2019 -- S 0405

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LC001639

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- AGRICULTURAL FUNCTIONS OF

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

     Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Conley, Coyne, DiPalma, and Archambault

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 2-1-20 of the General Laws in Chapter 2-1 entitled "Agricultural

Functions of Department of Environmental Management" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     2-1-20. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter;

     (1) "Area subject to flooding" shall include, but not be limited to, low-lying areas that

collect, hold, or meter out storm and flood waters from any of the following: rivers, streams,

intermittent streams, or areas subject to storm flowage.

     (2) "Area subject to storm flowage" includes drainage swales and channels that lead into,

out of, pass through, or connect other freshwater wetlands or coastal wetlands, and that carry

flows resulting from storm events, but may remain relatively dry at other times.

     (3) "Bog" means a place where standing or slowly running water is near or at the surface

during normal growing season and/or where a vegetational community has over fifty percent

(50%) of the ground or water surface covered with sphagnum moss (Sphagnum) and/or where the

vegetational community is made up of one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including

all of, the following: blueberries, and cranberry (Vaccinium), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne

calyculata), pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), sundews (Droseraceae), orchids (Orchidaceae),

white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), red maple (Acer rubrum), black spruce (Picae mariana),

bog aster (Aster nemoralis), larch (Laris laricina), bogrosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla),

azaleas (Rhododendron), laurels (Kalmia), sedges (Caryx), and bog cotton (Eriophorum).

     (4) "Buffer" means an area of undeveloped vegetated land adjacent to a freshwater

wetland that is to be retained in its natural undisturbed condition, or is to be created to resemble a

naturally occurring vegetated area.

     (5) "Department" means the department of environmental management (DEM).

     (6) "Director" means the director of the department of environmental management or his

or her duly authorized agent or agents.

     (7) "Farm products" means goods, other than standing timber, used in a farming

operation and which are:

     (i) Crops grown, growing, or to be grown, including:

     (A) Crops produced on trees, vines, and bushes; and

     (B) Aquatic goods, including seaweeds, produced in aquacultural operations;

     (ii) Livestock, born or unborn, including fish, shellfish and other aquatic goods produced

in aquacultural operations;

     (iii) Supplies used or produced in a farming operation; or

     (iv) Products of crops or livestock in their unmanufactured states.

     (7)(8) "Floodplain" means that land area adjacent to a river or stream or other body of

flowing water which is, on the average, likely to be covered with flood waters resulting from a

one-hundred (100) year frequency storm. A "one-hundred (100) year frequency storm" is one that

is to be expected to be equaled or exceeded once in one hundred (100) years; or may be said to

have a one percent (1%) probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

     (8)(9) "Freshwater wetlands" includes, but is not limited to, those areas that are inundated

or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration to support, and that under

normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation adapted for life in saturated soil

conditions. Freshwater wetlands includes, but is not limited to: marshes, swamps, bogs, emergent,

and submergent plant communities, and for the purposes of this chapter, rivers, streams, ponds,

and vernal pools.

     (9)(10) "Jurisdictional area" means the following lands and waters, as defined herein

except as provided for in § 2-1-22(k), that shall be subject to regulation under this chapter:

     (i) Freshwater wetlands;

     (ii) Buffers;

     (iii) Floodplains;

     (iv) Areas subject to storm flowage;

     (v) Areas subject to flooding; and

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     (vi) Contiguous areas that extend outward:

     (A) Two hundred feet (200') from the edge of a river or stream;

     (B) Two hundred feet (200') from the edge of a drinking water supply reservoir; and

     (C) One hundred feet (100') from the edge of all other freshwater wetlands.

     (10)(11) "Marsh" means a place wholly or partly within the state where a vegetational

community exists in standing or running water during the growing season and/or is made up of

one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of, the following plants or groups

of plants: hydrophytic reeds (Phragmites), grasses (Cramineae), mannagrasses (Glyceria),

cutgrasses (Leersia), pickerelwoods (Pontederiaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), rushes (Juncaceae),

cattails (Typha), water plantains (Alismataceae), bur-reeds (Sparganiazceae), pondweeds

(Zosteraceae), frog's bits (Hydrocharitaceae), arums (Araceae), duckweeds (Lemmaceae), water

lilies (Nymphaeceae), water-milfoils (Haloragaceae), water-starworts (Callitrichaeceae), bladder-

worts (Utricularia), pipeworts (Eriocaulon), sweet gale (Myrica gale), and buttonbush

(Cephalanthus occidentalis).

     (11)(12) "Near or at the surface" mean within eighteen (18) inches of the surface.

     (12)(13) "Pond" means a place natural or man-made, wholly or partly within the state,

where open-standing or slowly moving water is present for at least six (6) months a year.

     (13)(14) "River" means a body of water designated as a perennial stream by the United

States Department of Interior geologic survey on 7.5 minute series topographic maps and that is

not a pond as defined in this section.

     (14)(15) "Setback" means the minimum distance from the edge of a freshwater wetland at

which an approved activity or alteration may take place.

     (15)(16) "Stream" means any flowing body of water or watercourse that flows long

enough each year to develop and maintain a channel and that may carry groundwater discharge or

surface runoff.

     (16)(17) "Swamp" means a place, wholly or partly within the state, where ground water is

near or at the surface of the ground for a significant part of the growing season or runoff water

from surface drainage collects frequently and/or where a vegetational community is made up of a

significant portion of one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of, the

following: red maple (Acer rubum), elm (Ulmus americana), black spruce (Picea mariana), white

cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), ashes (Fraximus), poison sumac (Rhus vernix), larch (Larix

laricina), spice bush (Lindera benzoin), alders (Alnus), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus),

hellebore (Veratrum viride), hemlock (Thuja canadensis), sphagnums (Sphagnum), azaleas

(Rhododendron), black alder (Ilex verticillata), coast pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), marsh

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marigold (Caltha palustris), blueberries (Vaccinium), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis),

willow (Salicaceae), water willow (Decodon verticillatus), tupelo (Nyssa sylbatica), laurels

(Kalmia), swamp white oak (Quercus biscolor), or species indicative of marsh.

     (17)(18) "Vernal pool" means a depressional wetland basin that typically goes dry in

most years and may contain inlets or outlets, typically of intermittent flow. Vernal pools range in

both size and depth depending upon landscape position and parent materials. Vernal pools usually

support one or more of the following obligate indicator species: wood frog (Lithobates

sylvaticus), spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), marbled salamander (Ambystoma

opacum), and fairy shrimp (Eubranchipus spp.) and typically preclude sustainable populations of

predatory fish.

     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 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- AGRICULTURAL FUNCTIONS OF

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

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     This act would define the term "farm products" for the purposes of enforcement and

regulation of the agricultural functions of the department of environmental management.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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