It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 20-10-1, 20-10-3 and 20-10-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 20-10 entitled "Aquaculture" are hereby amended to read as follows:

20-10-1. Declaration of Intent and Public Policy. -- Whereas, R.I. Const., Art. I, Sec. 17 guarantees to the people the right to enjoy and freely exercise all rights of fishery and imposes on the general assembly the responsibility to provide for the conservation of water, plant, and animal resources of the state, and

Whereas, it is in the best public interest of the people and the state that the {ADD land and ADD} waters of the state, and the land under those waters, are utilized properly and effectively to produce plant and animal life, and

Whereas, the process of aquaculture is a proper and effective method to cultivate plant and animal life in the waters of the state , and

Whereas, the process of aquaculture should only be conducted within the waters of the state in a manner consistent with the best public interest, with particular consideration given to the effect of aquaculture on other uses of the free and common fishery and navigation, and the compatibility of aquaculture with the environment of the waters of the state, therefore,

It is the public policy of this state to preserve the waters of this state as free and common fishery. The health, welfare, environment and general well being of the people of the state require that the state restrict the uses of its waters and the land thereunder for aquaculture and therefore, in the exercise of the police power, the waters of the state and land thereunder are to be regulated hereunder.

20-10-3. Authority to grant permits for aquaculture. -- The CRMC may grant permits for the conduct of aquaculture in the coastal waters of the state, including coastal ponds and estuaries to coastal rivers, to any person, or any corporation or business entity, chartered under the laws of this state, subject to the provisions of this chapter. Those permits {ADD for coastal waters ADD} shall be for a term not to exceed ten (10) years, and shall be renewable upon application by the permittee for successive periods, up to five (5) years {ADD of ten (10) years ADD} for each renewable period, provided the terms and conditions of the permit and of any previous renewal and the rules and regulations promulgated by the CRMC pursuant to this chapter, have been met. {ADD Permits for land based aquaculture projects shall be for a term to be designated by rules and regulations of the CRMC. ADD} All permits with their terms and stipulations presently in effect, as of May 15, 1980, under existing laws and regulations shall continue until their expiration.

20-10-4. Application for a Permit to Conduct Aquaculture. -- Any applicant desiring a permit to conduct aquaculture in the coastal waters of the state, including coastal ponds and the estuaries of coastal rivers, shall file with the CRMC a written application in such a form as it may prescribe, setting forth the following information:

(a) the name and address of the applicant;

(b) a description of the location and amount of submerged land and water column to be subject to the permit;

(c) a description of the aquaculture activities to be conducted, including:

(1) whether such activities are to be experimental or commercial;

(2) a description of the species to be managed or cultivated within the permitted area; and

(3) a description of the method or manner of aquaculture activity;

(d) an assessment of the current capability of the applicant to carry out those activities;

(e) such other information as the CRMC may by regulation require.

SECTION 2. Chapter 20-10 of the General Laws entitled "Aquaculture" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

{ADD 20-10-3.1. Sales and use tax exemption. -- ADD} {ADD Any person engaging in aquaculture shall be eligible for the tax exemption in general laws section 44-18-30(33) provided that the requirements set forth in that section are met. ADD}

SECTION 3. Section 46-23-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-23 entitled "Coastal Resources Management Council" is hereby amended to read as follows:

46-23-6. Powers and duties. -- In order to properly manage coastal resources the council shall have the following powers and duties:

(A) {ADD Planning and management. ADD}

(1) The primary responsibility of the council shall be the continuing planning for and management of the resources of the state's coastal region. The council shall be able to make any studies of conditions, activities, or problems of the state's coastal region needed to carry out its responsibilities.

(2) The resources management process shall include the following basic phases:

(a) Identify all of the state's coastal resources, water, submerged land, air space, fin fish, shellfish, minerals, physiographic features, and so forth.

(b) Evaluate these resources in terms of their quantity, quality, capability for use, and other key characteristics.

(c) Determine the current and potential uses of each resource.

(d) Determine the current and potential problems of each resource.

(e) Formulate plans and programs for the management of each resource, identifying permitted uses, locations, protection measures, and so forth.

(f) Carry out these resources management programs through implementing authority and coordination of state, federal, local, and private activities.

(g) Formulation of standards where these do not exist, and re-evaluation of existing standards.

