Chapter
243
2005 -- S 0961 SUBSTITUTE B
Enacted 07/08/05
A N A C T
RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION
Introduced By: Senators Bates, and Sosnowski
Date Introduced: March 16,
2005
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section
46-12-39.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-12 entitled "Water
Pollution"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
46-12-39.1.
No discharge certificate decal -- Required. [Effective June 1, 2006.] --
(a)
Definitions.
- As used in this section and in conjunction with this chapter, the following
terms
shall be
construed as follows:
(1) "Boat" means any vessel or water craft whether moved by oars,
paddles, sails, or
other
power mechanism, inboard or outboard, or any other vessel excluding commercial
vessels
or
structure floating upon the water whether or not capable of self-locomotion,
including house
boats,
barges, and similar floating objects.
(2)(1) "Certification agent" means a marina or boatyard
which is capable of installing
sewage
disposal holding tanks and related equipment; a certified marine sewage
pump-out
facility,
including a mobile facility; the Narragansett Bay Power Squadron; the U.S.
Coast Guard;
the U.S.
Coast Guard auxiliary; and local harbor masters and assistant harbor masters.
(b) No person shall operate, or moor for more than seven (7) thirty
(30) days, a boat in
the
waters of the state, other than an open boat without sleeping accommodations or
any vessels
for hire
licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry six (6) or more passengers, unless such boat
displays
in a prominent position an approved "no discharge certificate decal."
(c) Two (2) no discharge certificate decals, differing in color, shall be made
available by
the
department of environmental management for issuance to boats subject to the
requirements of
this
section. Decals of one color shall signify that the recipient boat has a marine
toilet, in proper
working
order, which is either a marine sanitation device-type I, a marine sanitation
device-type
II, or a
marine sanitation device-type III with a holding tank bypass value, but the
boat owner or
operator
had taken the steps necessary to prevent the discharge of sewage into the
waters of the
state. Decals of the other color shall signify that the
recipient boat either has a marine sanitation
device-type
III without a holding tank bypass valve, or no marine toilet at all.
(d) Certification shall remain in effect for forty-eight (48) months after each
certification,
and no
additional certification shall be required during that period.
(e) The department of environmental management shall collect and deposit into a
separate
general revenue account a fee of ten dollars ($10.00) for each certificate to
defray the
cost of
implementation of this section.
(f) Certificate decals may be obtained from any certification agent.
(g) Before a certificate decal may be issued, a certification agent must
visually inspect
each
marine toilet on a boat, as well as any associated plumbing or holding tank
fixtures, to
ascertain
whether the boat is in compliance with section 46-12-39. If necessary, the
certification
agent
shall perform a color-dye flush test of each toilet to verify compliance.
(h)
For inspections conducted pursuant to this section, certification agents may
collect
and
retain a fee, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each marine toilet
aboard each
boat.
This fee shall be in addition to the minimum ten dollar ($10.00) fee for each
decal issued,
which
certification agents shall collect and forward to the department of environmental
management pursuant to subsection (e) above.
(h)(i) At the time any boat equipped with a marine sanitation
device-type III is issued a
certificate
decal, the certification agent shall also issue a frequency compliance record
card,
which
shall be stamped, by the pump-out station operator, or in the event of
remote sewage
removal,
the station operator or pump-out boat operator shall issue a receipt to be
attached to the
compliance
record card, when sewage is pumped,
by the pump-out station operator. This
document documentation, which may include one or more cards
or receipts, shall remain on
board a
boat and shown when requested during an inspection. This subsection shall
not apply to
any
boats that discharge solely outside the waters of the state.
(i) Each boat equipped with a marine sanitation device-type III shall be pumped
out
whenever
it is removed from the waters for water storage purposes.
SECTION 2. This act shall
take effect upon passage.
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LC02798/SUB B/2
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