§ 46-23.1-1 - Findings and purpose.
SECTION 46-23.1-1
§ 46-23.1-1 Findings and purpose. –Coastal and estuarine habitat such as coastal wetlands, anadromous fish runs,and eelgrass beds are threatened, damaged, or have been destroyed by historicpollution, oil spills, incompatible development, and other factors. The coastaland estuarine habitats of Rhode Island's waters provide great benefits to thecitizens of this state including, but not limited to, protection from coastalstorms and erosion. Coastal and estuarine habitat resources also serve asnurseries and breeding grounds for important recreational and commercialfinfish and shellfish populations, capture and filter run-off pollution, andsignificantly contribute to the state's economic, community and ecologicalhealth. Restoration of tidally restricted coastal wetlands can also ensureprotection of human health and safety by controlling populations of certainsalt marsh mosquitoes known to carry the Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus. Thestate's economy is directly dependent on the health and productivity of RhodeIsland's coastal waters, including Narragansett Bay and the coastal ponds.Destruction of coastal and estuarine habitats has been identified as one of theleading causes of decline in economically important fish, shellfish, and othernatural resources. Restoring degraded coastal and estuarine habitats isessential for reversing declines in fishery resources and protecting humanhealth and safety. Since healthy and diverse coastal and estuarine habitats arebetter able to support fish and wildlife resources that have been impacted, andare likely to be impacted in the future, by pollution events such as oilspills, an investment by the state of Rhode Island to provide restorationplanning and technical expertise and to implement measures to restore coastaland estuary habitats is vital to the economic prosperity and quality of life ofthe citizens of the state.