(3) An initial series of resources management activities shall be initiated through this basic process, then each phase shall continuously be recycled and used to modify the council's resources management programs and keep them current.

(4) Planning and management programs shall be formulated in terms of the characteristics and needs of each resource or group of related resources. However, all plans and programs shall be developed around basic standards and criteria, including:

(a) The need and demand for various activities and their impact upon ecological systems.

(b) The degree of compatibility of various activities.

(c) The capability of coastal resources to support various activities.

(d) Water quality standards set by the department of health {ADD director of environmental management ADD} .

(e) Consideration of plans, studies, surveys, inventories, and so forth prepared by other public and private sources.

(f) Consideration of contiguous land uses and transportation facilities.

(g) Whenever possible consistency with the state guide plan.

(B) {ADD Implementation. ADD}

(1) The council is authorized to formulate policies and plans and to adopt regulations necessary to implement its various management programs. Upon formulation of such plans and regulations, the council shall prior to adoption, submit the proposed plans or regulations to the director of the environment for the director's review. The director shall review and submit comments to the council within thirty (30) days of submission to the director by the council. The council shall consider the director's comments prior to adoption of any plans or regulations.

(2) Any person, firm, or governmental agency proposing any development or operation within, above, or beneath the tidal water below the mean high water mark, extending out to the extent of the state's jurisdiction in the territorial sea shall be required to demonstrate that its proposal would not:

(i) Conflict with any resources management plan or program;

(ii) Make any area unsuitable for any uses or activities to which it is allocated by a resources management plan or program; or

(iii) Significantly damage the environment of the coastal region. The council shall be authorized to approve, modify, set conditions for, or reject any such proposal.

(3) The authority of the council over land areas (those areas above the mean high water mark) shall be limited to two hundred (200) feet from the coastal physiographic feature or to that necessary to carry out effective resources management programs. This shall be limited to the authority to approve, modify, set conditions for, or reject the design, location, construction, alteration, and operation of specified activities or land uses when these are related to a water area under the agency's jurisdiction, regardless of their actual location. The council's authority over these land uses and activities shall be limited to situations in which there is a reasonable probability of conflict with a plan or program for resources management or damage to the coastal environment. These uses and activities are:

(a) Power generating over forty (40) megawatts and desalination plants.

(b) Chemical or petroleum processing, transfer, or storage.

(c) Minerals extraction.

(d) Shoreline protection facilities and physiographical features, and all directly associated contiguous areas which are necessary to preserve the integrity of such facility and/or features.

(e) Coastal wetlands and all directly associated contiguous areas which are necessary to preserve the integrity of such wetlands {ADD including any freshwater wetlands located in the vicinity of the coast. The actual determination of freshwater wetlands located in coastal vicinities and under the jurisdiction of the coastal resources management council shall be designated on such maps that are agreed to in writing and made available for public use by the coastal resources management council and the director, department of environmental management, within three (3) months of the effective date of passage of this act. The CRMC shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the wetland areas described in this section notwithstanding any provision of chapter 1, title 2 or any other provision of the general laws. Within six (6) months of the effective date of passage of this act, the council in cooperation with the director shall develop rules and regulations for the management and protection of freshwater wetlands, affected by an aquaculture project, outside of those freshwater wetlands located in the vicinity of the coast and under the exclusive jurisdiction of the director of the department of environmental management. ADD} For the purpose of this chapter, a "coastal wetland" shall mean any salt marsh bordering on the tidal waters of this state, whether or not the tidal waters reach the littoral areas through natural or artificial watercourses, and those uplands directly associated and contiguous thereto which are necessary to preserve the integrity of that marsh. Marshes shall include those areas upon which grow one or more of the following: smooth cordgrass (spartina alterniflora), salt meadow grass (spartina patens), spike grass (distichlis spicata), black rush (juncus gerardi), saltworts (salcornia spp.), sea lavender (limonium carolinianum), saltmarsh bulrushes (scirpus spp.), hightide bush (iva frutescens), tall reed (phragmites communis), tall cordgrass (spartina pectinata), broadleaf cattail (typha latifolia), narrowleaf cattail (typha angustifolia), spike rush (eleocharis rostellata), chairmaker's rush (scirpus amercana), creeping bentgrass (agrostis palustris), sweet grass (hierochloe odorata), and wild rye (etlymus virginicus).

