Save the Bay Calls for Stronger RI Enforcement - Blasts State for Slashing DEM’s Staffing
Monday, January 17, 2022
Save the Bay, the state’s leading environmental advocacy organization, is blasting state leaders for their slashing of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (RI DEM) staff — especially inspectors and enforcement officers.
“The Department of Environmental Management has seen its budget and staff cut dramatically over the past 20 years. These cuts have led to delays in permitting, reduced inspections of potential polluters, and lax enforcement of RI’s environmental laws and rules,” said Jed Thorp, advocacy coordinator.
“Robust enforcement is needed to deter environmental crimes that pollute the water, air and land, and threaten public health. Save The Bay will be advocating for increased funding and staffing for RI DEM, particularly for permitting and enforcement," Thorp added.
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Staff Slashed
Data shows that Rhode Island's regulatory enforcement has been declining under the administrations of Governors Don Carcieri, Lincoln Chafee, and Gina Raimondo.
Overall, RI DEM's staffing has been slashed by 30% over the past 20 years.
Compliance and inspection have been slashed even further -- from 2000 to 2020, those staff positions were cut 46%.
Under Raimondo, the criminal investigations unit, which once had five full-time investigators and often had additional staff assigned from the State Police or Providence Police, now has just one investigator.
A November of 2020 report by GoLocal unveiled that from 2015 to 2019, RIDEM issued just $4,519,831 in penalties for illegal disposal of hazardous and solid waste, water pollution and/or pollution violations — but those penalties were whittled down to just $1,189,575 in collected fines.
Save the Bay told GoLocal in 2020 in response to that report, “The absence of enforcement not only compromises the environment, but it also represents a breakdown in the effort to deter future violations. Delayed or weak enforcement also frequently results in settlements that, in the end, do not fully protect the resource that was degraded by the original violation. Protecting Narragansett Bay, the water we drink and the air we breathe requires vigorous, timely enforcement.”
One of the high-profile environmental cases now under review is the contaminated soil dumped in a Providence neighborhood as part of the RI Department of Transportation's (RIDOT) 6/10 project -- a case that was brought to the attention of state officials in July, but the warnings were ignored.
The 6/10 contamination is now under a federal investigation.
Thorp outlined the other components of Save the Bay's legislative agenda:
Funding Climate Adaptation
The 2021 legislative session finally saw the passage of one of Save The Bay’s longtime legislative priorities: the creation of the Ocean State Climate Adaptation and Resilience Fund (OSCAR.) While the General Assembly established the fund – and the types of projects that would be eligible for funding through it – the actual funding mechanism (the proposed new nickel-per-barrel fee on petroleum imports) was stripped from the bill at the last minute. This year, we will again be advocating for the fee on petroleum imports as the best method for funding OSCAR, but will also be exploring other possibilities for seeding this critically important fund.
Protecting Shoreline Access
The public’s ability to access and freely move along the RI shoreline is very important to Save The Bay—in fact, it’s part of our organization’s vision of a “clean, healthy, fishable, swimmable Bay, accessible to all.” While the state constitution guarantees shoreline access and the “privileges of the shore,” conflicts often arise due to confusion over exactly how far inland the public’s shoreline rights extend. Save The Bay will again be supporting legislation that reaffirms and clarifies the public’s shoreline access rights.
Reducing Plastic Pollution
The General Assembly has considered several bills in recent years aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of various types of plastic waste, including grocery bags, straws, food containers and bottles. This year, we will be focusing our energy on the two bills that we think will have the biggest impact in reducing the plastic waste that continues to harm the Bay and inland water bodies.
Beverage Container Deposit Law (“Bottle Bill”)
Beverage container deposit laws (aka “bottle bills”) have proven to be an effective policy tool for increasing recycling rates and reducing the number of bottles polluting our environment. Many states – including our neighbors in Connecticut and Massachusetts – passed their bottle bills decades ago, and it’s time that Rhode Island joined them.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Last year, Maine and Oregon became the first states in the country to pass “EPR” legislation for paper and plastic packaging, with several other states considering similar bills. Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, creates a system under which producers have a responsibility for the waste that occurs as a result of their products. (Think: the existing systems we have in RI for mattresses and paint.) Save The Bay will advocate for similar legislation here in Rhode Island.
Reforming CRMC
While the staff at the Coastal Resources Management Council do great work, the agency continues to suffer under the weight of an outdated and ineffective council structure. Save The Bay has called for eliminating the council, and putting CRMC on par with other state agencies like DEM, and will advocate for legislation that either overhauls the council structure or makes other much-needed reforms.
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