Title 23, Title 23 and Safety

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any recreation facility and/or use maintained by an individual for the sole use of the individual’s immediate family and private guests, or to any campground used by any of the military forces of the state or of the United States,…

Any person who shall be guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter or the regulations adopted in accordance with this chapter may for the first offense be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three (3…

(a) “Person” as used in this chapter includes any partnership, association, corporation, city, or town. (b) “Swimming pool,” as used in this chapter, includes all swimming pools, wading pools, and therapeutic pools owned or maintained by any person, partnership, association, corp…

Whenever a license while still effective may become defaced or destroyed, the department of health shall, upon application, issue a duplicate license upon payment of a fee as set forth in § 23-1-54 to the department. It shall be unlawful for any person to display or to keep displ…

For the purpose of this chapter the director of health or his or her duly authorized agents or employees shall at all reasonable times have authority to enter upon any and all parts of the premises on which any swimming pool is located and of the premises appurtenant to it to mak…

Any person, other than a city or town, whether as principal, agent, employer, or employee, who violates any of the provisions of this chapter, or any of the rules and regulations made by the department of health pursuant to this chapter, shall be punished by a fine of not more th…

The general assembly shall annually appropriate any sums that it may deem necessary, to be expended by the department of health for the purposes of this chapter, and the state controller is authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer for the payme…

In order to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the director of health shall have the power to obtain relief in equity or by prerogative writ.

Notwithstanding any general or public law to the contrary, condominium projects with forty-five (45) units or less are not required to have a life guard on duty at any swimming pool located on the premises. Provided, that where there is no life guard required to be on the premise…

The department of health shall make any rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this chapter, that it may deem advisable with reference to the design, equipment, condition, and maintenance of swimming pools for the purpose of insuring the health and safety of its users, and …

The department of health shall at least once each year, and at shorter intervals as it may deem advisable, cause inspections to be made to ascertain whether each swimming pool is being maintained in compliance with the rules and regulations of the department of health. First insp…

The department of health shall cause to be made chemical and bacteriological analyses of samples of water from each swimming pool and shall report its findings to the person maintaining that swimming pool and shall state in that report whether or not the condition of the water is…

The department of health shall from time to time advise each person maintaining a swimming pool as to the best methods for maintaining the proper sanitary conditions in the swimming pool.

(a) No person shall maintain within this state a swimming pool until that person shall have obtained the appropriate license from the department. Licenses shall be of two (2) types, year-round or seasonal. The director, upon receipt of an application for a license to operate a sw…

Upon the application for a license to maintain a swimming pool, the department of health shall, within thirty (30) days from the time that the application is made, grant the application and issue a license to maintain a swimming pool if the department shall be satisfied that its …

Whenever the department of health shall have reason to believe that any swimming pool, licensed as provided in § 23-22-7, is being maintained in violation of the rules and regulations of the department, or whenever the department has reason to believe that the condition and metho…

Any person aggrieved by a decision of the department of health refusing to grant an application for a license to maintain a swimming pool, or suspending or revoking a license already issued may, within thirty (30) days, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, after receiving notice of…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Clean Air Act”.

(a) All prosecutions for criminal violations of any of the provisions of this chapter or any of the rules and regulations shall be by information or indictment and shall be commenced in the superior courts of the state. The director, without being required to enter into any recog…

No person shall be convicted or found liable in any criminal prosecution or at any other proceeding brought by or in behalf of the state, the director or the public to enjoin, suppress, prohibit, or punish air pollution unless he or she knowingly violated a rule or regulation or …

Whenever the director has reason to believe that emission is occurring in excess of that permitted under any rule, regulation, or order made under this chapter, the director may, without hearing, conduct tests to determine the emission of air contaminants from premises, buildings…

Upon request of the director, any person owning or operating a source of air pollution which has the potential to emit any air contaminant, or any person owning or operating a source of air pollution which the director has reason to believe is emitting any extremely toxic air con…

(a) Any person who shall violate an order of the director or any rule, regulation, or other program requirement, or permit, or approval, or any of the prohibitions of this chapter shall be punished by an administrative or civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,0…

(a) Upon application and after a hearing, the director may suspend the enforcement of the whole or any part of this chapter or of any rule or regulation promulgated under this chapter in the case of any person who shall show that the enforcement of this chapter would constitute u…

Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or any other provisions of this law, if the director of environmental management finds or has cause to believe or is notified by the director of health that any person is violating any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulat…

Except as provided in this chapter, in establishing any rule or regulation in the conduct of proceedings and in the taking of appeals from any order of the director, the provisions of chapter 35 of title 42 shall apply.

