2018 -- H 7250

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LC003838

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS

DRILLING AND EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Carson, Ruggiero, Regunberg, Donovan, and Fogarty

     Date Introduced: January 19, 2018

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Title 46 of the General Laws entitled "WATERS AND NAVIGATION" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 5.2

THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS DRILLING AND EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES CONTROL

ACT

     46-5.2-1. Legislative findings.

     The general assembly hereby makes the following findings:

     (1) The federal government by and through the executive authority of the President has

proposed a program to vastly expand offshore drilling, including off the east coast ocean waters

of which expansion has the very real potential to significantly damage Rhode Island's coastline

and negatively impact the state's coastal resources;

     (2)The state of Rhode Island, nicknamed the Ocean State, wraps around Narragansett Bay

and encompasses one of New England's deepwater ports;

     (3) Rhode Island's waterways and coastline are critically linked to the health of its

economy, and its communities, businesses, and industries are dependent upon the preservation

and protection of its ocean and coast;

     (4) Offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration places the state's coastal communities at

economic and ecological risk from oil spills and the pollution brought by routine drilling

operations and onshore industrialization, and threatens the quality of life and livelihoods of

Rhode Island citizens and important industries, such as tourism and recreation, commercial and

recreational fishing, and small businesses that rely on a clean and healthy ocean and beaches;

     (5) Offshore drilling usually requires construction of significant onshore infrastructure,

such as pipelines or refineries, which would harm the character of Rhode Island’s coastline and

could exacerbate wetlands loss, storm surge and sea level rise impacts;

     (6) The harmful impacts from offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration anywhere

along the Atlantic ocean coastline may extend far beyond immediately surrounding areas and

severely impact communities that rely on the robust economy of the marine industry, the

commercial fishing and seafood industry with total sales of one hundred fifty million four

hundred thousand dollars ($150,400,000), total income of one million six hundred forty thousand

dollars ($1,640,000), and total employment of approximately five thousand (5,000), and the travel

and tourism industry, resulting in a total economic impact of two billion three hundred seventy

million dollars ($2,370,000,000) (five percent (5%) of RI gross state product), more than forty-

two thousand (42,000) jobs (nine and three-tenths percent (9.3%) of total employment) and

tourism generating nine hundred thirty million dollars ($930,000,000) in federal, state and local

government taxes (making up eight and four-tenths percent (8.4%) of Rhode Island state

revenue);

     (7) Offshore drilling and exploration perpetuates ties to dirty carbon pollution and

contributes to climate change, the resulting sea level rise and extreme weather;

     (8) The federal government has expressed interest in opening the Atlantic Ocean to

offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration, including the use of seismic airguns, which fire

intense blasts of compressed air that rank just behind military explosives as the loudest source of

noise in the ocean, every ten (10) to twelve (12) seconds, twenty-four (24) hours a day, for

months on end;

     (9) Seismic airgun blasting to explore for oil and gas deposits has been proven to disrupt

and displace marine life, such as whales which rely on sound to find food and mate, and can

impair the health of many fish and shellfish species, including those of commercial importance

like squid, lobster, and scallops; and

     (10) The general assembly of the state of Rhode Island hereby finds that offshore oil and

gas drilling and exploration unnecessarily risks the state's economic and ecological health and

hereby enacts legislation which controls within the waters of the state any impacts on the citizens

of Rhode Island that may result from oil and gas development and exploration offshore.

     46-5.2-2. Short title.

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     This act shall be known and may be cited as "The Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling and

Exploration Activities Control Act."

     46-5.2-3. Prohibition against construction of gas and oil storage facilities and

transmission pipelines.

     (a) No individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation (including a quasi-

government corporation), municipality, municipal or state agency, nonprofit agency or country

shall construct any pipelines, piers, wharves or other infrastructure passing through state waters

for the purpose of transporting any oil or gas generated by any offshore drilling program into this

state.

     (b) Similarly, none of the entities set forth in subsection (a) of this section, shall construct

onshore oil or gas terminals, pipelines and other oil or gas equipment in this state relating to any

offshore drilling program.

     46-5.2-4. Prohibition against offshore oil and gas drilling.

     None of the entities set forth in § 46-5.2-3(a) shall engage in any drilling or exploration

activities relating to discovery of oil and gas within the waters of the state up to three (3) miles

distance from the shores of the state or any of its islands.

     46-5.2-5. Powers and duties of the director.

     (a) In addition to the other powers granted the director of the department of

environmental management, the director shall have and may exercise these powers and duties:

     (1) To exercise general supervision of the administration and enforcement of this chapter

and all rules and regulations and orders promulgated hereunder;

     (2) To promulgate rules and regulations for the assessment of penalties and recovery of

costs and of damages as set forth in this chapter; and for any other procedures necessary for the

implementation of this chapter; and

     (3) To exercise all incidental powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

     (b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abridge the powers and duties of the

director over water pollution, including the discharge of oil, as established in this title, or in

chapter 17.1 of title 42, or in title 23.

     46-5.2-6. Damages.

     (a) In addition to penalties established in this chapter, any person who violates or causes

or permits to be violated a provision of this chapter or rule, regulation, or order pursuant thereto,

shall be strictly liable to the state for these costs and expenses:

     (1) Compensation for any adverse environmental effects caused by the violation, which

the court shall determine according to the toxicity, degradability, and dispersal characteristics of

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the substance discharged, the nature and sensitivity of the receiving environment, and the degree

to which the discharge degrades existing environmental quality;

     (2) Costs that the state has incurred in detection, investigation, and correction of the

violation; and

     (3) The economic advantage that the person realized in not complying with the

requirements and provisions of this chapter.

     (b) Liability for damages under subsection (a) of this section includes an amount equal to

the sum of money required to restock injured land or waters, to replenish a damaged or degraded

resource, or to otherwise restore the environment of the state to its condition before the injury.

     (c) Nothing in this section shall preclude the state or any private party from seeking

additional damages and/or penalties in a civil action brought pursuant to any other provision of

the general laws or pursuant to common law, or to limit the damages which can be awarded in

such an action.

     46-5.2-7. Proceedings for enforcement.

     The superior court shall have the jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chapter and

any rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto. Proceedings for enforcement may be

instituted by the attorney general or the director, and in any proceedings in which the attorney

general or the director seeks injunctive relief, it shall not be necessary to show that without the

relief, the injury that will result will be irreparable or that the remedy at law is inadequate.

Proceedings provided in this section shall be in addition to other administrative or judicial

proceedings authorized by this chapter or pursuant to any other provision of the general laws or

common law.

     46-5.2-8. Criminal penalties.

     (a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a person who willfully or with

criminal negligence violates a provision of this chapter, or of a rule or regulation promulgated

under this chapter or order of the director issued under this chapter shall be punished by a fine of

not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or by imprisonment for not more than five

(5) years, or by both such a fine and imprisonment; and every person shall be deemed guilty of a

separate and distinct offense for each day during which the violations shall be repeated or

continued.

     (b) Any person who knowingly makes any false statement, representation, or certification

in any application, record, report, plan, or other document filed or required to be maintained

under this chapter or by any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued under this chapter or who

falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method

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required to be maintained under this chapter, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not

more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each instance of violation, or by

imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or by both a fine and imprisonment.

     46-5.2-9. Emergency powers.

     The director shall have all emergency powers and procedures set forth in § 46-12-10.

     SECTION 2. 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 -- THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS

DRILLING AND EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES CONTROL ACT

***

     This act would regulate activities related to any offshore oil and gas drilling, including

exploration in federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to minimize any adverse effects

resulting therefrom within the territorial waters and coastline of the state.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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