Title 23, Title 23 and Safety

The department may: (1) Contract for services to be performed to carry out this chapter, including, but not limited to, environmental control assessment, feasibility analysis, the review of project design, field management responsibilities, and project scheduling and control. (2)…

The department shall compile the results of all evaluations of projects funded by Step IV grants, or the evaluations of any other projects which are available to the department, and shall make them available to interested parties as expeditiously as possible. The department shall…

The state recognizes that the congress has declared that each state is responsible for providing for the availability of capacity either within or outside its borders, for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste generated within its borders, except for those wastes which rema…

“Generators” means persons who produce or treat low-level radioactive waste in the state, but do not include persons who only provide a service arranging for collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of low-level radioactive waste generated outside the region.

All generators of low level radioactive waste will deposit as general revenues a fee equivalent to that which has been stated in the compact agreement of the state of Rhode Island and a compact commission of a region in which a regional disposal facility is located to provide for…

(a) The general assembly finds and declares that the health and welfare of the citizens of the state require regulation of persons and legal entities engaged in the generation, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste. (b) The general assembly fi…

(a) No person or legal entity shall engage in the storage, treatment and/or destruction of regulated medical waste unless that person or legal entity has received a license issued by the director of the department of environmental management. This license is a special category of…

Application for a license shall be made to the director of the department of environmental management upon a form prescribed by the director. Upon approval of the application by the director, a license shall be issued. Licenses shall expire three (3) years from the date of issue,…

(a) No person or legal entity shall engage in the generation of regulated medical waste unless that person or legal entity has registered with the director of the department of environmental management upon a form prescribed by the director. The director of the department of envi…

The director of the department of environmental management may deny an application for a license, or suspend or revoke a license after it has been granted, or refuse to renew a license for any of the following reasons: (1) Proof of unfitness of the applicant or licensee to engage…

All money collected under §§ 23-19.12-12 and 23-19.12-15 shall be deposited as general revenues. The program will be funded by a general revenue appropriation. The director shall submit to the general assembly by January 15 of each year a detailed report of the amount of funds ob…

(a) Failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or the rules, regulations, standards and procedures promulgated under the authority of this chapter shall be punishable by a civil or administrative penalty for an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). In th…

As a result of a violation of the rules, regulations, standards, and procedures promulgated under the provisions of this chapter, the generator, transporter, treatment, storage, and disposal facility operator and owner shall be responsible for the disposal of regulated medical wa…

The regulations promulgated to this chapter shall supersede the rules and regulations governing the management of infectious waste in health care facilities (R23-17-INF, R23-16.2INF) promulgated by the Rhode Island department of health.

The department of environmental management may enter into a cooperative agreement with the department of health for the department of health to conduct inspections of facilities where regulated medical waste is generated. The department of environmental management shall adequatel…

The provisions of this chapter are severable and if any provisions or part of any provision shall be held invalid or unconstitutional or inapplicable to any person or circumstances, that invalidity, unconstitutionality, or inapplicability shall not affect or impair the remaining …

The purpose of this chapter is to ensure the public health and quality of the environment of the state by vesting in the department of environmental management the power necessary to regulate and license persons and other legal entities engaged in the generation, transportation, …

The following words and phrases have the following meanings ascribed to them in this chapter unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (1) “Body fluids” means liquids emanating or derived from humans and limited to blood; cerebrospinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal and per…

The director shall under the provisions of this chapter have all powers necessary to promulgate any rules, regulations, procedures, and standards that may be necessary to ensure proper, adequate, and sound management of regulated medical waste and to protect the public health and…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person or legal entity to transport regulated medical waste from any person or legal entity within the state without a medical waste tracking form prepared and maintained in conformity with any requirements that the director by regulation may adop…

(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person or legal entity to generate, store, transport, treat, destroy, or dispose of regulated medical waste within the state without complying with any record keeping requirements of regulations established by the director in accordance with th…

In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter the director is authorized to conduct any inspections of facilities that he or she deems necessary or desirable, where regulated medical waste is generated, stored, treated, destroyed, transferred, or otherwise managed. The direc…

No person or legal entity shall engage in the transportation of regulated medical waste unless that person or legal entity has received a permit issued by the director of the department of environmental management. Exempt from this section are generators that transport regulated …

Application for a permit shall be made to the director of the department of environmental management upon a form prescribed by the director. Upon approval of the application by the director, a permit shall be issued. Permits shall expire three (3) years from the date of issue, un…