(f) Sewage treatment and disposal and solid waste disposal facilities.

(C) {ADD Coordination. ADD} The council shall have the following coordinating powers and duties:

(1) Functioning as a binding arbitrator in any matter of dispute involving both the resources of the state's coastal region and the interests of two (2) or more municipalities or state agencies.

(2) Consulting and coordinating actions with local, state, regional, and federal agencies and private interests.

(3) Conducting or sponsoring coastal research.

(4) Advising the governor, the general assembly, and the public on coastal matters.

{ADD (5) Acting as the state's representative to all bodies public and private on all coastal and aquaculture related matters. ADD}

(D) {ADD Operations. ADD} The council shall be authorized to exercise the following operating functions, which are essential to management of coastal resources:

(1) Issue, modify, or deny permits for any work in, above, or beneath the areas under its jurisdiction, including conduct of any form of aquaculture.

(2) Issue, modify, or deny permits for dredging, filling, or any other physical alteration of coastal wetlands and all directly related contiguous areas which are necessary to preserve the integrity of the wetlands.

(3) Grant licenses, permits, and easements for the use of coastal resources which are held in trust by the state for all its citizens, and impose fees for private use of these resources.

(4) Determining the need for and establishing pierhead, bulkhead, and harbor lines.

(5) Enforcing and implementing riparian rights in the tidal waters after judicial decisions.

(E) {ADD Rights-of-way. ADD}

(1) The council shall be responsible for the designation of all public rights-of-way to the tidal water areas of the state, and shall carry on a continuing discovery of appropriate public rights of way to the tidal water areas of the state.

(2) The council shall maintain a complete file of all official documents relating to the legal status of all public rights-of-way to the tidal water areas of the state.

(3) The council shall have the power to designate for acquisition, development, and posting and all other functions of any other department for tidal rights-of-way and land for tidal rights-of-way parking facilities and other council related purposes.

Further, the council shall have the power to develop and prescribe a standard sign to be used by the cities and towns to mark designated rights-of-way.

(4) In conjunction therewith every state department controlling state owned land close to or adjacent to discovered rights-of-way are authorized to set out the land, or so much thereof as may be deemed necessary for public parking.

(5) No such use of land for public parking shall conflict with existing or intended use of the land, and no improvement shall be undertaken by any state agency until detailed plans have been submitted to and approved by the governing body of the local municipality.

(6) In designating rights-of-way, the council shall consider the following matters in making its designation:

(a) Land evidence records;

(b) The exercise of domain over the parcel such as maintenance, construction, or upkeep;

(c) The payment of taxes;

(d) The creation of a dedication;

(e) Public use;

(f) Any other public record or historical evidence such as maps, and street indexes;

(g) Other evidence as set out in section 42-35-10.

(7) A determination by the council that a parcel is a right-of-way shall be decided by substantial evidence.

(8) The council shall be notified whenever by the judgment of the governing body of a coastal municipality, a public right-of-way to tidal water areas located in such municipality has ceased to be useful to the public, and such governing body proposes an order of abandonment of such public right-of-way. Said notice shall be given not less than sixty (60) days prior to the date of such abandonment.

(F) {ADD Pre-existing residential boating facilities. ADD}

(1) The council is hereby authorized and empowered to issue assent for pre-existing residential boating facilities constructed prior to January 1, 1985. These assents may be issued for pre-existing residential boating facilities, even though such facilities do not meet current standards and policies of the council, provided, however, that the council finds that such facilities do not pose any significant risk to the coastal resources of the state of Rhode Island and do not endanger human safety.

(2) In addition to the above criteria, the applicant shall provide clear and convincing evidence that:

(a) The facility existed in substantially the same configuration as it now exists prior to January 1, 1985;

(b) The facility is presently intact and functional; and

(c) The facility presents no significant threat to the coastal resources of the state of Rhode Island or human safety.

(3) The applicant, to be eligible for this provision, shall apply not later than January 31, 1996.

(4) The council is directed to develop rules and regulations necessary to implement this subsection (F).

(5) It is the specific intent of this subsection to require that all pre-existing residential boating facilities constructed on January 1, 1985 or thereafter conform to this chapter and the plans, rules and regulations of the council.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.