§ 46-9-5. Pilotage commission. (a) There is hereby created a state pilotage commission within the department of environmental management independent of the department and the director, consisting of four (4) members, two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the governor. Of the members appointed by the governor, one shall be a licensed pilot with five (5) years active service on the waters of this state, and one shall represent the public. The associate director of the bureau of natural resources within the department of environmental management, or his or her designee, and the director of the department of environmental management, or his or her designee, shall serve as ex officio members of the commission. Each appointed member of the commission shall serve for a term of three (3) years and until his or her successor shall be appointed and qualified. In the month of February, the governor shall appoint a member to hold office until the first day of March in the third year of his or her appointment, and until his or her successor shall be appointed and qualified to succeed the member whose term shall next expire.

Gubernatorial appointments made under this section after the effective date of this act [April 20, 2006] shall be subject to the advice and consent of the senate.

(b) Any vacancy which may occur in the commission shall be filled by the governor as in the case of an original appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term. Any member shall be eligible to succeed himself or herself.

(c) Newly appointed and qualified public members and designees of ex-officio members shall, within six (6) months of their qualification or designation, attend a training course that shall be developed with commission approval and conducted by the chair of the commission and shall include instruction in the following areas: the provisions of chapters 46-9, 42-46, 36-14 and 38-2 and the commission's rules and regulations. The director of the department of administration shall, within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this act [April 20, 2006], prepare and disseminate training materials relating to the provisions of chapters 42-46, 36-14 and 38-2.

(d) Members of the commission shall be removable by the governor pursuant to § 36-1-7 of the general laws and for cause only, and removal solely for partisan or personal reason unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall be unlawful.

History of Section. (P.L. 1981, ch. 388, § 2; P.L. 2005, ch. 117, art. 21, § 32; P.L. 2006, ch. 24, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 33, § 1.)