Chapter
213
2007 -- S 0332
Enacted 07/02/07
A N A C T
RELATING
TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
Introduced
By: Senators Blais, Breene, and Felag
Date
Introduced: February 07, 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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LC01493
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