§ 46-15.1-2 - Board created – Appointment of members.
SECTION 46-15.1-2
§ 46-15.1-2 Board created –Appointment of members. – (a) There is hereby authorized, created and established a water resources boardconsisting of fifteen (15) members as follows:
(1) Eleven (11) members shall represent the public and shallbe appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate asherein provided;
(i) One of whom shall be a person who is actively engaged inthe agricultural business, preferably an owner and/or operator of anagricultural business,with respect to which appointment the governor shall givedue consideration to the recommendation of the Rhode Island AgriculturalCouncil established pursuant to the provisions of chapter 3 of title 2;
(ii) One of whom shall be a representative of a conservationorganization, with respect to which appointment the governor shall give dueconsideration to the recommendation of the Environment Council of Rhode Island;
(iii) One of whom shall be a professional with expertise ingeology and/or hydrology;
(iv) One of whom shall be a professional with expertise inengineering with relevance to water supply;
(v) One of whom shall be a professional with expertise infinancial planning and/or investment;
(vi) One of whom shall be a professional with expertise inland and/or watershed management;
(vii) One of whom shall be a representative of a public watersystem that withdraws more than one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons per day,primarily from a surface water supply;
(viii) One of whom shall be a representative of a publicwater system that withdraws more than one hundred thousand (100,000) gallonsper day, primarily from a ground water supply;
(ix) One of whom shall be a representative of a water userthat withdraws more than one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons per day; and
(x) Two (2) of whom shall be members of the general public.
(2) No person shall be eligible for appointment to the boardunless he or she is a resident of this state. The remaining four (4) membersare the director of environmental management, the director of the Rhode Islandeconomic development corporation, the associate director of the division ofplanning within the department of administration, and the director of thedepartment of health.
(3) Members shall serve until their successors are appointedand qualified and shall be eligible to succeed themselves. In the month ofFebruary in each year, the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate,shall appoint successors to the public members of the board whose terms shallexpire in such year, to hold office commencing on the day they are qualifiedand until the first day of March in the third year after their respectiveappointments and until their respective successors are appointed and qualified.
(b) Those members of the board as of the effective date ofthis act shall continue to serve until their term expires or they resign,whether or not they meet the criteria set out in subsection (a);
(c) Any vacancy which may occur in the board for a publicmember shall be filled by the governor, with the advice and consent of thesenate, for the remainder of the unexpired term in the manner as prescribed in(a) of this subsection. Each ex officio member of the board may designate asubordinate within his or her department to represent him or her at allmeetings of the board.
(d) Members of the board shall be removable by the governorpursuant to § 36-1-7 of the general laws and for cause only, and removalsolely for partisan or personal reasons unrelated to capacity or fitness forthe office shall be unlawful.
(e) The water resources board is designated to carry out theprovisions of this chapter. In exercising its powers under this chapter, theboard constitutes a body politic and corporate and a public instrumentality ofthe state having a distinct legal existence from the state and not constitutinga department of the state government. The board may take action under thischapter at any meeting of the board. A member of the board who is affiliatedwith a public water system in Rhode Island, as provided in § 46-15-2,shall not thereby be disqualified from acting as a member of the board on atransaction under this chapter with a public water system. Upon the enactmentof this chapter, and annually in the month of March thereafter, the board shallchoose a treasurer to act as such under this chapter. The treasurer need not bea member of the board or of its staff and shall serve until his or hersuccessor is chosen and takes office, unless sooner removed by the board withor without cause. In the event of a vacancy in the office of treasurer, theboard shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
(f) Nothing contained herein shall be construed asterminating or discontinuing the existence of the water resources board as itexists prior to July 1, 1993 for purposes of chapters 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 ofthis title, and the water resources board created hereby shall be and shall bedeemed to be a continuation of the water resources board as it existed prior toJuly 1, 1993 for the purposes enumerated in chapters 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 ofthis title. Nothing contained herein shall affect the bonding or financingauthority of the water resources board as it exists prior to July 1, 1993 norshall anything contained herein be construed as terminating, altering,discontinuing, or in any way impairing the bonding or financing power of thewater resources board as it exists under chapters 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 of thistitle prior to July 1, 1993.