§ 23-19.1-18. Criminal penalties — Payment of restoration costs.
(a) Unless otherwise specified, any person who shall refuse to obey or who shall knowingly
violate, or reasonably should know that he or she is violating, the provisions of
an order issued by the director under the provisions of this chapter or any rules
or regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or who shall cause the refusal
or violation, shall be guilty of a felony.
(b) Any person who shall tamper with, destroy, or in any other way detrimentally affect
a well which has been installed by any person pursuant to an order or rules and regulations
issued by the department of environmental management or any other state agency, for
the purpose of testing ground water contamination, shall be guilty of a felony.
(c) Disposal of hazardous wastes at landfills which cannot be located, designed, constructed,
or operated to prevent the endangerment of all underground drinking water sources
beyond the facility boundary; or the endangerment of an aquifer which has been designated
by any federal or Rhode Island state agency as a sole source aquifer; or contamination
by discharge by any surface or subsurface means causing a violation of any rule or
regulation or standard of any federal or Rhode Island agency; or disposal of hazardous
wastes at facilities other than hazardous waste disposal facilities permitted by the
department of environmental management is prohibited, and any person who knowingly
disposes, or who reasonably should know that he or she is disposing or causing the
disposal of, hazardous wastes in Rhode Island at other than hazardous waste disposal
facilities holding valid permits issued by the department of environmental management
shall be deemed guilty of a felony.
(d) Operation of a hazardous waste disposal facility in Rhode Island without a valid permit
issued by the department of environmental management is prohibited, and any person
who knowingly operates a hazardous waste disposal facility in Rhode Island, or who
reasonably should know that he or she is operating or causing the operation of this
facility without a valid permit shall be guilty of a felony.
(e) Transportation of hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without a valid permit issued by
the department of environmental management is prohibited, and any person who knowingly
transports hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without a valid permit issued by the department
of environmental management, or who reasonably should know that he or she is transporting
or causing to be transported hazardous wastes without a permit, shall be guilty of
a felony.
(f) Treatment of hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without a valid permit issued by the
department of environmental management, or storage of hazardous wastes in Rhode Island
without a valid permit issued by the department of environmental management is prohibited
and any person who knowingly stores or treats hazardous wastes in Rhode Island without
a valid permit issued by the department of environmental management, or other authorization
of the department of environmental management, or who reasonably should know that
he or she is storing or treating or causing to be treated or stored without a permit,
shall be guilty of a felony.
(g) The transporting, causing to be transported, or accepting of hazardous waste for treatment,
storage, or disposal from a transporter without a manifest required by the department
of environmental management and completed in accordance with department of environmental
management regulations is prohibited. Any person who transports, causes to be transported,
or accepts hazardous waste for treatment, storage, or disposal and fails to prepare
a manifest for the hazardous waste or knowingly alters or falsifies the information
on the manifest shall be deemed guilty of a felony.
(h) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement, representation, or certification
in any application, record, report, plan, permit, or other document filed, maintained,
and used for the purposes of program compliance under this chapter shall be deemed
guilty of a felony.
(i) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be punished by imprisonment
for not more than five (5) years or by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000) or both. In the case of a continuing violation, each day's continuance
of the violation shall be a separate and distinct offense.
(j) In addition to the provisions of this section, after a judgment of conviction and
hearing in accordance with § 23-19.1-18.1, the court may order the defendant to pay the cost of restoring to its original state
the area where hazardous wastes were unlawfully stored, treated, or disposed.