TITLE 45

Towns and cities

CHAPTER 45-61

Stormwater Management Districts

SECTION 45-61-2



   § 45-61-2  Legislative findings. –

The general assembly hereby recognizes and declares that:



   (1) The general assembly finds that stormwater, when not

properly controlled and treated, causes pollution of the waters of the state,

threatens public health, and damages property. Stormwater carries pollutants

and other material from the land – such as human and animal waste, oil,

gasoline, grease, fertilizers, nutrients, and sediments – into rivers,

streams, ponds, coves, drinking water aquifers, and Narragansett Bay.

Stormwater reaches the state's waters by streets, roads, lawns, and other

means. As a result, public use of the natural resources of state for drinking

water, swimming, fishing, shellfishing, and other forms of recreation is

limited and in some cases prohibited.



   (2) The general assembly further finds that inattention to

stormwater management results in erosion of soils and destruction of both

public and private property, thereby putting public safety at risk and harming

property values and uses, including agriculture and industry. Therefore, to

help alleviate existing and future degradation of the state's waters and the

associated risks to public health and safety, and to comply with state and

federal stormwater management requirements, stormwater conveyance systems must

be maintained and improved. The state of Rhode Island is delegated by the

United States Environmental Protection Agency to implement "Phase II"

stormwater management regulations, which require municipalities and other

persons to increase their capacity to control stormwater. The Department of

Environmental Management's Pollution Discharge Elimination System program has

promulgated these regulations.



History of Section.

(P.L. 2002, ch. 329, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 310, § 68.)