A N A C T
RELATING TO REFUSE DISPOSAL
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 23-18.9 of the General Laws entitled "Refuse Disposal" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:
23-18.9-14. Testing and analysis of air and water. - - Environmental management district. -- (a) Applicability. This section shall apply to all solid waste management facilities/activities regulated pursuant to this chapter that are undertaken within and in the vicinity of an area known as the environmental management district, located in the Town of Johnston and the city of Cranston; said district is bounded by Plainfield Pike on the south; Peck Hill Road on the west; Central Avenue on the north; and 1-295 on the east.
(b) On-site monitoring. The Director of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), in consultation with the Director of the Department of Health (DOH), is hereby authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to require the development and implementation of onsite ambient air and water monitoring plans for all facilities/activities covered by this section. The regulations shall be promulgated no later than December 31, 2000 and shall be subject to the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42. These regulations shall, at a minimum, provide for the following:
(1) Define the minimum criteria that shall require the development and implementation of an onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan;
(2) Establish the time period that a facility/activity shall have to initially prepare an onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan and submit it to DEM for review;
(3) Define the minimum content that shall be included in an onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan;
(4) Establish the criteria that DEM shall use for review and approval of an onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan;
(5) Establish the criteria that DEM shall use for determining how long an approved onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan must remain in effect and the criteria for termination of an approved onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan; and
(6) Define the process for public involvement in the development and review of onsite ambient air and water monitoring plans.
The facility shall implement the outside ambient air and water monitoring plan within thirty (30) days of DEM approval. Data collected under onsite ambient air and water monitoring plans shall be evaluated by both DEM and DOH. DOH shall provide a written evaluation of this data to the host community(s), the facility(s), any oversight council or organization that focuses on the environmental management district, and any members of the public who request said evaluation.
Should a facility not abide by the newly promulgated rules and regulations requiring a party to conduct an onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan, the Director shall take enforcement action to compel such activities. The Director may, at his or her discretion, prepare and implement an onsite ambient air and water monitoring plan for facilities that do not comply with such an order. The facility shall be responsible to reimburse DEM for all costs, including interest, incurred in developing and implementing such a plan(s).
(c) Offsite monitoring. If, upon the evaluation of data provided pursuant to subsection (b) above, the DEM and DOH Directors jointly determine that any facility/activity is causing emissions of air or water pollutants at levels that could cause adverse health impacts, create objectionable or nuisance odors, or otherwise adversely impact human health or the environment, either individually or in conjunction with other sources in the surrounding community(s), the DEM Director, in consultation with the DOH Director, is hereby authorized to require the facility(s)/activity(s) to develop and implement offsite ambient air and/or water monitoring plans within the environmental management district. Regulations governing the development and implementation of these offsite plans shall be promulgated in conjunction with, and subject to the same provisions as, those authorized under subsection (b) above.
Any facility subject to the offsite monitoring requirement shall implement the offsite ambient air and/or water monitoring plan within thirty (30) days of DEM approval. Data collected under offsite ambient air and/or water monitoring plans shall be evaluated by both DEM and DOH. DOH shall provide a written evaluation of this data to the host community(s), the facility(s), any oversight council or organization that focuses on the environmental management district, and any members of the public who request said evaluation.
Should a facility not abide by the newly promulgated rules and regulations requiring a party to conduct an offsite ambient air and/or water monitoring plan, the Director shall take enforcement action to compel such activities. The Director may, at his or her discretion, prepare and implement an offsite ambient air and/or water monitoring plan for facilities that do not comply with such an order. That facility shall be responsible to reimburse DEM for all costs, including interest, incurred in developing and implementing such a plan(s).
SECTION 2. Section 23-18.9-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-18.9 entitled "Refuse Disposal" is hereby amended to read as follows:
23-18.9-10. Penalties. - - (1) Criminal Penalties (a) Any person who constructs a solid waste management facility or construction and demolition (C&D) debris processing facility or installs equipment in the facility or expands the facility without first obtaining approval of the plans and specifications for the facility, or any person who operates the facility without obtaining a license to do so from the director or who violates any of the provisions of this chapter or any rules, regulations, permits, licenses and orders adopted pursuant to this chapter, in the operation of a licensed facility shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years or both such fine and imprisonment, and every person shall be guilty of a separate and distinct offense for each day during which the violation shall be repeated or continued.
(b) Any person who disposes of solid waste at other than a licensed solid waste facility shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day during which the violation shall be repeated or continued and all costs incurred in the removal of the solid waste or by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or both.
(c) Any person who cocktails hazardous waste as defined by section 23-19.1-4(4) with construction and demolition debris prior to or contemporaneously with the transfer of such waste to a construction and demolition debris processing facility or a construction and demolition debris facility or who generates solid waste which is not disposed of in accordance with the general laws shall be absolutely liable for the cost of containment, cleanup, restoration and removal of the hazardous wastes and for all damages, losses or injuries, including environmental, which result directly or indirectly from the combination, mixing or addition of the hazardous waste with the construction and demolition debris and shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or both. In any case of a continuing violation, each day's continuance shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense.
(2) Civil penalty for violations. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this chapter, or of any rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto, shall be subject to a civil penalty, of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). In the case of a continuing violation, each day's continuance thereof shall be and be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.