|
2012 -- H 7385 SUBSTITUTE A | |
|
======= | |
|
LC01108/SUB A | |
|
======= | |
|
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
|
| |
|
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
|
| |
|
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012 | |
|
| |
|
____________ | |
|
| |
|
H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N | |
|
RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL | |
|
MANAGEMENT TO ESTABLISH A RHODE ISLAND ARTIFICIAL REEF PROGRAM | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduced By: Representatives Keable, Nunes, Jackson, and Lally | |
|
Date Introduced: February 02, 2012 | |
|
Referred To: House Finance | |
|
1-1 |
WHEREAS, In the past, the United States has used unneeded ships as targets for military |
|
1-2 |
exercises known as sinking exercises; and |
|
1-3 |
WHEREAS, Now the United States has devised an alternative means of disposing of |
|
1-4 |
obsolete ex-military vessels that allows the vessels to serve in a productive capacity for fifty years |
|
1-5 |
past their intended use; and |
|
1-6 |
WHEREAS, The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 allows |
|
1-7 |
appropriate obsolete ships to be donated for use as artificial reefs, which not only promotes |
|
1-8 |
marine life and fishing, but also relieves pressure on natural ocean bottom features and reefs; and |
|
1-9 |
WHEREAS, The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) will coordinate the |
|
1-10 |
federal agency solicitation and application for obtaining the vessels for use as artificial reefs; and |
|
1-11 |
WHEREAS, The donation and transfer application for all ex-military and MARAD ships |
|
1-12 |
available for use as artificial reefs may be submitted only by states, commonwealths, and |
|
1-13 |
territories and possessions of the United States, or municipal corporations or political |
|
1-14 |
subdivisions thereof; and |
|
1-15 |
WHEREAS, The placements in Florida waters of the U.S.S. Spiegel Grove in 2002 and |
|
1-16 |
the U.S.S Oriskany in 2006, and the U.S.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in 2009 have already |
|
1-17 |
provided substantial economic and ecologic benefit to the state, communities, and businesses in |
|
1-18 |
the proximity of the placements; and |
|
1-19 |
WHEREAS, Each state within the United States with active Reefing Programs using ex- |
|
1-20 |
military, MARAD, and other ships available for use as artificial reefs, formally reports marked |
|
2-1 |
increases in permanent job creation and increased tax revenues through ecotourism, global media |
|
2-2 |
attention, television productions, documentaries, and supporting industries; and |
|
2-3 |
WHEREAS, Since 1984, the New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries has been involved |
|
2-4 |
in an intensive program of artificial reef construction and biological monitoring, which includes |
|
2-5 |
15 artificial reef sites. This network of artificial reefs provides a hard substrate for fish, shellfish |
|
2-6 |
and crustaceans, fishing grounds for anglers, and underwater structures for scuba divers; and |
|
2-7 |
WHEREAS, Rhode Island has defined Marine recreation in the Ocean Special Area |
|
2-8 |
Management Plan (SAMP), a collection of locations open to the public in Rhode Island and that |
|
2-9 |
includes four themes: Marine Recreation in the SAMP area; Cruise Ship Tourism, Recreational |
|
2-10 |
Activities Adjacent to the SAMP area; Cruise Ship Tourism, Recreational Activities Adjacent to |
|
2-11 |
the SAMP area; and Economic and Non-Market Value of Recreation and Tourism in the SAMP |
|
2-12 |
area. This resolution would add a new, fifth theme to the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, |
|
2-13 |
a vessel Artificial Reef theme; and |
|
2-14 |
WHEREAS, The program provides a practical option for disposing of obsolete vessels in |
|
2-15 |
a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner that can continue to promote ecotourism |
|
2-16 |
associated with recreational diving and fishing in Rhode Island; now therefore be it |
|
2-17 |
RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and |
|
2-18 |
Providence Plantations respectfully requests the Rhode Island Department of Environmental |
|
2-19 |
Management (DEM) to adopt regulations regarding the placement of vessels in state waters to |
|
2-20 |
form artificial reefs and development of a pilot program for the preparation and deployment of a |
|
2-21 |
specified obsolete vessel in Rhode Island waters to serve as a model for the development of |
|
2-22 |
procedures for the placement of such vessels in Rhode Island waters; and be it further |
|
2-23 |
RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives respectfully requests the DEM to |
|
2-24 |
establish a pilot program for the preparation and deployment of obsolete ex-military, MARAD, or |
|
2-25 |
other vessels in the waters of Block Island Sound and shall, by January 1, 2014, and each year |
|
2-26 |
thereafter for a period of five years, provide to the governor, the president of the senate, and the |
|
2-27 |
speaker of the house of representatives an annual report on the success and outcomes, funding, |
|
2-28 |
and recommendations as to whether the pilot program shall be continued, terminated, or |
|
2-29 |
expanded; and be it further |
|
3-30 |
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to |
|
3-31 |
transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Governor and the Director of the Rhode |
|
3-32 |
Island Department of Environmental Management. |
|
| |
|
======= | |
|
LC01108/SUB A | |
|
======= |