It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 23-27.3 of the General Laws entitled "State Building Code" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

23-27.3-100.1.5.4. State energy conservation code. - The state building code standards committee has the authority to adopt, maintain, amend, and repeal an optional energy conservation code, which shall be based on appropriate nationally and internationally recognized models, and to promulgate and administer such an energy conservation code. Said energy conservation code shall contain provisions pertaining to, but not limited to, the construction of buildings, the use of renewable energy resources in buildings, the efficient use of energy within buildings, and the orientation of buildings on their sites.

SECTION 2. Sections 37-8-17.1 and 37-8-19 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-8 entitled "Public Buildings" are hereby amended to read as follows:

37-8-17.1. Energy efficient resources -- (a) In addition to the requirements set forth in section 37-8-17 37-8-19, the director of the department of administration in consultation with the state energy office, shall establish, maintain, and implement a system of rebate incentives for the installation of energy efficient sources in state owned and leased buildings offered by the various public utilities providing those resources to the state.

(b) Any such determination made pursuant to the requirements of this section shall be finalized by the director and the proposed goals to be accomplished thereby shall be so accomplished within four (4) years of June 5, 1991.

37-8-19. Energy use in public buildings -- (a) The director of the department of administration shall publish and maintain standards and guidelines for energy conservation and energy cost savings in new, renovated, and newly leased public buildings prior to December 1, 1993. The standards shall be, at a minimum, in compliance with the Rhode Island State Building Code, chapter 27.3 of title 23 and will exceed and supplement that code where it is determined to be cost effective to do so.

(b) The standards shall address, at a minimum, lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, building envelope, site orientation, use of passive solar energy, use of energy management systems, use of dual fuel burning capabilities, and use of any available financial subsidies or grants for energy conservation. The objective of the standards and guidelines will be to implement cost effective building design. , to achieve energy efficiency, and to minimize the overall cost of constructing, renovating, operating, and maintaining public buildings.

(c) All new, renovated, and newly leased public buildings shall be designed in compliance with the standards and guidelines which may be changed and updated periodically by the director.

(d) Architects and engineers hired by the state will be required to comply with these standards and will also be required to meet with the statewide energy conservation officer and state building code commissioner, or their designees, commencing with the design phase to review the standards and guidelines and to determine how to incorporate them into the project design. A written authorization must be obtained from the statewide energy conservation officer before plans and specifications can be approved for a building permit by the building code commissioner.

(e) The official in charge of supervising the design and construction of public buildings at each of the following state agencies shall have the opportunity to comment on all standards, guidelines, and any periodic changes to them before they become finalized by the director:

(1) The university of Rhode Island, Rhode Island college, the department of MHRH, the community college of Rhode Island, the division of central services, the governor's energy office, and the state building code commission.

(f) "Public building" for the purpose of this section shall mean any building owned by the state of Rhode Island or any building leased by the state of Rhode Island with a term of two (2) years or longer.

SECTION 3. Section 39-2-1.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-2 entitled "Duties of Utilities and Carriers" is hereby amended to read as follows:

39-2-1.2. Utility base rate -- Prohibition of inclusion of advertising in base rate -- (a) In addition to costs prohibited in section 39-1-27.4(b), no public utility distributing or providing heat, electricity, or water to or for the public shall include as part of its base rate any expenses for advertising, either direct or indirect, which promotes the use of its product or service, or is designed to promote the public image of the industry. No public utility may furnish support of any kind, direct, or indirect, to any subsidiary, group, association, or individual for advertising and include the expense as part of its base rate. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing contained in this section shall be deemed as prohibiting the inclusion in the base rate of expenses incurred for advertising, informational or educational in nature, which is designed to promote public safety conservation of the public utility's product or service. The public utilities commission shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to require public disclosure of all advertising expenses of any kind, direct or indirect, and to otherwise effectuate the provisions of this section.

(b) Effective as of January 1, 1997, and for a period of five (5) ten (10) years thereafter, each electric distribution company shall include a charge of 2.3 mills per kilowatt-hour delivered to fund demand side management programs and renewable energy resources. The allocation of this revenue between demand side management programs and renewable energy resources shall be determined by the commission. During the five (5) ten (10) year period the commission may, in its discretion, after notice and public hearing, increase the sums for demand side management and renewable resources; thereafter, the commission shall, after notice and public hearing, determine the appropriate charge for these programs. As used in this section, renewable energy resources shall mean power generation technologies that produce electricity from wind energy, small scale (less than 100 megawatts) hydropower plants that do not require the construction of new dams, solar energy, and sustainably managed biomass. Fuel cells may be considered an energy efficiency technology to be included in demand-side management programs. Special rates for low income customers in effect as of August 7, 1996 shall be continued, and the costs of all such discounts shall be included in the distribution rates charged to all other customers. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting an electric distribution company from offering any special rates or programs for low income customers which are not in effect as of August 7, 1996, subject to the approval by the commission.

SECTION 4. Section 42-11-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-11 entitled "Department of Administration" is hereby amended to read as follows:

42-11-10. Statewide planning program -- (a) Findings.. - The general assembly finds that the people of this state have a fundamental interest in the orderly development of the state; the state has a positive interest and demonstrated need for establishment of a comprehensive strategic state planning process and the preparation, maintenance, and implementation of plans for the physical, economic, and social development of the state; the continued growth and development of the state presents problems that cannot be met by the cities and towns individually and that require effective planning by the state; and state and local plans and programs must be properly coordinated with the planning requirements and programs of the federal government.

(b) Establishment of statewide planning program.. - (1) A statewide planning program is hereby established to prepare, adopt, and amend strategic plans for the physical, economic, and social development of the state and to recommend these to the governor, the general assembly, and all others concerned.

