§ 31-3-99. Special plate for the wildlife rehabilitators association of Rhode Island (WRARI). (a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island. The plates shall be designed to reference Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island.

(b) The special plates shall be displayed upon the same registration number assigned to the vehicle for which it was issued, and shall be used in place of and in the same manner as the registration plates issued to the vehicle. The original registration plates for the vehicle shall be removed from the vehicle and returned to the division of motor vehicles. The registration certificate for the plates shall be carried in the vehicle, in accordance with § 31-3-9. The registration certificate shall be in effect for the special plate.

(c) The Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island motor vehicle plates shall be the same size as regular motor vehicle plates, and shall be designed by the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island in conjunction with the division of motor vehicles and with final approval from the Rhode Island state police.

(d) The Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island plates shall be subject to a minimum prepaid order of at least nine hundred (900) sets of plates per plate type (i.e. passenger, commercial, etc.). The Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island plates shall not be issued unless the minimum order(s) requirements are met. The initial order will be handled by the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island, and shall not be submitted to the division of motor vehicles for production until the minimum order(s) has been met, and the proper paperwork submitted to the division.

(e) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles shall develop prepayment procedures and any other procedures deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(f) In addition to the regular prescribed motor vehicle registration fees, the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island plates shall be subject to a forty dollar ($40.00) issuance surcharge.

(g) The forty dollar ($40.00) issuance surcharge shall be allocated as follows:

Twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be allocated to the general fund, and the remaining twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be distributed to the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island to help further their efforts in caring for injured and orphaned wildlife. All of the money raised shall be spent in Rhode Island.

(h) The Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island will be required to submit an annual accounting report before such monies are distributed.

(i) There shall be no refunds for early cancellation of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island plates.

History of Section. (P.L. 2013, ch. 480, § 1.)