(a) The director may, by rule or regulation, prohibit the burning of any material in an open fire by any person on premises operated as a public or semi-public refuse disposal facility or at other central refuse disposal sites. The director may also prohibit the burning of any ma…

It is declared to be the public policy in the state of Rhode Island to preserve, protect, and improve the air resources of the state to promote the public health, welfare, and safety, to prevent injury or detriment to human, plant, and animal life, physical property and other res…

If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisio…

No owner or operator of any source which uses a supplemental or intermittent air pollution control system or device for the purpose of meeting the requirements of an order entered by the director pursuant to § 23-23-8 or 23-23-15 of this chapter, shall, temporarily, reduce the pa…

Any town or city may appoint an air pollution auxiliary monitor from among its full time employees provided that the employee must possess the education and experience required of the state, division of personnel class title “environmental quality technician”. The auxiliary monit…

The general assembly hereby finds as follows: (1) Motor vehicle exhaust is the largest source of air pollution in Rhode Island, and idling vehicles emit higher concentrations of harmful pollutants than moving vehicles; (2) Vehicle exhaust is hazardous to human health. Studies hav…

On or before July 1, 2007, the department shall adopt rules governing diesel engine idling to restrict the unnecessary operation of diesel motor vehicle engines. The rules shall be generally consistent with similar restrictions established by law or regulation in Massachusetts an…

On or before July 1, 2007, the department shall adopt rules governing diesel engine idling to restrict the unnecessary operation of non-road diesel engines. So far as is reasonably feasible, the rules shall provide that no entity shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the unnecessa…

On or before January 1, 2007, the department shall identify sources of diesel pollution in Rhode Island and strategies for reducing pollution from identified sources and report the findings to the governor and general assembly.

The responsibility and jurisdiction for enforcement of §§ 23-23-29.1 — 23-23-29.4 shall be with state and local law enforcement authorities, including, but not limited to, state and local police and parking enforcement personnel, the Rhode Island department of environmental manag…

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall, where the context permits, be construed as follows: (1) “Air contaminant” means soot, cinders, ashes, any dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, vapor, odor, toxic or radioactive material, particulate matter, or any combination of these…

(a) For the purposes of this section, “stage II vapor collection and control system” means a system which collects gasoline vapors displaced from motor vehicle gasoline tanks during refueling and which routes the vapors to a stationary storage tank. (b) Notwithstanding the provis…

This section applies to all extractive industries, as that term is defined in § 45-24-31(25), that are located within one thousand five hundred feet (1,500′) of any occupied dwelling structure from the location of the piles of material defined in § 23-23-3(8). (1) Manufactured, u…

(a) It shall be the responsibility of the director of environmental management to administer this chapter. Within the department of environmental management, the director may employ personnel who shall come within the classified service in accordance with the laws of this state f…

In addition to the other powers and duties granted in this chapter, the director shall have and may exercise the following powers and duties: (1) To exercise general supervision of the administration and enforcement of this chapter and all rules and regulations and orders promulg…

(a) There is established a general revenue reserve account within the general fund to finance the state clean air program. The sums the director collects pursuant to the civil penalties, administrative penalties, criminal penalties, and all sums and fees collected pursuant to all…

In the event that the director shall fail to issue the permit or deny the license then the applicant or other interested person may petition the superior court to issue its writ of mandamus ordering the director or some suitable person to immediately issue the license or denial.

(a) There is created an operating permits advisory commission. The advisory commission shall consist of the director of the department of environmental management, or his or her designee, and six (6) additional members who shall be appointed as follows: three (3) members by the g…

(a) If the director shall have cause to believe that any person is violating any provision of this chapter or rule or regulation or any order made under this chapter, it shall be the duty of the director to cause the matter to be investigated. Except as provided in § 23-23-16, th…

All subpoenas shall be served as subpoenas in civil cases in the superior court, and witnesses subpoenaed shall be entitled to the same fees for attendance and travel as are provided witnesses in civil cases in the superior court. In cases of contumacy or refusal to obey the comm…