§ 23-24.6-23 - Compliance and enforcement.
SECTION 23-24.6-23
§ 23-24.6-23 Compliance and enforcement.– (a) Except as provided in this chapter, the inspection, enforcement, andpenalties for violations of the provisions of this chapter shall be inaccordance with the provisions and procedures set forth in §§ 23-1-19– 23-1-25. In addition to the provisions for enforcement of this sectionfound elsewhere in this chapter, there shall be the following powers ofenforcement, which shall be in addition to other provisions of the general lawspertaining to enforcement of the laws of this state and shall not be deemed tolimit or replace such other provisions. The provisions of this section shall beliberally construed and shall be considered an essential responsibility of thestate to protect public health and welfare.
(b) The department shall establish a comprehensive integratedenforcement program, which shall be designed: (1) to assure that enforcement iscertain, predictable, and effective as a means of reducing the incidence ofchildhood lead poisoning; (2) to direct enforcement efforts to places, areas,and types of structures where there is a high incidence of childhood leadpoisoning; and (3) to identify and give priority to addresses where there aremultiple instances of childhood lead poisoning and to identify and asconsistent with law to provide for the prosecution of persons at whoseproperties there have been multiple instances of childhood lead poisoning andlead hazards have not been corrected. In order to effectuate the provisions ofthis subsection, the department of health: (i) shall maintain a list as apublic document of the addresses of properties that are not lead safe and inwhich more than three (3) children lived at the time their blood was tested forlead concentration and at least two (2) of these children were lead poisoned,(ii) shall maintain a database with the names and addresses of owners of rentalhousing at the time any child residing in the rental housing was testedpositive for lead poisoning for which a second notice of violation has beenissued and lead hazards have not been corrected as required pursuant to theprovisions of this chapter, which database shall be public and provided togovernment and nonprofit agencies that are attempting to prevent lead poisoningor to enforce lead poisoning regulations, and (iii) shall notify the attorneygeneral of all second notices of violation, issued pursuant to the provisionsof § 23-24.6-17, to which there has not been a response meeting therequirements of law within thirty (30) days after the notice.
(c) The attorney general shall maintain an office of leadadvocate, which office shall have, in addition to any other powers that theattorney general may assign to it, the power:
(1) To investigate any alleged failures to comply with thelead hazard reduction, to initiate either a civil or criminal cause of action,or both, to compel compliance via injunctive relief and/or impose penalties andfines, as appropriate;
(2) To bring any actions that may be necessary or appropriateto secure the performance by state agencies and political subdivisions theduties assigned to them by this section;
(3) To notify in writing on behalf of the attorney generalany person, who has received a second notice of violation issued by thedepartment of health and has not responded consistent with the requirements oflaw within thirty (30) days, of the person's obligations under law and thepotential penalties for continued violations; and
(4) To establish guidelines to prevent retaliatory actions byproperty owners against tenants on the basis of complaints or notices ofviolations arising from this chapter and chapter 128.1 of title 42, or based onthe presence of a pregnant woman or child under age six (6) who in any mannerseeks to enforce their right to housing in which lead hazards have beencorrected in accordance with this chapter or chapter 128.1 of title 42. Theseguidelines shall define retaliatory actions, including, but not limited to,arbitrary termination of tenancy or other form of constructive eviction,arbitrary refusal to renew a lease, or arbitrary and unreasonable increase inrent or decrease in services to which the tenant is entitled, for all tenants,whether or not they have leases or are tenants at will. It shall be unlawful totake retaliatory actions against tenants arising from enforcement of theprovisions of this chapter or chapter 128.1 of title 42; this prohibitionagainst retaliatory actions applies whether or not the tenant has a lease.Damages and remedies for retaliatory actions under this paragraph shall be asprovided for in chapter 18 of title 34.
(5) No provision of this chapter shall derogate the commonlaw or any statutory authority of the attorney general, nor shall any provisionbe construed as a limitation on the common law or statutory authority of theattorney general.
(d) Receivership of properties not meeting standards.Following the second notice of violation, issued by the department of healthpursuant to the provisions of § 45-24.3-17(e) for failure to meet theapplicable lead hazard reduction for rental dwellings occupied by a pregnantwoman or a child under the age of six (6) years unless the violations allegedto exist are corrected or a plan for correction has been approved by thedepartment, the unit may be considered abandoned and a public nuisance, whichis a menace to public health, as the term "abandon" or "abandonment" and"public nuisance" defined by § 34-44-2. In those instances the departmentof health, the attorney general, a nonprofit corporation as provided for in§ 34-44-3, or the city or town in which the unit is located shall have thespecific power to request the court to appoint a receiver for the property, thecourt in such instances may specifically authorize the receiver to apply forloans, grants and other forms of funding necessary to correct lead hazards andmeet lead hazard mitigation standards, and to hold the property for any periodof time that the funding source may require to assure that the purposes of thefunding have been met.
(e) High risk premises and dwellings. (1) Thedepartment of health shall notify the property owner where both the followingconditions have been met: (i) there have been three (3) or more at riskchildren under the age of six (6) years with at least environmentalintervention blood levels and (ii) fifty percent (50%) of children under theage of six (6) years from the premises who have been tested have had at leastenvironmental intervention blood lead levels, that the premises present a highrisk of lead poisoning.
(2) A property owner who receives notice that the premisesare high risk: (i) shall have thirty (30) days in which to conduct acomprehensive lead inspection that shows that lead hazards have been correctedto the lead safe standard, or (ii) shall present a compliance schedule to thedepartment of health to meet the lead safe standard, which compliance scheduleshall be subject to approval by the department of health and shall provide forachieving the lead hazard reduction within ninety (90) days. The requirementsof the compliance schedule shall be deemed to have been met if a comprehensivelead inspection shows that the lead safe standard has been met at the premises.
(3) A property owner who fails to meet the requirements ofsubdivision (2) of this subsection shall be notified that the premises aredeclared unsafe for habitation by children under six (6). A list of propertyowners so notified and of addresses of premises for which the notice has beengiven shall be a public record.
(4) A copy of this notice shall be sent to the town clerk orrecorder of deeds in the city or town where the property is located, to berecorded pursuant to the provisions of chapter 13 of title 34. The propertyowner, so notified, shall post and maintain a warning at the primary entranceto the premises and to each dwelling unit therein declaring that the unit isunsafe for children under six (6) years of age. If the property owner shallfail to make or maintain the posting herein required, the department of healthshall post the premises as provided for in § 23-24.6-12(2).
(5) Any property owner who receives notice that a dwellingunit is high risk and who fails to abate lead hazards in accordance with acompliance schedule as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection and thereis a subsequent instance of an at risk occupant with an environmentalintervention blood lead level, which is attributable in whole or in part toconditions in the dwelling unit, shall be deemed to have committed a criminaloffense and may be punished by imprisonment for not more than five (5) yearsand/or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).
(6) Any property owner who receives notice that a dwellingunit is high risk and who has substantially completed the required remediationas determined by the department may become reclassified from "high risk" to"abatement in progress" contingent upon adherence to the approved complianceschedule for the remaining remediation efforts.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit orimpair the existing rights of parties to take action to compel property ownersto improve or maintain property under common law or pursuant to any of thegeneral laws of the state of Rhode Island.