2025 -- H 6126

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LC002481

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

COUNCIL

     Introduced By: Representatives Finkelman, Cortvriend, Dawson, and Carson

     Date Introduced: March 21, 2025

     Referred To: House State Government & Elections

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 46-23-2, 46-23-2.1 and 46-23-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-

23 entitled "Coastal Resources Management Council" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     46-23-2. Coastal resources management council created — Appointment of members.

     (a) There Effective until January 1, 2026, there is hereby created the coastal resources

management council. The coastal resources management council shall consist of ten (10) members.

Nine (9) members shall be appointed by the governor, with advice and consent of the senate, and

one member shall serve ex officio. All current appointments to the coastal resources management

council made by the governor with advice and consent of the senate are hereby validated and

ratified and those appointees shall serve for the remainder of their term; provided, however,

notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all members of the coastal resources management council

appointed prior to January 1, 2026 shall have their term expire on January 1, 2026.

     (1) Six Effective until January 1, 2026, six (6) of the members shall be appointed or elected

officials of local government: three (3) of whom shall be appointed or elected officials in a

municipality of fewer than twenty-five thousand (25,000) in population, three (3) of whom shall be

appointed or elected officials in a municipality of more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) in

population. The populations are to be determined by the latest federal census. Elected or appointed

municipal officials shall hold seats on the council only so long as they remain in their elected or

appointed office. Each municipal appointment shall cease if the appointed or elected official shall

no longer hold or change the office which they held upon appointment. At least five (5) out of the

six (6) appointed or elected members must be appointed or elected in a coastal municipality. When

the governor submits his or her appointments to the senate for advice and consent, the governor

shall specify the appointed or elected office that each municipal appointment holds; the population

of the municipality represented; and the member being replaced.

     (2) Three (3) members shall be appointed by the governor from the public, with the advice

and consent of the senate, one of the public members and his or her successors shall reside in a

coastal municipality.

     (3) All members shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified; during the

month of January, the governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, a member

to succeed the members whose term will then next expire for a term of three (3) years commencing

on the first day of February next following and until their successor is named and qualified. A

member shall be eligible for successive appointments. No more than two (2) persons on the council

shall be from the same municipality. A vacancy other than by expiration shall be filled in the

manner of the original appointment but only for the unexpired portion of the term.

     (4) The director of the department of environmental management, or their designee, shall

serve ex officio. The ex-officio member shall not be counted as serving from any particular

municipality.

     (2) On and after January 1, 2026, the governor shall appoint a coastal resources

management council that shall consist of seven (7) voting members, one of whom shall be the

attorney general or designee. The six (6) remaining members shall be public members appointed

by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. All appointed members shall possess

background, qualifications and expertise in environmental matters, provided that one of whom shall

be an engineer; one of whom shall be a coastal biologist; and one of whom shall be a representative

of an environmental organization. Current or past service on the coastal resources management

council shall not disqualify an individual from reappointment pursuant to this subsection.

     (b) In addition to the foregoing voting members, the council may include a varying number

of other members who may serve in an advisory capacity without the right to vote and who may be

invited to serve by either the governor or the voting members. These advisory members may

represent the federal agencies such as the navy, coast guard, corps of engineers, public health

service, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, and such regional agencies as the

New England River Basins Commission and the New England Regional Commission and any other

group or interest not otherwise represented.

     (c) There may be established a coastal resources advisory committee which committee,

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appointed by the executive director of the coastal resources management council, may include, but

not be limited to, representation from the following groups: one of whom may be a representative

of the university of Rhode Island graduate school of oceanography and the college of resources

development, one of whom may be a representative of the Sea Grant National College Program,

one of whom may be a representative of the army corps of engineers, one of whom may be a

representative of the federal environmental protection agency’s Narragansett Bay laboratory, one

of whom shall be a representative of the coastal resources management council, one of whom may

be the director of the department of environmental management; one of whom may be a member

of the Rhode Island Marine Trade Association and one of whom may be a representative of a

regional environmental group. The council shall have the authority to appoint these additional

members to the advisory committee as is deemed necessary or advisable by the advisory committee

or the council. It shall be the responsibility of the committee to advise the coastal resources

management council on environmental issues relating to dredging and permitting related thereto,

including, but not limited to, those issues defined in §§ 46-23-18.1 — 46-23-18.3, inclusive.

     (d) The council shall have the authority to form committees of other advisory groups as

needed from both its own members and others.

     46-23-2.1. Members — Term of office — Vacancies.

     (a) The term of office of the appointed members shall be three (3) years, only so long as

the members shall remain eligible to serve on the council under the appointment authority.

     (1) Subject to the provisions of § 46-23-2, all members shall serve until their successors

are appointed and qualified.

     (2) Term limits on the coastal resources management council shall be determined by the

governor as follows: two (2) appointees shall serve an initial term of three (3) years and shall be

eligible for reappointment in accordance with this section; two (2) appointees shall serve an initial

term of two (2) years and shall be eligible for reappointment in accordance with this section; and

two (2) appointees shall serve an initial term of one year and shall be eligible for reappointment in

accordance with this section.

     (3) After the expiration of the terms of all initial members pursuant to this subsection,

succeeding appointments shall be for a term of three (3) years, and during the month of January,

the governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, a member to succeed the

member whose term will then next expire for a term of three (3) years commencing on the first day

of February next following and until a successor is named and qualified.

     (b) The members are eligible for successive up to two (2) appointments.

     (c) Elected or appointed municipal officials shall hold seats on the council, only so long as

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they remain in their elected or appointed office.

     (d) A vacancy other than by expiration shall be filled in the manner of the original

appointment but only for the unexpired portion of the term. Any person appointed to fill said

vacancy shall complete the unexpired term and shall then be eligible for reappointment pursuant to

this section. The governor shall have the power to remove his or her appointee for just cause.

     46-23-4. Officers of the council — Quorum and vote required for action.

     The governor shall select from the appointed members a chairperson and vice chairperson.

The council shall thereupon select a secretary from among its membership or staff. The council

may engage staff, including legal counsel, as it deems necessary. A quorum shall consist of six (6)

members of the council provided, however, effective January 1, 2026, a quorum shall consist of

four (4) members of the council. A majority vote of those present shall be required for action.

     SECTION 3. Section 46-23-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-23 entitled "Coastal

Resources Management Council" is hereby repealed.

     46-23-12. Representation from coastal communities.

     Upon the expiration of a term of a member appointed by the governor, as an appointed or

elected official of local government from a coastal municipality as set out in § 46-23-2, the governor

shall appoint an appointed or elected official of a coastal municipality which, at the time of the

governor’s appointment, has no appointed or ex officio representation on the council.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

COUNCIL

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     This act would change and reduce the current composition of the coastal resources

management council (CRMC) reducing the current ten (10) member council to seven (7) members.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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