Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 20 - Legal Services › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 3 - Administrative Inspection Guidelines (250-RICR-20-00-3) › Section 250-RICR-20-00-3.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. For the purposes of these Guidelines, the
				  following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Administrative inspection" means any
				  inspection, independent of a criminal investigation that is conducted for the
				  purpose of determining compliance with applicable federal or state laws and
				  regulations. Administrative inspections may involve the examination of real or
				  personal property, equipment, buildings, records, products, by-products,
				  wastes, processes, activities, environmental conditions (i.e. air, soil and
				  water quality), personnel or other property or activities. Administrative
				  inspections may include, but are not limited to, the following activities:
				  observation, sampling, measuring, photographing, coring, drilling and
				  excavating; reviewing and copying records; and seizing equipment, products,
				  materials or records. Administrative inspections may be performed by Department
				  personnel or by private agents or consultants acting on the Department's
				  behalf. The scope of an administrative inspection may be limited by consent,
				  the terms of an administrative inspection warrant or other court order, or by
				  circumstances surrounding a warrant-less inspection.
2. "Administrative inspection warrant" means
				  an order issued by a justice of the Rhode Island District or Superior Court, or
				  such other magistrate as may be allowed by law, authorizing the Department to
				  enter an otherwise constitutionally protected area to inspect, search and/or
				  seize property or evidence of a possible violation of a law or regulation
				  administered by the Department as may be described therein. An administrative
				  inspection warrant may issue where:
a.
				  Sufficient evidence of a possible violation of a law or regulation administered
				  by DEM or a potential threat to public health, safety, welfare or the
				  environment exists to establish administrative probable cause; or
b. The Department proposes to conduct the
				  inspection in accordance with a neutral inspection scheme.
3. "Administrative probable cause" means the
				  standard used by the courts to determine whether a proposed administrative
				  inspection meets the constitutional mandate of reasonableness necessary for the
				  issuance of an administrative inspection warrant. Administrative probable cause
				  is not a standard that DEM must use to determine if it may or should conduct an
				  inspection in situations where an administrative inspection warrant is not
				  required (e.g. consensual inspections or inspections of areas that are not
				  constitutionally protected). The standard for administrative probable cause is
				  a more lenient standard than that which is required to establish criminal
				  probable cause. Whether an administrative inspection is reasonable is
				  determined by weighing the government's interest in regulatory compliance
				  against constitutionally protected privacy interests. Where an inspection:
a. is a reasonable method under the
				  circumstances to evaluate compliance with laws or regulations designed to
				  protect public health, safety, welfare or the environment;
b. serves a valid public interest/reasonable
				  governmental interest; and
c.
				  satisfies reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting
				  inspections, then administrative probable cause exists for the issuance of an
				  administrative inspection warrant.
4. "Closely regulated industry" means a
				  business or business-related activity, facility, structure or property for
				  which a permit, license or other approval has been issued by DEM, or a business
				  or business-related activity, facility, structure or property that is otherwise
				  subject to pervasive governmental supervision such that any person who chooses
				  to engage in that business or activity is deemed to have voluntarily subjected
				  him/herself to full regulation.
5.
				  "Consent" means authorization given to conduct an administrative inspection
				  that is:
a. Informed as to the location,
				  nature, scope or objective of the proposed administrative inspection;
b. Voluntary;
c. Given by an owner, operator or other
				  person of suitable age, discretion and apparent authority to give consent to
				  the inspection;
d. Subject to any
				  specified limitations of scope;
e.
				  Revocable at any time with or without justification, unless given as a part of
				  an application for a permit, license or other approval issued by DEM.
6. "Criminal search warrant" means
				  an order issued in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 12-5 or R.I. Gen.
				  Laws §
											8-3-6 to investigate criminal
				  conduct.
7. "Curtilage" means that
				  area of land and/or buildings, regardless of vegetative characteristics,
				  fencing or signage, surrounding a home that is so intimately tied to the home
				  and its domestic activities that it should be treated as part of the home
				  itself.
8. "Department" or
				  "Director" or "DEM" means the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
				  Management.
9. "Inventory" means
				  the process of identifying and listing property, items or samples that are
				  seized or removed from a site during the course of an administrative inspection
				  and/or the list that results from that process.
10. "Neutral inspection scheme" means a plan
				  for inspecting a group of similarly situated sites, facilities or activities
				  that have been identified for inspection based on a set of neutral criteria.
				  The inspection scheme will include objectives for the inspections that are
				  rationally related to assuring compliance with laws or regulations and that do
				  not target a specific individual, facility or property.
11. "Person" means any individual,
				  corporation, limited partnership, partnership, trust, joint stock company,
				  syndicate, governmental entity, quasi-governmental corporation or other
				  incorporated or unincorporated association or any subdivision
				  thereof.
12. "Plain view" means any
				  object, condition, activity or other evidence of a violation of law,
				  regulation, permit, license or order (civil or criminal) that is visible by an
				  inspector who is lawfully in position to make his/her observation.
13. "Sample" means the process of taking a
				  portion of a larger quantity of material for analysis.
14. "Split sample" means taking multiple
				  samples of the same material or dividing a sample for independent analysis by
				  two or more parties involved in an administrative inspection.
15. "Warrant application" means the formal
				  written petition and supporting affidavit presented to a neutral magistrate or
				  judge to request the issuance of an administrative inspection
				  warrant.