2022 -- S 2293 | |
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LC004653 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION – THE OCEAN STATE CLIMATE | |
ADAPTION AND RESILIENCE FUND | |
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Introduced By: Senators Pearson, Euer, Sosnowski, DiMario, Kallman, Valverde, | |
Date Introduced: February 15, 2022 | |
Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 46-23.3-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-23.3 entitled "The |
2 | Ocean State Climate Adaptation and Resilience Fund" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 46-23.3-4. Establishment -- The Ocean State Climate Adaptation and Resilience fund. |
4 | (a) Establishment. There is established within the Rhode Island infrastructure bank, the |
5 | Ocean State Climate Adaptation and Resilience fund (the "OSCAR fund"). |
6 | (b) Financing. The fund shall consist of the following sources: |
7 | (1) Sums the general assembly may appropriate; |
8 | (2) Monies received from federal, state, or other sources, including bond funds, for the |
9 | purposes of the OSCAR fund; |
10 | (3) Monies received from any private donor for the OSCAR fund; and |
11 | (4) Any interest earned on the monies in the fund.; and |
12 | (5) The fees required pursuant to § 46-23.3-8. |
13 | (c) Allocation of OSCAR funds. OSCAR funds shall be used to carry out the purposes of |
14 | this chapter as follows: |
15 | (1) The administrative expenses required to carry out the activities of the program as |
16 | described in this chapter shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) each for the Rhode Island |
17 | infrastructure bank, coastal resources management council, and the department of environmental |
18 | management annually, which sum shall not include the cost of issuing bonds or notes, if any. The |
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1 | department and the council shall be responsible for submitting annual budget requests for its |
2 | administrative and implementation costs of the program to the bank; |
3 | (2) The planning, design, engineering, construction, and monitoring of adaptation and |
4 | resilience projects as defined in this chapter; and |
5 | (3) The OSCAR projects approved by the department and the council upon |
6 | recommendation of the technical advisory committee. Only grants approved through the process |
7 | established by the department and council shall be eligible for funding under this program. Subject |
8 | to the availability of funds in the OSCAR fund, the bank shall award funding upon receipt of written |
9 | approval of the department and council. |
10 | (d) OSCAR fund grants. Factors to be taken into consideration by the technical advisory |
11 | committee for the purposes of granting monies to municipalities and the state for OSCAR grants, |
12 | for determining the eligibility of projects for financial assistance, and in prioritizing the selection |
13 | of projects by the technical committee shall include, but need not be limited to: |
14 | (1) Consistency with the following where applicable: the council's most recent projections |
15 | for sea level rise, the coastal habitat restoration strategy, the state nonpoint source pollution control |
16 | plan; and other applicable state and federal laws; |
17 | (2) The ability and authority of the applicant to carry out and properly maintain the |
18 | adaptation and resilience project; |
19 | (3) Whether the project will enhance public access to public land; |
20 | (4) The severity to, or the risk and/or extent of, infrastructure degradation on public land; |
21 | (5) The extent of the use by the public of the public land; |
22 | (6) The proposed milestones to ensure that the project is completed as designed and |
23 | approved; |
24 | (7) Whether the adaptation and resilience project can also be shown to create or replace |
25 | habitat losses that benefit fish and wildlife resources; |
26 | (8) Potential water quality improvements; |
27 | (9) Potential improvements to fish and wildlife habitats for species that are identified as |
28 | rare or endangered by the Rhode Island natural history survey or the Federal Endangered Species |
29 | Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.; |
30 | (10) The level and extent of collaboration by partners (e.g., municipality, nongovernment |
31 | organization, watershed council, federal agency, etc.); and |
32 | (11) Overall potential benefits to the public and estimated length of time frame of benefit. |
33 | SECTION 2. Chapter 46-23.3 of the General Laws entitled "The Ocean State Climate and |
34 | Resilience Fund” is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: |
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1 | 46-23.3-8. Uniform climate change adaptation fee. |
2 | (a) A uniform climate change adaptation fee in an amount not exceeding five cents ($.05) |
3 | for each barrel of petroleum products, as set by the director pursuant to subsection (d) of this |
4 | section, shall be imposed upon every person owning petroleum products at the time the petroleum |
5 | products are received at a marine terminal within this state by means of a vessel from a point of |
6 | origin outside this state. The fee shall be remitted to the division of taxation on the thirtieth day of |
7 | each month based upon the number of barrels of petroleum products received during the preceding |
8 | month. |
9 | (b) Every owner of petroleum products shall be liable for the fee until it has been paid to |
10 | the state, except that payment to a marine terminal operator registered under this chapter is |
11 | sufficient to relieve the owner from further liability for the fee; provided, however, that the fee for |
12 | asphalt products and asphalt derivatives shall be one cent ($.01) per barrel of asphalt products or |
13 | derivatives. |
14 | (c) Whenever the director, in consultation with the department and the division of taxation, |
15 | estimates that the amount in either fund will reach the amount specified in subsection (e) of this |
16 | section, and the money in the fund is not required for the purposes of this chapter, the director shall |
17 | instruct the division of taxation to cease collecting the fee. |
18 | (d) The division of taxation, except for the fee set out in subsection (b) of this section, shall |
19 | not set the amount of the fee at less than five cents ($0.05) for each barrel of petroleum products or |
20 | crude oil, unless the director finds that the assessment of a lesser fee will cause the fund to reach |
21 | the designated amount within six (6) months. |
22 | (e) For the purposes of this chapter, "designated amount" means an amount equal to ten |
23 | million dollars ($10,000,000), adjusted for inflation after January l, 2023, according to an index |
24 | which the director may reasonably choose. |
25 | (f) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Rhode Island climate |
26 | change and adaptation fund, and shall be disbursed according to the purposes of this chapter. |
27 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION – THE OCEAN STATE CLIMATE | |
ADAPTION AND RESILIENCE FUND | |
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1 | This act would impose an adaption fee on every barrel of petroleum products at five cents |
2 | ($.05) and asphalt products at one cent ($.01) received at a marine terminal within this state to fund |
3 | the purposes of this chapter set forth in § 46-23.3-4, until the fund reaches the amount of ten million |
4 | dollars ($10,000,000). |
5 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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