(a) Any person, firm, corporation or government entity engaging in waste operations shall adopt and implement a comprehensive Gull Control Program at each waste facility which they operate. However, the provisions of this section shall not apply to any waste facility that solely …

It is recognized and acknowledged by the general assembly that: (1) In Rhode Island, there are hundreds of sites that have varying degrees of contamination from hazardous materials; (2) The contamination is often an obstacle to redevelopment due to the liability relating to the s…

(a) The state may, through June 30, 2007, enter into an agreement with any person to perform any response action if the state determines that that action will be done properly by the person. Whenever practicable and in the public interest as determined by the state, the state sha…

(a) The state shall provide, for settlement agreements that may be put into effect prior to July 1, 2007, an opportunity to persons who are not named as parties to the action to comment on the proposed agreement before its entry as a final judgment. Persons not named as parties t…

A party who is exempt from liability under §§ 23-19.14-7, 23-19.14-8 or 23-19.14-10 of this chapter shall not be liable for claims for contribution regarding matters addressed in the letter of compliance or the settlement agreement or the remedied agreement.

(a) The head of any department or state agency with authority to undertake a response action under this chapter may consider, compromise, and settle a claim for costs incurred by their department or agency. (b) Cost recovery actions may include, upon recommendation by the economi…

(a) At any site where there are unrecovered response cost and/or additional remedial actions required, the state may place a lien upon the site for the unrecovered costs or outstanding actions. The maximum amount of the windfall lien may not exceed the total of the unrecovered re…

(a) Any lien imposed under the authority of this chapter shall be subject to the rights of any purchaser, holder of a security interest, or judgment lien creditor whose interest is perfected under applicable state law before notice of the lien has been filed in the appropriate of…

(a) Any responsible party who fails, without sufficient cause, to properly provide for removal or remedial action pursuant to a final order of the director of the department of environmental management may be liable to the state for punitive damages in an amount at least equal to…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the state from subrogating its authority to pursue cost recovery or assess punitive damages as part of a settlement action.

(a) The director of the department of environmental management is authorized to exercise all powers, direct and incidental, necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The director of the department of environmental management may adopt any plans, rules, regulations, fee…

The provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally to effectuate its purposes. If any provision of this chapter or of any rule, regulation, or determination made under this chapter, or the application thereof to any person, agency, or circumstances, is held invalid by a …

It shall be the policy of this state to assure that: (1) Activities are taken to control and eliminate contamination at industrial properties that are fair, consistent, and compatible with the current and reasonably foreseeable future use of the property; (2) Environmental barrie…

(1) “40 C.F.R.” means that section or subsection of the code of federal regulations, title 40, protection of environment, chapter 1, environmental protection agency. References to the administrator, appearing therein, shall be interpreted as referring to the director of the depar…

(a) The department of environmental management will develop, maintain and publish numerical objectives for the most commonly found hazardous substances. These objectives will be applicable for the clean-up of contaminated properties to levels which are protective of human health …

(a) The department of environmental management shall consider the effects that clean-ups would have on the populations surrounding each site and shall consider the issues of environmental equity for low income and racial minority populations. The department of environmental manag…

The department of environmental management shall provide for the coordination of the brownfield program, including consolidation of applications and hearing procedures for brownfield properties internally and across state agencies, the creation and maintenance of a consolidated a…

Any registered professional engineer who is employed, retained and/or otherwise acting on behalf of a municipality of this state may enter, examine or survey, at any reasonable time, such places and real property which is either owned by a municipality or real property in which t…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, and subject only to the defenses presented in § 23-19.14-7, the state reaffirms the applicable provisions of 19.1 of this title, § 42-17.1-2, chapter 12 and chapter 13.1 of title 46 and defines the following parties as respo…

Responsible parties for releases of petroleum are defined as all parties who are otherwise liable for an actual or threatened release of petroleum under any other applicable statute, rule, or common law. This section shall neither be construed as establishing new liabilities or o…

The following parties are not responsible parties and shall not be held liable for costs or damages associated with a release of hazardous material and/or petroleum: (1) Persons otherwise liable who can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the release, or threat of r…

In addition to exemption from liability provided for in § 23-19.14-7, for sites on which a remedial decision letter has been issued, the state may enter into a remedial agreement that includes a covenant not to sue and contribution protection and that describes the agreed remedia…