Chapter 338
2004 -- H 7052
SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/02/04
A N A C T
RELATING
TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION - WATER POLLUTION
Introduced
By: Representatives Trillo, Gallison, Long, Ginaitt, and Amaral
Date
Introduced: January 08, 2004
It
is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Chapter 46-12 of the General Laws entitled "Water Pollution" is
hereby
amended
by adding thereto the following section:
46-12-39.1.
No discharge certificate decal - Required. – (a) Definitions. As
used in this
section
and in conjunction with this chapter, the following terms shall be construed as
follows:
(1)
"Boat" means any vessel or water craft whether moved by oars,
paddles, sails, or
other
power mechanism, inboard or outboard, or any other vessel excluding commercial
vessels
or
structure floating upon the water whether or not capable of self-locomotion,
including house
boats,
barges, and similar floating objects.
(2)
“Certification agent” means a marina or boatyard which is capable of installing
sewage
disposal holding tanks and related equipment; a certified marine sewage
pump-out
facility,
including a mobile facility; the Narragansett Bay Power Squadron; the U.S.
Coast Guard;
the
U.S. Coast Guard auxiliary; and local harbor masters and assistant harbor
masters.
(b)
No person shall operate, or moor for more than seven (7) days, a boat in the
waters of
the
state, other than an open boat without sleeping accommodations, unless such
boat displays in
a
prominent position an approved “no discharge certificate decal.”
(c)
Two (2) no discharge certificate decals, differing in color, shall be made
available by
the
department of environmental management for issuance to boats subject to the
requirements of
this
section. Decals of one color shall signify that the recipient boat has a marine
toilet, in proper
working
order, which is either a marine sanitation device-type I, a marine sanitation
device-type
II,
or a marine sanitation device-type III with a holding tank bypass value, but
the boat owner or
operator
had taken the steps necessary to prevent the discharge of sewage into the
waters. Decals
of
the other color shall signify that the recipient boat either has a marine sanitation
device-type III
without
a holding tank bypass valve, or no marine toilet at all.
(d)
Certification shall remain in effect for forty-eight (48) months after each
certification,
and
no additional certification shall be required during that period.
(e)
The department of environmental management shall collect and deposit into a
separate
general revenue account a fee of ten dollars ($10.00) for each certificate to
defray the
cost
of implementation of this section.
(f)
Certificate decals may be obtained from any certification agent.
(g)
Before a certificate decal may be issued, a certification agent must visually
inspect
each
marine toilet on a boat, as well as any associated plumbing or holding tank
fixtures, to
ascertain
whether the boat is in compliance with section 46-12-39. If necessary, the
certification
agent
shall perform a color-dye flush test of each toilet to verify compliance.
(h)
At the time any boat equipped with a marine sanitation device-type III is
issued a
certificate
decal, the certification agent shall also issue a frequency compliance record
card,
which
shall be stamped, when sewage is pumped, by the pump-out station operator. This
document
shall remain on board a boat and shown when requested during an inspection.
(i)
Each boat equipped with a marine sanitation device-type III shall be pumped out
whenever
it is removed from the waters for water storage purposes.
SECTION
2. Sections 46-12-40 and 46-12-41 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-12
entitled
"Water Pollution" are hereby amended to read as follows:
46-12-40.
Penalty for violations. -- Every person in violation of section
46-12-39 or
section
46-12-39.1,
or owning, operating or causing to be operated, upon the waters of the state, a
boat
in violation of the provisions of section 46-12-39 or section 46-12-39.1,
or aiding in so
doing,
shall for the first offense be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred
dollars
($500)
or be imprisoned for not more than one year in the adult correctional
institutions, or both
such
fine and imprisonment, and for a second and each subsequent offense shall be
fined not
more
than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or be imprisoned for not more than one year
in the adult
correctional
institutions, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the
court. If a
municipality
assists in the prosecution of a violation of section 46-12-39 or section
46-12-39.1,
any fine
imposed for that violation shall be paid one-half (1/2) thereof to the general
treasurer of
the
state and one-half (1/2) thereof to the treasurer of the town or city where the
offense occurred.
46-12-41.
Enforcement. – (a) The department of environmental management,
harbormasters,
assistant harbormasters, police officers authorized to make arrests, and
employees
of
the department of environmental management authorized to enforce the provisions
of chapter
22 of
this title shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of section
46-12-39 and section
46-12-39.1 and in the exercise
thereof shall have the authority to stop and board any vessel
subject
to this chapter.
(b)
Harbormasters and assistant harbormasters are authorized to make periodic color
dye
flush
tests of boats subject to section 46-12-39.1, and shall check such boats moored
in their
jurisdictions
for no discharge certificate decals, as required pursuant to section
46-12-39.1.
(c)
Any boat not in compliance with section 46-12-39.1 shall not be allowed to
receive a
mooring
permit from any city or town.
SECTION
3. This act shall take effect on June 1, 2006.
=======
LC00539/SUB
A/3
=======