§ 46-12.4-1 - Contaminants from tank vessels.
SECTION 46-12.4-1
§ 46-12.4-1 Contaminants from tankvessels. – (a) The owners, operators, and/or their agents of any tank vessel, as definedin 33 U.S.C. § 2701(34), which transports petroleum products forcommercial purposes entering the waters or waterways of this state andtransporting any petroleum product shall possess a valid certificate offinancial responsibility issued by the U.S. Coast Guard or for vessels lessthan three hundred (300) gross tons, or other evidence of financialresponsibility in accordance with the federal Oil Pollution Act §§1004 and 1016, 33 U.S.C. §§ 2704 and 2716, as evidence of financialresponsibility applicable to payment of any judgment entered on behalf of thestate of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations or any person aggrievedpursuant to the provisions of chapter 12.3 of title 46. Any tank vesselentering waters or waterways of this state without such valid certificate offinancial responsibility or, for vessels less than three hundred (300) grosstons, without evidence of financial responsibility in accordance with thefederal Oil Pollution Act §§ 1004 and 1016 shall be fined not morethan one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or twice the amount required torectify any environmental damage caused by the vessel, whichever is greater.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not be construed toapply to the owner or operator of a terminal facility situated within thestate, which has no ownership interest in the tank vessel merely because theterminal is the destination of the vessel.
(c) The department of environmental management is herebyauthorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement theprovisions of this section.