2025 -- S 0781
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LC002421
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S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- AGRICULTURAL FUNCTIO NS OF
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRO NMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Tikoian, DiPalma, Britto, Rogers, and de la Cruz
Date Introduced: March 14, 2025
Referred To: Senate Finance
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 2-1-20 and 2-1-22 of the General Laws in Chapter 2-1 entitled 1
"Agricultural Functions of Department of Environmental Management" are hereby amended to 2
read as follows: 3
2-1-20. Definitions. 4
As used in this chapter; 5
(1) “Area subject to flooding” shall include, but not be limited to, low-lying areas that 6
collect, hold, or meter out storm and flood waters from any of the following: rivers, streams, 7
intermittent streams, or areas subject to storm flowage. 8
(2) “Area subject to storm flowage” includes drainage swales and channels that lead into, 9
out of, pass through, or connect other freshwater wetlands or coastal wetlands, and that carry flows 10
resulting from storm events, but may remain relatively dry at other times. 11
(3) “Bog” means a place where standing or slowly running water is near or at the surface 12
during normal growing season and/or where a vegetational community has over fifty percent (50%) 13
of the ground or water surface covered with sphagnum moss (Sphagnum) and/or where the 14
vegetational community is made up of one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including 15
all of, the following: blueberries, and cranberry (Vaccinium), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne 16
calyculata), pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), sundews (Droseraceae), orchids (Orchidaceae), 17
white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), red maple (Acer rubrum), black spruce (Picae mariana), 18
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bog aster (Aster nemoralis), larch (Laris laricina), bogrosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), azaleas 1
(Rhododendron), laurels (Kalmia), sedges (Caryx), and bog cotton (Eriophorum). 2
(4) “Buffer” means an area of undeveloped vegetated land adjacent to a freshwater wetland 3
that is to be retained in its natural undisturbed condition, or is to be created to resemble a naturally 4
occurring vegetated area. 5
(5) “Department” means the department of environmental management (DEM). 6
(6) “Director” means the director of the department of environmental management or his 7
or her duly authorized agent or agents. 8
(7) “Floodplain” means that land area adjacent to a river or stream or other body of flowing 9
water which is, on the average, likely to be covered with flood waters resulting from a one-hundred 10
(100) year frequency storm. A “one-hundred (100) year frequency storm” is one that is to be 11
expected to be equaled or exceeded once in one hundred (100) years; or may be said to have a one 12
percent (1%) probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. 13
(8) “Freshwater wetlands” includes, but is not limited to, those areas that are inundated or 14
saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration to support, and that under normal 15
circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. 16
Freshwater wetlands includes, but is not limited to: marshes, swamps, bogs, emergent, and 17
submergent plant communities, and for the purposes of this chapter, rivers, streams, ponds, and 18
vernal pools. 19
(9) “Jurisdictional area” means the following lands and waters, as defined herein except as 20
provided for in § 2-1-22(k), that shall be subject to regulation under this chapter: 21
(i) Freshwater wetlands; 22
(ii) Buffers; 23
(iii) Floodplains; 24
(iv) Areas subject to storm flowage; 25
(v) Areas subject to flooding; and 26
(vi) Contiguous areas that extend outward: 27
(A) Two hundred feet (200′) from the edge of a river or stream; 28
(B) Two hundred feet (200′) from the edge of a drinking water supply reservoir; and 29
(C) One hundred feet (100′) from the edge of all other freshwater wetlands. 30
(10) “Marsh” means a place wholly or partly within the state where a vegetational 31
community exists in standing or running water during the growing season and/or is made up of one 32
or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of, the following plants or groups of 33
plants: hydrophytic reeds (Phragmites), grasses (Cramineae), mannagrasses (Glyceria), cutgrasses 34
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(Leersia), pickerelwoods (Pontederiaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), rushes (Juncaceae), cattails 1
(Typha), water plantains (Alismataceae), bur-reeds (Sparganiazceae), pondweeds (Zosteraceae), 2
frog’s bits (Hydrocharitaceae), arums (Araceae), duckweeds (Lemmaceae), water lilies 3
(Nymphaeceae), water-milfoils (Haloragaceae), water-starworts (Callitrichaeceae), bladder-worts 4
(Utricularia), pipeworts (Eriocaulon), sweet gale (Myrica gale), and buttonbush (Cephalanthus 5
occidentalis). 6
(11) “Near or at the surface” mean within eighteen (18) inches of the surface. 7
(12) “Pond” means a place natural or man-made, wholly or partly within the state, where 8
open-standing or slowly moving water is present for at least six (6) months a year. 9
(13) “River” means a body of water designated as a perennial stream by the United States 10
Department of Interior geologic survey on 7.5 minute series topographic maps and that is not a 11
pond as defined in this section. 12
(14) “Setback” means the minimum distance from the edge of a freshwater wetland at 13
which an approved activity or alteration may take place. 14
(15) “Stream” means any flowing body of water or watercourse that flows long enough 15
each year to develop and maintain a channel and that may carry groundwater discharge or surface 16
runoff. 17
(16) “Swamp” means a place, wholly or partly within the state, where ground water is near 18
or at the surface of the ground for a significant part of the growing season or runoff water from 19
surface drainage collects frequently and/or where a vegetational community is made up of a 20
significant portion of one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of, the 21
following: red maple (Acer rubum), elm (Ulmus americana), black spruce (Picea mariana), white 22
cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), ashes (Fraximus), poison sumac (Rhus vernix), larch (Larix 23
laricina), spice bush (Lindera benzoin), alders (Alnus), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), 24
hellebore (Veratrum viride), hemlock (Thuja canadensis), sphagnums (Sphagnum), azaleas 25
(Rhododendron), black alder (Ilex verticillata), coast pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), marsh 26
marigold (Caltha palustris), blueberries (Vaccinium), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), 27
willow (Salicaceae), water willow (Decodon verticillatus), tupelo (Nyssa sylbatica), laurels 28
(Kalmia), swamp white oak (Quercus biscolor), or species indicative of marsh. 29
(17) “Vernal pool” means a depressional wetland basin that typically goes dry in most years 30
and may contain inlets or outlets, typically of intermittent flow. Vernal pools range in both size and 31
depth depending upon landscape position and parent materials. Vernal pools usually support one 32
or more of the following obligate indicator species: wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus), spotted 33
salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum), and fairy 34
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shrimp (Eubranchipus spp.) and typically preclude sustainable populations of predatory fish. 1
(18) “Agricultural land” means land on which agricultural operations are being conducted, 2
or is suitable for agriculture operations, is under the control of a farmer, and has a USDA Farm 3
Tract/Farm Number or the individual farming the land has filed a 1040F U.S. Internal Revenue 4
Form with the Internal Revenue Service and has earned two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) 5
gross income on farm products in the preceding year. 6
(19) “Farm” means a parcel of land or other defined place, together with any attendant 7
buildings, including dwellings, structures, machinery and equipment, tools and supplies, which is 8
used for agriculture operations. 9
(20) “Farmer” means a natural person who is either the owner of a farm or a principal 10
operator of a farm and who engages in agricultural operations. 11
(21) “Agricultural operations” includes any commercial enterprise that has as its primary 12
purpose horticulture and production of field crops of all types, viticulture, viniculture, floriculture, 13
forestry, stabling of horses, dairy farming, or aquaculture, or the raising of livestock, including for 14
the production of fiber, furbearing animals, poultry, or bees, and all such other operations, uses, 15
and activities as the director, in consultation with the chief of division of agriculture, may determine 16
to be agriculture, or an agricultural activity, use or operation. 17
2-1-22. Procedure for approval by director — Notice of change of ownership — 18
Recordation of permit. 19
(a) Application for approval of a project to the director of environmental management shall 20
be made in a form to be prescribed by the director and provided by the director upon request. Prior 21
to the application, a request may be made for preliminary determination as to whether this chapter 22
applies. A preliminary determination shall be made by the director only after an on-site review of 23
the project and the determination shall be made within thirty (30) days of the request. This chapter 24
shall be determined to apply if a significant alteration appears to be contemplated and an application 25
to alter a freshwater wetland, buffer, or floodplain will be required. Within fourteen (14) days after 26
receipt of the completed application accompanied by plans and drawings of the proposed project, 27
the plans and drawings to be prepared by the registered professional engineer to a scale of not less 28
than one inch (1") to one hundred feet (100'), the director shall notify all landowners whose 29
properties are within two hundred feet (200') of the proposed project and the director will also 30
notify the city or town council, the conservation commission, the planning board, the zoning board, 31
and any other individuals and agencies in any city or town within the borders of which the project 32
lies that may have reason, in the opinion of the director, to be concerned with the proposal. The 33
director may also establish a mailing list of all interested persons and agencies who or that may 34
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wish to be notified of all applications. 1
(b) If the director receives any objection to the project within forty-five (45) days of the 2
mailing of the notice of application from his or her office, the objection to be in writing and of a 3
substantive nature, the director shall then schedule a public hearing in an appropriate place as 4
convenient as reasonably possible to the site of the proposed project. The director shall inform by 5
registered mail all objectors of the date, time, place, and subject of the hearing to be held. The 6
director shall further publish notice of the time, place, date, and subject of the hearing in one local 7
newspaper circulated in the area of the project and one statewide newspaper, the notices to appear 8
once per week for at least two (2) consecutive weeks prior to the week during which the hearing is 9
scheduled. The director shall establish a reasonable fee to cover the costs of the investigations, 10
notifications and publications, and hearing and the applicant shall be liable for the fee. 11
(c) If no public hearing is required, or following a public hearing, the director shall make 12
his or her decision on the application and notify the applicant by registered mail and the applicant’s 13
attorney and any other agent or representative of the applicant by mail of this decision within a 14
period of six (6) weeks. If a public hearing was held, any persons who objected, in writing, during 15
the forty-five (45) day period provided for objections shall be notified of the director’s decision by 16
first-class mail. 17
(d) In the event of a decision in favor of granting an application, the director shall issue a 18
permit for the applicant to proceed with the project and shall require the applicant to pay a permit 19
fee of one hundred dollars ($100). The permit may be issued upon any terms and conditions, 20
including time for completion, that the director may require. Permits shall be valid for a period of 21
