2013 -- S 0518

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LC01508

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013

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A N A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - WASTEWATER TREATMENT

PLANTS

     Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Walaska, Kettle, and Cool Rumsey

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2013

     Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Section 42-17.4-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-17.4 entitled

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"Wastewater Treatment Plants" is hereby amended to read as follows:

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     42-17.4-12. Renewal of operation permit -- Public notice and hearing requirement. --

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(a) Upon the department of environmental management's completion of a draft, a major Rhode

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Island Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (RIPDES) permit (as those terms are defined in

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the RIPDES Regulations effective March 1, 1993), the department of environmental management

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shall provide public notice of the opportunity to submit comments and request a hearing on the

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draft permit and shall hold a hearing on the draft permit in accordance with the requirements of

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the RIPDES regulations. A notice of the hearing, which shall be mandatory, shall be published in

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a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town where said facility is located, at least

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thirty (30) days prior to the date of the hearing, at the hearing all persons interested shall be heard

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upon the matter of the facility's draft permit. Written notice, which may be a copy of the

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newspaper advertisement, shall be mailed to the wastewater treatment facility whose permit is

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being heard, and to the board of certification of operators of wastewater treatment facilities and,

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where applicable, to the parties specified in subsection (b) of this section at least twenty-one (21)

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days prior to the date of the hearing. The newspaper notice shall be published as a display

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advertisement using a type size at least as large as the standard type size used by the newspaper in

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its news articles, and said Said notice shall:

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      (1) Specify the date, time and place of the hearing;

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      (2) Specify the date which the facility filed its license renewal application; and

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      (3) Indicate that language interpreters and interpreters for the hearing-impaired will be

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made available upon notice to the facility forty-eight (48) hours prior to the hearing date.

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      (b) A copy of the notice of public hearing as published shall be sent by first class mail to

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the chief administrative officer of each city or town, and to each member of the town or city

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council and state representatives and senators of each city and town who represent an area that is

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located within two thousand (2000) feet of the facility's perimeter.

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      (c) The public hearing shall have a qualified stenographer present. The stenographer

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shall provide a copy of the transcript to the department of environmental management, division of

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water resources and to the wastewater treatment facility. Said transcripts shall be received no later

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than thirty (30) days after the hearing. The transcript of the public hearing shall be available for

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inspection to the general public at the facility.

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      (d) No defect in the form of any notice under this section shall render any granting of

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licensure invalid unless the defect is found to be intentional or misleading.

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      (e) The costs of any notice, interpreters, stenographers or transcripts as required under

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this section shall be paid directly by the wastewater treatment facility.

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      (f) The above requirements are to be construed as minimum requirements.

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      (g) The above hearing requirements shall take effect as of January 1, 1996.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC01508

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - WASTEWATER TREATMENT

PLANTS

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     This act would require the department of environmental management to provide public

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notice of the opportunity to the public to submit comments and request a hearing on a draft permit

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for a major pollutant elimination system.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC01508

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