(a)  Unless exempted under §?23-19.15-8(a), the owner of property served by a cesspool in the following areas shall cause an inspection to be performed on said cesspool by a system inspector in accordance with a schedule established by the department, but no later than January 1, 2012:

(1)  Which cesspool is within two hundred feet (200?) of the inland edge of a shoreline feature bordering a tidal water area [corresponding to the jurisdiction of the RI coastal resources management council];

(2)  Which cesspool is within two hundred feet (200?) of a public drinking water well; and

(3)  Which cesspool is within two hundred feet (200?) of a surface drinking water supply, specifically the impoundment from which water is drawn via the intake.

The inspection shall be conducted by a system inspector as defined herein and reported in accordance with procedures required by the department, and the results shall be recorded on forms prescribed by the department.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 23-19.15-5

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10

(b)  Pursuant to §?5-20.8-13, every contract for the purchase and sale of real estate that is, or may be, served by a private cesspool shall provide that potential purchasers be permitted a ten-day (10) period, unless the parties mutually agree upon a different period of time, to conduct an inspection of the property’s on-site sewage system in accordance with procedures required by the department in subsection (a) of this section before becoming obligated under the contract to purchase.

History of Section.
P.L. 2007, ch. 136, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 233, § 1; P.L. 2008, ch. 475, § 61; P.L. 2015, ch. 163, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 185, § 1.