§ 46-23-2 - Coastal resources management council created – Appointment of members.
SECTION 46-23-2
§ 46-23-2 Coastal resources managementcouncil created – Appointment of members. – (a) There is hereby created the coastal resources management council.
(1) The coastal resources management council shall consist ofsixteen (16) members, two (2) of whom shall be members of the house ofrepresentatives, at least one of the members shall represent a coastalmunicipality, appointed by the speaker, two (2) of whom shall be members of thesenate, each of whom shall represent a coastal municipality, appointed by thepresident of the senate, two (2) of whom shall be from the general publicappointed by the speaker of the house for a term of two (2) years, two (2) ofwhom shall be from a coastal municipality appointed by the speaker of the housefor a term of three (3) years.
(2) In addition, four (4) of the members shall be appointedor elected officials of local government appointed by the governor, one of whomshall be from a municipality of less than twenty-five thousand (25,000)population, appointed to serve until January 31, 1972, one of whom shall befrom a coastal municipality of more than twenty-five thousand (25,000)population appointed to serve until January 31, 1973, and one of whom shall befrom a coastal municipality of less than twenty-five thousand (25,000)population appointed to serve until January 31, 1974, and one of whom shall befrom a coastal community of more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) populationappointed to serve until January 31, 1975, the populations are to be determinedby the latest federal census; all members shall serve until their successorsare appointed and qualified; during the month of January, the governor shallappoint a member to succeed the member whose term will then next expire for aterm of four (4) years commencing on the first day of February then nextfollowing and until his or her successor is named and qualified; each municipalappointment shall cease if the appointed or elected official shall no longerhold or change the office which he or she held upon appointment, and further,each appointee shall be eligible to succeed himself or herself.
(3) Three (3) members shall be appointed by the governor fromthe public, with the advice and consent of the senate, one of whom shall serveuntil January 1, 1972, one of whom shall serve until January 1, 1973 and one ofwhom shall serve until January 1, 1974; the members and their successors shallrepresent a coastal community.
(4) All members shall serve until their successors areappointed and qualified; during the month of January, the governor shallappoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, a member to succeed themembers whose term will then next expire for a term of three (3) yearscommencing on the first day of February next following and until his or hersuccessor is named and qualified. A member shall be eligible to succeed himselfor herself. No more than two (2) persons on the council shall be from the samecommunity.
(5) Appointments shall first be made by the governor, then bythe president of the senate, and then by the speaker. The commissioner of theenvironmental protection branch or his or her designee within the department ofenvironmental management shall serve ex officio. The ex-officio member shallnot be counted as serving from any particular community.
(b) In addition to the foregoing voting members, the councilshall include a varying number of other members who shall serve in an advisorycapacity without the right to vote and who shall be invited to serve by eitherthe governor or the voting members. These advisory members shall represent thefederal agencies such as the navy, coast guard, corps of engineers, publichealth service, and the federal water pollution control administration, andsuch regional agencies as the New England river basins commission and the NewEngland regional commission and any other group or interest not otherwiserepresented.
(c) There shall be established a coastal resources advisorycommittee which committee, appointed by the executive director of the coastalresources management council, shall include, but not be limited to,representation from the following groups: one of whom shall be a representativeof the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography and theCollege of Resources Development, one of whom shall be a representative of theSea Grant National College Program, one of whom shall be a representative ofthe army corps of engineers, one of whom shall be a representative of thefederal environmental protection agency's Narragansett Bay laboratory, one ofwhom shall be a representative of the coastal resources management council, oneof whom shall be the director of the department of environmental management;one of whom shall be a member of the Rhode Island Marine Trade Association andone of whom shall be a representative of a regional environmental group. Thecouncil shall have the authority to appoint such additional members to saidadvisory committee as is deemed necessary or advisable by the advisorycommittee or the council. It shall be the responsibility of the committee toadvise the coastal resources management council on environmental issuesrelating to dredging and permitting related thereto, including, but not limitedto, those issues defined in §§ 46-23-18.1 – 46-23-18.3,inclusive.
(d) The council shall have the authority to form committeesof other advisory groups as needed from both its own members and others.