§ 46-23-2. Coastal resources management council created — Appointment of members.
(a) There is hereby created the coastal resources management council. The coastal resources
management council shall consist of ten (10) members. Nine (9) members shall be appointed
by the governor, with advice and consent of the senate, and one member shall serve
ex officio. All current appointments to the coastal resources management council made
by the governor with advice and consent of the senate are hereby validated and ratified
and those appointees shall serve until a new seven-member (7) council is selected
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section or for the remainder of their term, whichever
shall occur first.
(1) Six (6) of the members shall be appointed or elected officials of local government:
three (3) of whom shall be appointed or elected officials in a municipality of fewer
than twenty-five thousand (25,000) in population, three (3) of whom shall be appointed
or elected officials in a municipality of more than twenty-five thousand (25,000)
in population. The populations are to be determined by the latest federal census.
Elected or appointed municipal officials shall hold seats on the council only so long
as they remain in their elected or appointed office. Each municipal appointment shall
cease if the appointed or elected official shall no longer hold or change the office
which they held upon appointment. At least five (5) out of the six (6) appointed or
elected members must be appointed or elected in a coastal municipality. When the governor
submits his or her appointments to the senate for advice and consent, the governor
shall specify the appointed or elected office that each municipal appointment holds;
the population of the municipality represented; and the member being replaced.
(2) — (4) [Deleted by P.L. 2025, ch. 304, § 1 and P.L. 2025, ch. 313, § 1.]
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, on March 1, 2026, all current members
of the coastal resources management council shall have their terms expire. In anticipation
thereof, prior to March 1, 2026, the governor shall appoint a coastal resources management
council that shall consist of seven (7) voting members, one of whom shall be the director
of the department of environmental management who shall serve ex officio. The six
(6) remaining members shall be public members appointed by the governor with the advice
and consent of the senate. All appointed members shall possess background, qualifications,
and expertise in environmental and coastal management matters, provided that one of
whom shall be an engineer; one of whom shall be a coastal biologist; and one of whom
shall be a representative of an environmental organization. Current or past service
on the coastal resources management council shall not disqualify an individual from
reappointment pursuant to this subsection. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the seven-member
(7) council is not seated by March 1, 2026, in accordance with this section, the members
appointed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall continue to serve until
such time as all members are appointed and confirmed in accordance with this section.
(c) In addition to the foregoing voting members, the coastal resources management council
may include a varying number of other members who may serve in an advisory capacity
without the right to vote and who may be invited to serve by either the governor or
the voting members. These advisory members may represent the federal agencies such
as the navy, coast guard, corps of engineers, public health service, and the Federal
Water Pollution Control Administration, and such regional agencies as the New England
River Basins Commission and the New England Regional Commission and any other group
or interest not otherwise represented.
(d) There may be established a coastal resources advisory committee which committee, appointed
by the executive director of the coastal resources management council, may include,
but not be limited to, representation from the following groups: one of whom may be
a representative of the university of Rhode Island graduate school of oceanography
and the college of resources development, one of whom may be a representative of the
Sea Grant National College Program, one of whom may be a representative of the army
corps of engineers, one of whom may be a representative of the federal environmental
protection agency's Narragansett Bay laboratory, one of whom shall be a representative
of the coastal resources management council, one of whom may be the director of the
department of environmental management; one of whom may be a member of the Rhode Island
Marine Trade Association and one of whom may be a representative of a regional environmental
group. The coastal resources management council shall have the authority to appoint
such additional members to the advisory committee as is deemed necessary or advisable
by the advisory committee or the council. It shall be the responsibility of the committee
to advise the coastal resources management council on environmental coastal resources
management issues relating to dredging and permitting related thereto, including,
but not limited to, those issues defined in §§ 46-23-18.1 — 46-23-18.3, inclusive.
(e) The council shall have the authority to form committees of other advisory groups as
needed from both its own members and others.