Chapter
187
2007 -- H 5745
Enacted 07/02/07
A N A C T
RELATING TO HEALTH
AND SAFETY -- HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
Introduced By: Representative Robert A. Watson
Date Introduced: February
28, 2007
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 23-19.1-17 and 23-19.1-18 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-
19.1
entitled "Hazardous Waste Management" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
23-19.1-17.
Civil penalty for violations. -- Any person who shall violate the
provisions
of this
chapter, or of any rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant to this chapter,
shall be subject
to a
civil penalty, of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) twenty-five
thousand dollars
($25,000). In the case of a continuing violation, each day's
continuance of the violation shall be
and be
deemed to be a separate and distinct offense.
23-19.1-18.
Criminal penalties -- Payment of restoration costs. -- (a) Unless
otherwise
specified,
any person who shall refuse to obey or who shall knowingly violate, or
reasonably
should
know that he or she is violating, the provisions of an order issued by the
director under the
provisions
of this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to this
chapter, or who
shall
cause the refusal or violation, shall be guilty of a felony.
(b) Any person who shall tamper with, destroy, or in any other way
detrimentally affect a
well
which has been installed by any person pursuant to an order or rules and
regulations issued
by the
department of environmental management or any other state agency, for the
purpose of
testing
ground water contamination, shall be guilty of a felony.
(c) Disposal of hazardous wastes at landfills which cannot be located,
designed,
constructed,
or operated to prevent the endangerment of all underground drinking water
sources
beyond
the facility boundary; or the endangerment of an aquifer which has been
designated by
any
federal or Rhode Island state agency as a sole source aquifer; or contamination
by discharge
by any
surface or subsurface means causing a violation of any rule or regulation or
standard of
any
federal or Rhode Island agency; or disposal of hazardous wastes at facilities
other than
hazardous
waste disposal facilities permitted by the department of environmental
management is
prohibited,
and any person who knowingly disposes, or who reasonably should know that he or
she is
disposing or causing the disposal of, hazardous wastes in Rhode Island at other
than
hazardous
waste disposal facilities holding valid permits issued by the department of
environmental
management shall be deemed guilty of a felony.
(d) Operation of a hazardous waste disposal facility in Rhode Island without a
valid
permit
issued by the department of environmental management is prohibited, and any
person who
knowingly
operates a hazardous waste disposal facility in Rhode Island, or who reasonably
should
know that he or she is operating or causing the operation of this facility
without a valid
permit
shall be guilty of a felony.
(e) Transportation of hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without a valid permit
issued by
the
department of environmental management is prohibited, and any person who
knowingly
transports
hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without a valid permit issued by the
department of
environmental
management, or who reasonably should know that he or she is transporting or
causing
to be transported hazardous wastes without a permit, shall be guilty of a
felony.
(f) Treatment of hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without a valid permit issued
by the
department
of environmental management, or storage of hazardous wastes in Rhode Island
without
a valid permit issued by the department of environmental management is
prohibited and
any
person who knowingly stores or treats hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without
a valid
permit
issued by the department of environmental management, or other authorization of
the
department
of environmental management, or who reasonably should know that he or she is
storing
or treating or causing to be treated or stored without a permit, shall be
guilty of a felony.
(g) The transporting, causing to be transported, or accepting of hazardous
waste for
treatment,
storage, or disposal from a transporter without a manifest required by the
department
of
environmental management and completed in accordance with department of
environmental
management
regulations is prohibited. Any person who transports, causes to be transported,
or
accepts
hazardous waste for treatment, storage, or disposal and fails to prepare a
manifest for the
hazardous
waste or knowingly alters or falsifies the information on the manifest shall be
deemed
guilty
of a felony.
(h) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement, representation, or
certification
in any
application, record, report, plan, permit, or other document filed, maintained,
and used for
the
purposes of program compliance under this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a
felony.
(i) Any person who violates any provision of this section 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) twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or
both. In the case of a continuing violation,
each
day's continuance of the violation shall be a separate and distinct offense.
(j) In addition to the provisions of this section, after a judgment of
conviction and
hearing
in accordance with section 23-19.1-18.1, the court may order the defendant to
pay the
cost of
restoring to its original state the area where hazardous wastes were unlawfully
stored,
treated,
or disposed.
SECTION
2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01791
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