(a)(1)  No person, firm, industry, company, corporation, city, town, municipal or state agency, fire district, club, nonprofit agency, or other individual or group may:

(i)  Excavate; drain; fill; place trash, garbage, sewage, highway runoff, drainage ditch effluents, earth, rock, borrow, gravel, sand, clay, peat, or other materials or effluents upon; divert water flows into or out of; dike; dam; divert; change; add to or take from or otherwise alter the character of any freshwater wetland, buffer, or floodplain as defined in §?2-1-20 without first obtaining the approval of the director of the department of environmental management; or

(ii)  Undertake any activity within a jurisdictional area, as defined in §?2-1-20, that may alter the character of the freshwater wetland, buffer, or floodplain without first obtaining the approval of the director of the department of environmental management.

(2)  Approval will be denied if, in the opinion of the director, granting of approval would not be in the best public interest.

(3)  Appeal from a denial may be made to the superior court following the exhaustion of administrative appeals provided through the administrative adjudication division established by chapter 17.7 of Title 42.

(4)  In the event of any alteration by a city or town of surface water impoundments used for drinking water supply, limited to maintenance within existing boundary perimeters of the impoundment, no approval shall be required; provided that the city or town advises the director at least twenty (20) days prior to commencing the maintenance work. The city or town shall advise the director in writing, describing the location and nature of the work, anticipated times of commencement and completion, and methods to be used to reduce adverse impacts on the freshwater wetland, buffer, or floodplain. The director shall advise the city or town of any concerns with the impact of the proposed maintenance on the freshwater wetland, buffer, floodplain or water quality.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 2-1-21

  • 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. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-1-20
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Department: means the department of environmental management (DEM). See Rhode Island General Laws 2-1-20
  • Director: means the director of the department of environmental management or his or her duly authorized agent or agents. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-1-20
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • 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. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-1-20
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • 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

    (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. See Rhode Island General Laws 2-1-20

  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9

(b)  Whenever a landowner is denied approval to alter a freshwater wetland by the director under subsection (a), the landowner may elect to have the state acquire the land involved by petitioning to the superior court. If the court determines that the proposed alteration would not essentially change the natural character of the land; would not be unsuited to the land in the natural state; and would not injure the rights of others, the court shall, upon determining the fair market value of the freshwater wetland, based upon its value as a freshwater wetland, direct the state, if approval was denied by the director, to pay to the landowner the fair market value of the freshwater wetland. If the state declines the acquisition, the landowner may proceed to alter the freshwater wetland as initially requested. Any amount paid by the state shall be paid from any funds in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

History of Section.
G.L. 1956, § 2-1-21; P.L. 1971, ch. 213, § 1; P.L. 1974, ch. 197, § 2; P.L. 1981, ch. 17, § 1; P.L. 1983, ch. 9, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 218, § 1.