities, processing facilities, resource recovery facilities, and ultimate disposal facilities and any other solid waste management facilities that may be required by the corporation for the conduct of its activities as herein provided;

(22) Construct, acquire, repair, develop, own, operate, maintain, extend, improve, rehabilitate, renovate, equip, and furnish one or more of its projects and make provision for their management, and pay all or any part of the cost of one or more of its projects from the proceeds of the bonds and notes of the corporation or from any contribution, gift, donation, or any other funds made available to the corporation;

(23) Enter upon lands and waters, upon giving due notice as may be necessary, to make surveys, soundings, borings, and any other examinations or tests as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter;

(24) Enter into agreements or other transactions with and accept grants and the cooperation of the federal government or any instrumentality of the federal government in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the development, maintenance, operation, and financing of any project, and to do any and all things necessary in order to avail itself of aid and cooperation;

(25) Receive and accept bids or contributions from any source of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and applied to carry out the purposes of this chapter subject to the conditions upon which the grants and contributions may be made, including, but not limited to, gifts or grants from any governmental agency or instrumentality of the United States or the state, for any purpose consistent with this chapter;

(26) Prepare or cause to be prepared plans, specifications, designs, and estimates of costs for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, alteration, or repair of any of its projects, and from time to time to modify the plans, specifications, designs or estimates;

(27) Provide advisory, consultative, training, and educational services, technical assistance and advice to any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or municipality, whether they are public or private, in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

(28) Review all municipal plans and proposals for the construction, or installation of solid waste management facilities;

(29) Undertake and promote the conduct of research into source separation and source reduction techniques, facilities, and systems and into other solid waste management areas for any purpose consistent with this chapter; the corporation shall consistent with regulations of the department of environmental management adopt a statewide plan for separation of solid waste at the source of generation, at collection points or transfer stations and the corporation and the department of environmental management shall cooperate on the implementation of a statewide plan. The corporation, with the assistance of the department of environmental management, will submit an annual report on the status of separation of solid waste in the state;

(30) Produce materials, fuels, energy, and by-products in any form from the processing of solid wastes by the system, facilities, and equipment under its jurisdiction, and to receive funds or revenues from their sale, and to deposit the funds or revenues in a bank or banks;

(31) Borrow money and issue revenue bonds and notes and provide for the rights of the holders, for any of its purposes, including, without limitation, the purpose of providing funds to pay all or any part of the cost of any project and all costs incident to any project, or for the purpose of refunding any bonds or notes issued;

(32) Subject to the provisions of any contract with noteholders or bondholders, consent to the modification, with respect to rate of interest, time of payments or any installment of principal or interest, security or any other term of any mortgage, mortgage loan, mortgage loan commitment, contract, or agreement of any kind to which the corporation is a party;

(33) In connection with the property on which it has made a mortgage loan, foreclose on the property or commence an action to protect or enforce any right conferred upon it by law, mortgage, contract, or other agreement, and bid for and purchase the property at any foreclosure or any other sale, or acquire or take possession of the property; and in that event the corporation may complete, administer, pay the principal of or interest on any obligations incurred in connection with the property, dispose of and otherwise deal with the property in a manner that may be necessary or desirable to protect the interest of the corporation;

(34) As security for the payment of principal and interest on any bonds or notes or any agreements made in connection therewith, mortgage and pledge any or all of its projects and property, whether then owned or thereafter acquired, and pledge the revenues and receipts from all or part thereof, and assign and pledge the leases, sales contracts, or loan agreements or other agreements on any portion or all of its projects and property, and assign or pledge the income received by virtue of the lease, sales contracts, loan agreements, or other agreements;

(35) Invest any funds of the corporation including funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any money not required for immediate use or disbursement at the discretion of the corporation;

(36) Contract with the federal government, other states, state agencies, and regional authorities, as the corporation shall deem necessary or convenient in carrying out the purposes of this chapter;

(37) Be a promoter, partner, member, associate, or manager of any partnership, enterprise, or venture;

(38) Have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect its purposes;

(39) Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the common law or the provisions of any other laws of this state, general or special, restricting the power of any public agency to enter into long term contracts which exceed the term of the governing body of the agency or its members, the provisions of this chapter are controlling and the corporation shall be deemed to have the power to enter into long term contracts which extend beyond the terms of the commissioners as may be considered necessary, desirable, or convenient by the corporation; provided, however, that prior to the execution of the contract, the contract has been reviewed by the auditor general;

(40) Control the transportation, storage, and final disposal of all solid waste in the state other than from sources owned or operated by the federal government, including the final disposal of solid waste in facilities owned, operated, controlled, financed, or otherwise designated by the corporation; provided, however, that the corporation shall not be empowered to engage in the transportation, transfer, or storage of solid waste, other than at recycling facilities, except in temporary situations where a municipality has defaulted in its obligation under this act or in conjunction with its activities at its disposal sites; provided, however, that the corporation shall not be empowered to take any action that would adversely affect or impair the validity of rights and obligations under any valid contract for the disposal of municipal waste, which was in effect on March 1, 1985, or any extension of the contract if extension was approved by the corporation, or the right of any municipality to continue the operation of its own landfill until closure if the landfill was in use by the municipality on December 1, 1986;

