§ 46-23.1-3. The Rhode Island coastal and estuarine habitat restoration trust fund. (a) Establishment. There is established within the coastal resources management council a Rhode Island coastal and estuarine habitat restoration trust fund (the "trust"). On July 1, 2002, July 1, 2004 and each July 1st thereafter, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of the fees collected under the uniform oil spill response and prevention statute (§ 46-12.7-4.1) shall be deposited into the trust. The trust shall be available for disbursement by the council in accordance with the restrictions and purposes of this chapter and subject to an annual appropriation by the legislature. The trust may also receive federal, state, municipal, and private grants, gifts, or donations. Funds in the trust shall not be used for mitigating any current, planned or future projects that degrade, fill, or otherwise destroy coastal or estuarine habitats. Funds in the trust shall not be used to fulfill any liability for restoration required by any local, state or federal agency pursuant to an environmental or public health enforcement action.

(b) Funding of estuary and coastal habitat restoration activities. Factors to be taken into account by the technical committee for the purposes of granting monies for estuary and coastal habitat restoration activities, determining the eligibility of an estuary and coastal habitat restoration projects for financial assistance, and in prioritizing the selection of estuary and coastal habitat restoration projects by the technical committee shall include, but need not be limited to:

(1) Consistency with the state estuary and coastal habitat restoration strategy, the Narragansett Bay comprehensive conservation and management plan, the state coastal nonpoint pollution control plan, the coastal resources management program, the department of environmental management regulations, and pertinent elements of the state guide plan;

(2) The ability of the applicant to provide adequate personnel funding, and authority to carry out and properly maintain the estuary and coastal habitat restoration activity;

(3) The proposed monitoring plan to ensure that short-term and long-term restoration goals are achieved;

(4) The effectiveness of any nonpoint source pollution management efforts upstream and the likelihood of re-impairment;

(5) Whether the estuary and coastal habitat restoration activity can be shown to replace habitat losses that benefit fish and wildlife resources;

(6) Potential water quality improvements;

(7) Potential improvements to fish and wildlife habitats for species which are identified as rare or endangered by the Rhode Island Natural History Survey or the federal Endangered Species Act [16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.];

(8) The level and extent of collaboration by partners (e.g., municipality, nongovernment organization, watershed council, federal agency, etc.); and

(9) Potential direct economic benefit to a community or the state.

History of Section. (P.L. 2002, ch. 62, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 595, art. 44, § 1.)