§ 23-19.15-6. Cesspool removal and replacement. (a) Any cesspool located in close proximity to tidal water areas and public drinking water supplies and required to be abandoned pursuant to this chapter shall be replaced with an approved OWTS, or the building served by the cesspool shall be connected to a public sewer, prior to the applicable deadlines contained in subsection (b) of this section.

(b) Cesspools found to be located within the areas identified in § 23-19.15-5(a) shall cease to be used for sewage disposal and shall be properly abandoned in accordance with the following schedule:

(1) Tier 1. Any cesspool deemed by the department or a system inspector to be failed in accordance with this chapter shall be properly abandoned within one year of discovery unless an immediate public health hazard is identified, in which case the director may require a shorter period of time.

(2) Tier 2. Any cesspool located on a property that has a sewer stub enabling connection to a public sewer shall be properly abandoned, and the building served by the cesspool shall be connected into the sewer system of such premises with such sewer and fill up and destroy any cesspool, privy vault, drain, or other arrangement on such land for the reception of sewage, excluding any Rhode Island department of environmental management OWTS-approved system, prior to January 1, 2014.

(3) Tier 3. Any cesspool within two hundred feet (200') of a public drinking water well, or 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], or within two hundred feet (200) of a surface drinking water supply [specifically, the impoundment from which water is drawn via the intake], shall be properly abandoned by January 1, 2014.

History of Section. (P.L. 2007, ch. 136, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 233, § 1; P.L. 2011, ch. 285, § 1; P.L. 2011, ch. 380, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 163, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 185, § 1.)