(41) Undertake and promote continuing efforts to reduce the waste stream to the extent practicable and economically feasible;

(42) To purchase, receive, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, use, sell, convey, and otherwise deal in and with real or personal property, wherever situated; and

(43) Conduct a training course for newly appointed and qualified members and new designees within six (6) months of their qualification or designation. The course shall be developed by the executive director of the corporation, approved by the corporation, and conducted by the executive director of the corporation. The corporation may approve the use of any corporation or staff members or other individuals to assist with training. The training course shall include instruction in the following areas: the provisions of this chapter, chapter 46 of title 42, chapter 14 of title 36, and chapter 2 of title 38; and the corporations rules and regulations.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-28 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-17 / Section 23-17-28
§ 23-17-28. Health care cost containment.
Status: in_force

Each health care facility licensed under this chapter shall take any action consistent with the continued delivery of quality health care services that it deems appropriate to reduce, limit, or contain health care costs and improve the efficiency with which health care services are delivered to the citizens of this state. In furtherance of these goals, health care facilities licensed under this chapter may, to the extent not inconsistent with chapter 15 of this title, enter into agreements with other health care facilities, associations of health care facilities, suppliers, third-party payers, and/or agencies or branches of government providing, without limitation, for group planning, individual or group expenditure ceilings, allocation of services and/or specialties, and group purchasing and/or service sharing.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-100-3 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-100 / Section 23-100-3
§ 23-100-3. Healthcare workforce data collection authorized.
Status: in_force

The department is hereby authorized to collect healthcare workforce data on all healthcare professionals licensed by the department as part of the departments licensure and license renewal process and to request all healthcare professionals to voluntarily provide the following healthcare workforce data elements as a part of licensure and licensure renewal:

(1) Principal specialty;

(2) Education level;

(3) Current practice status in Rhode Island including, but not limited to: clinical practice, medical administrative or legal services only, clinical teaching or clinical research only, not currently working in the medical field, status as a provider of telemedicine, and other practice status as determined by the department;

(4) Ethnicity;

(5) Race;

(6) Languages spoken other than English;

(7) Additional years planning to practice or anticipated retirement year;

(8) Total number of clinical/nonclinical hours per week providing services;

(9) Practice name(s), location(s), and contact information;

(10) Acceptance of Medicaid as a form of payment;

(11) Other data as defined by the department.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-8 — RI Code / Title 23 / Chapter 23-25 / Section 23-25-8
§ 23-25-8. Refusal to register  Cancellation  Suspension  Legal recourse.
Status: in_force

(a) Provided the state is certified by the administrator of EPA to register pesticides formulated to meet special local needs, the director shall consider the following for refusal to register, for cancellation, for suspension, or for legal recourse for those pesticides:

(1) If it appears to the director that an application for registration cannot be granted pursuant to § 23-25-6(h) and any regulations issued under this section, he or she shall notify the applicant of the manner in which the pesticide, labeling or other material required to be submitted fails to comply with the provisions of this chapter or any regulations under this section so as to afford the applicant an opportunity to make the necessary corrections. If, upon receipt of the notice, the applicant does not make the required changes, the director may refuse to register the pesticide. The applicant may request a hearing as provided for in the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42.

(2) When the director determines that a pesticide or its labeling does not comply with the provisions of this chapter or the regulations adopted under this chapter or when necessary to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, he or she may cancel the registration of a pesticide or change the classification of a pesticide after a hearing in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42.

(3) When the director determines that there is an imminent hazard, he or she may, on his or her own motion, suspend the registration of a pesticide in conformance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42. Hearings shall be held with the utmost possible expedition.

(4) Any person who will be adversely affected by the order in this section may obtain judicial review of this order by filing in the superior court, within sixty (60) days after entry of the order, a petition praying that the order be set aside in whole or in part. A copy of the petition shall be immediately transmitted by the clerk of the court to the director and then the director shall file in the court the record of the proceedings on which he or she based his or her order. The court shall have jurisdiction to affirm or set aside the order complained of in whole or in part. The findings of the director with respect to questions of fact shall be sustained if supported by substantial evidence when considered on the record as a whole. Upon application, the court may remand the matter to the director to take further testimony if there are reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce that evidence in the prior hearing. The director may modify his or her findings and his or her order by reason of the additional evidence taken and shall file the additional record and any modification of the findings or order with the clerk of the court.

(b) If the director determines that any federally registered pesticide with respect to the use of the pesticide within the state:

(1) Does not warrant the claims for it; or

(2) Might cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment; he or she may refuse to register the pesticide as required in § 23-25-6, or if the pesticide is registered under § 23-25-6, the registration may be cancelled or suspended as provided in subsection (a) of this section. If the director believes the pesticide does not comply with the provisions of FIFRA or the regulations adopted under it, he or she shall advise EPA of the manner in which the pesticide labeling or other material required to be submitted fails to comply with the provisions of FIFRA and suggest necessary corrections.