Chapter 260
2012 -- S 2086
Enacted 06/13/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO THE
CITY OF
Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, and Lynch
Date Introduced: January 18, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
I. Section 17 of Chapter 254 of the 1962 Public Laws entitled An Act to
Create a Sewer Authority
for the City of
Finance. Operate and Maintain Sewage Works, as amended, is
hereby further amended to read
as follows:
Section 17. Authority to order connection to sewer ordering
cesspool. etc. to be filled up,
etc. -- (a) The sewer authority with the advice and consent of the mayor
in the interest of public
health and safety is authorized to order any abutting owner
or occupant of land upon any street in
which there is a sewer or in which a sewer may hereafter be
constructed, to connect the sewage of
such premises with such sewer, and to order any owner or
occupant to fill up and destroy any
cesspool, privy vault, drain or other arrangement on such land
for the reception of sewage. Upon
the service of any such order, or copy thereof upon any
such owner or occupant, to connect the
sewage as aforesaid, or to fill up or destroy any cesspool,
privy vault, drain or other arrangement
for the reception of sewage, such owner or occupant shall
comply therewith within thirty (30)
days from the time of service of such order. In case the
owner or occupant to whom any such
order is directed shall neglect or refuse to comply
therewith within thirty (30) days after the
service thereof upon him/her, he/she shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars ($100) nor
more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each subsequent
twenty-four (24) hours during which
he/she shall neglect or refuse to comply therewith and in
case such neglect or refusal shall
continue for sixty (60) days after the service of such an
order, the authority may cause such
cesspool, privy vault, drain or other arrangement for the
reception of sewage which is the subject
of such order to be filled up and destroyed and the
sewage from such land to be connected with a
common sewer. The pendency of any appeal from any such
order, shall not affect the power of
the authority, after the expiration of said period of
sixty (60) days, to cause such cesspool, privy
vault, or other arrangement for the reception of sewage to
be forthwith filled up and destroyed.
Whenever the authority
shall cause any cesspool, privy vault, or other arrangement for
the reception of sewage to be filled up and destroyed, or
the sewage of any land to be connected
with a common sewer, it shall keep careful account of the
cost of such work and of any expense
caused the city by reason of the neglect or refusal of the
owner or occupant of such land to
comply with the order of the authority issued as aforesaid,
and upon the completion of such work
the authority shall tile statement of such cost and
expense with the director of finance and
thereupon the amount of such cost and expense shall be a lien
upon the land, including
improvement thereon, for which such cost and expense was incurred
and the same shall be
collected in the same manner as other assessments and charges
are collected under this act.
(b) Mandatory connection to
sewer prior to sale or transfer. Any abutting owner or
occupant of land upon any street in which there is a sewer
must connect the sewage of such
premises with such sewer and fill up and destroy any cesspool,
privy vault, drain or other
arrangement on such land for the reception of sewage, excluding
any Rhode Is land department of
environmental management ISDS approved system, prior to the one
year anniversary of the sale
or transfer in ownership. If such abutting owner or
occupant of land who is required to connect to
the sewage system fails to do so in prescribed time
period, then such abutting owner or occupant
of land shall be required to pay usage fees as if such
abutting owner or occupant of land were
connected to the sewage system.
(c)
Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, regulation or agreement to the
contrary, an abutting owner or occupant of land upon any
street in which there is a sewer shall not
be required to connect to the sewage system, except as
provided under subsections (a) or (b) of
this section.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00080
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