(2) All strategic planning, as defined in subsection (c) of this section, undertaken by the executive branch for those departments and other agencies enumerated in subsection (g) of this section, shall be conducted by or under the supervision of the statewide planning program. The statewide planning program shall consist of a state planning council, and the office of strategic planning and the office of systems planning of the division of planning, which shall be a division within the department of administration.

(c) Strategic planning.. - Strategic planning includes the following activities:

(1) Establishing or identifying general goals.

(2) Refining or detailing these goals and identifying relationships between them.

(3) Formulating, testing, and selecting policies that will achieve desired objectives.

(4) Preparing long-range or system plans or comprehensive programs that carry out the policies and set time schedules and targets.

(5) Preparing functional short-range plans or programs that are consistent with established or desired goals, objectives, and policies, and with long-range or system plans or comprehensive programs where applicable, and that define intermediate steps toward their accomplishment.

(6) Monitoring the planning of specific projects and designing of specific programs of short duration by the operating departments and other agencies of the executive branch to insure that these are consistent with and carry out the intent of applicable strategic plans.

(7) Reviewing the execution of strategic plans and the results obtained and making revisions necessary to achieve established goals.

(d) State guide plan. - Components of strategic plans prepared and adopted in accordance with this section may be designated as elements of the state guide plan. The state guide plan shall be comprised of functional elements or plans dealing with land use; physical development and environmental concerns; economic development; energy supply; access; use; and conservation; human services; and other factors necessary to accomplish the objective of this section. The state guide plan shall be a means for centralizing and integrating long-range goals, policies, and plans. State agencies concerned with specific subject areas, local governments, and the public shall participate in the state guide planning process, which shall be closely coordinated with the budgeting process.

(e) Membership of state planning council.. - The state planning council shall consist of:

(1) The director of the department of administration as chairperson;

(2) The director, policy office, in the office of the governor, as vice-chairperson;

(3) The governor, or his or her designee;

(4) The budget officer;

(5) The director of the office of housing, energy and intergovernmental relations;

(6) The chief of statewide planning, as secretary;

(7) The president of the league of cities and towns or his or her designee and one official of local government, who shall be appointed by the governor from a list of not less than three (3) submitted by the Rhode Island league of cities and towns; and

(8) The executive director of the league of cities and towns;

(9) The speaker of the house or his or her designee;

(10) The senate majority leader or his or her designee;

(11) Four (4) public members, three (3) of whom shall be appointed by the governor, and one of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house for terms of three (3) years;

(12) Two (2) representatives of a private, nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, one to be appointed by the speaker of the house and one to be appointed by the senate majority leader; and

(13) The director of planning and development for the city of Providence.

(f) Powers and duties of state planning council.. - The state planning council shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To adopt strategic plans as defined in this section and the long-range state guide plan, and to modify and amend any of these, following the procedures for notification and public hearing set forth in section 42-35-3, and to recommend and encourage implementation of these goals to the general assembly, state and federal agencies, and other public and private bodies; approval of strategic plans by the governor;

(2) To coordinate the planning and development activities of all state agencies, in accordance with strategic plans prepared and adopted as provided for by this section;

(3) To review and comment on the proposed annual work program of the statewide planning program;

(4) To adopt rules and issue orders concerning any matters within its jurisdiction as established by this section and amendments to it;

(5) To establish advisory committees and appoint members thereto representing diverse interests and viewpoints as required in the state planning process and in the preparation or implementation of strategic plans. The state planning council shall appoint a permanent committee comprised of:

(i) Public members from different geographic areas of the state representing diverse interests, and

(ii) Officials of state, local and federal government, which shall review all proposed elements of the state guide plan, or amendment or repeal of any element of the plan, and shall advise the state planning council thereon before the council acts on any such proposal. This committee shall also advise the state planning council on any other matter referred to it by the council; and

(6) To establish and appoint members to an executive committee consisting of major participants of a Rhode Island geographic information system with oversight responsibility for its activities.

(g) Division of planning.. - (1) The division of planning shall be the principal staff agency of the state planning council for preparing and/or coordinating strategic plans for the comprehensive management of the state's human, economic, and physical resources. The division of planning shall recommend to the state planning council specific guidelines, standards, and programs to be adopted to implement strategic planning and the state guide plan and shall undertake any other duties established by this section and amendments thereto.

(2) The division of planning shall maintain records (which shall consist of files of complete copies) of all plans, recommendations, rules, and modifications or amendments thereto adopted or issued by the state planning council under this section. The records shall be open to the public.

(3) The division of planning shall manage and administer the Rhode Island geographic information system of land-related resources, and shall coordinate these efforts with other state departments and agencies, including the University of Rhode Island, which shall provide technical support and assistance in the development and maintenance of the system and its associated data base.

(h) Transfer determinations.. - (1) The director of administration, with the approval of the governor, shall make the conclusive determination of the number of positions, personnel, physical space, property, records, and appropriation balances, allocations and other funds of the department of mental health, retardation, and hospitals, department of health, department of human services, department of corrections, department of labor and training, department of environmental management, department of business regulation, department of transportation, department of state library services, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, department of elderly affairs, department for children and their families, historical preservation commission, water resources board, and the defense civil preparedness/emergency management agency of the executive department to be transferred to the department of administration in connection with the functions transferred there into by the provisions of this article.

(2) In order to ensure continuity of the strategic planning process of the department specified heretofore, the actual transfer of functions or any part thereof to the department of administration may be postponed after July 1, 1985 until such time as, by executive order of the governor, the transfer herein provided can be put into force and effect but no later than December 31, 1985.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon passage.