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| 5 | 5 | | 2025 -- S 0601 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC001351 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- DUTIES OF UTILITIES AND |
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| 16 | 16 | | CARRIERS |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Senators Britto, McKenney, Sosnowski, Gu, Felag, LaMountain, |
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| 18 | 18 | | DiPalma, and Bissaillon |
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| 19 | 19 | | Date Introduced: March 06, 2025 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Referred To: Senate Commerce |
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| 21 | 21 | | (Divison of Public Utilities & Carriers) |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. Section 39-2-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-2 entitled "Duties of 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Utilities and Carriers" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | 39-2-8. Penalty for violations. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | Any public utility which shall violate any provision of chapters 1 — 5 of this title, or shall 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | do any act herein prohibited, or shall fail or refuse to perform any duty enjoined upon it for which 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | a penalty has not been provided, shall be subject to a penalty of not less than two hundred dollars 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | ($200) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) five thousand dollars ($5,000), and in the case 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | of a continuing violation of any of the provisions of the chapters, every day’s continuance thereof 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense. 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 2. Section 39-4-22 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-4 entitled "Hearings and 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | Investigations" is hereby amended to read as follows: 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | 39-4-22. Penalties for violations. 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Every public utility or water supplier pursuant to chapter 15.4 of title 46 [repealed], and all 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | officers and agents thereof, shall obey, observe, and comply with every order of the division made 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | under the authority of chapters 1 — 5 of this title as long as the order shall be and remain in force. 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | Every public utility or water supplier that shall violate any of the provisions of the chapters or that 16 |
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| 40 | 40 | | fails, omits, or neglects to obey, observe, or comply with any order of the division, shall be subject 17 |
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| 41 | 41 | | to a penalty of not less than two hundred dollars ($200) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | LC001351 - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 45 | 45 | | five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each and every offense. Every violation of the order shall be a 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | separate and distinct offense and, in case of a continuing violation, every day’s continuance thereof 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | shall be, and be deemed to be, a separate and distinct offense. Every officer, agent, or employee of 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | a public utility or water supplier who shall violate any of the provisions of the chapters, or who 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | procures, aids, or abets any violation by any public utility or water supplier, or who shall fail to 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | obey, observe, or comply with any order of the division, or any provision of an order of the division, 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | or who procures, aids, or abets any public utility or water supplier in its failure to obey, observe, or 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | comply with any order or provision, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) one thousand dollars 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ($1,000). In construing and enforcing the provisions of this section, the act, omission, or failure of 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | any officer, agent, or other person acting for or employed by any public utility or water supplier, 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | acting within the scope of his or her employment, shall in every case be deemed to be also the act, 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | omission, or failure of the public utility or water supplier. 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | ======== |
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| 60 | 60 | | LC001351 |
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| 62 | 62 | | |
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| 63 | 63 | | |
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| 64 | 64 | | LC001351 - Page 3 of 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 66 | 66 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 67 | 67 | | OF |
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| 68 | 68 | | A N A C T |
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| 69 | 69 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- DUTIES OF UTILITIES AND |
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| 70 | 70 | | CARRIERS |
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| 71 | 71 | | *** |
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| 72 | 72 | | This act would increase the penalties for public utilities for violations of the general law 1 |
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| 73 | 73 | | governing the duties of utilities and carriers. 2 |
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| 74 | 74 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 3 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ======== |
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| 76 | 76 | | LC001351 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ======== |
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