one year from the date of issue and shall expire at the end of that time unless renewed. A permit 22
may be renewed for up to three (3) additional one-year periods upon application by the original 23
permit holder or a subsequent transferee of the property subject to permit, unless the original permit 24
holder or transferee has failed to abide by the terms and conditions of the original permit or any 25
prior renewal. The director may require new hearings if, in his or her judgment, the original intent 26
of the permit is altered or extended by the renewal application or if the applicant has failed to abide 27
by the terms of the original permit in any way. In addition, in the event a project authorized by a 28
permit was not implemented by the permit holder or transferee because approval of the project by 29
a federal agency, for which application had been timely made, had not been received or a federal 30
agency had stopped the project from proceeding, prior to the expiration of the permit, the permit 31
holder or transferee may apply for a renewal of the permit at any time prior to the tenth (10th) 32
anniversary of the original issuance, and the application shall be deemed to be an insignificant 33
alteration subject to expedited treatment. The request for renewal of a permit shall be made 34
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according to any procedures and form that the director may require. 1
(e) The original permittee or subsequent transferee shall notify the director, in writing, of 2
any change of ownership that occurs while an original or renewal permit is in effect by forwarding 3
a certified copy of the deed of transfer of the property subject to the permit to the director. 4
(f) A notice of permit and a notice of completion of work subject to permit shall be eligible 5
for recordation under chapter 13 of title 34 and shall be recorded at the expense of the applicant in 6
the land evidence records of the city or town where the property subject to permit is located and 7
any subsequent transferee of the property shall be responsible for complying with the terms and 8
conditions of the permit. 9
(g) The director shall notify the person requesting a preliminary determination and the 10
person’s attorney, agent, and other representative of his or her decision by letter, copies of which 11
shall be sent by mail to the city or town clerk, the zoning board, the planning board, the building 12
official, and the conservation commission in the city or town within which the project lies. 13
(h) The director shall report to the general assembly on or before February 1 of each 14
calendar year on his or her compliance with the time provisions contained in this chapter. 15
(i) Normal farming activities shall be considered insignificant alterations and, as normal 16
farming activities, shall be exempted from the provisions of this chapter in accordance with the 17
following procedures: 18
(1) Normal farming and ranching activities are those carried out on agricultural land by 19
farmers as defined in this title, including plowing, seeding, cultivating, land clearing for routine 20
agriculture purposes, harvesting of agricultural products, pumping of existing farm ponds for 21
agricultural purposes, upland soil and water conservation practices, and maintenance of existing 22
farm drainage structures, existing farm ponds and existing farm roads are permissible at the 23
discretion of farmers in accordance with best farm management practices which assure that the 24
adverse effects to the flow and circulation patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of 25
freshwater wetlands are minimized and that any adverse effects on the aquatic environment are 26
minimized. 27
(2) In the case of construction of new farm ponds, construction of new drainage structures, 28
and construction of new farm roads, the division of agriculture shall be notified by the filing of a 29
written application for the proposed construction by the property owner. The application shall 30
include a description of the proposed construction and the date upon which construction is 31
scheduled to begin, which date shall be no earlier than thirty (30) calendar days after the date of 32
the filing of the application. The division of agriculture shall review such applications to determine 33
that they are submitted for agricultural purposes and to ensure that adverse effects to the flow and 34
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circulation patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of freshwater wetlands are 1
minimized and that any adverse effects on the aquatic environment are minimized and will not 2
result in a significant alteration to the freshwater wetlands. Pursuant to this review, the division 3
shall notify the applicant, in writing, whether the proposal is an insignificant alteration. This notice 4
shall be issued not later than thirty (30) days after the date that the application was filed with the 5
division. In the event notice is given by the division as required, the application shall be 6
conclusively presumed to be an insignificant alteration. If no notice is given as required, or if an 7
application is approved as an insignificant alteration, the applicant may cause construction to be 8
done in accordance with the application, and neither the applicant, nor the applicant’s agents or 9
employees who cause or perform the construction in accordance with the application, shall be liable 10
for any criminal, civil, administrative or other fine, fee, or penalty, including restoration costs for 11
violations alleged to arise from the construction. 12
(3) The division of agriculture shall, in coordination with the agricultural council’s 13
advisory committee, adopt regulations for subdivision (i)(2), and shall determine whether a 14
proposed activity, other than an activity listed in subdivision (i)(1), constitutes a normal farming 15
activity, or involves the best farm management practices. In making such a determination, the 16
division of agriculture shall consider the proposed activity on a case-by-case basis, relative to the 17
characteristics of the particular jurisdictional area in which the activity is proposed, and shall 18
consider whether the activity incorporates best farm management practices and ensures that adverse 19
effects to the flow and circulation patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of freshwater 20
wetlands, buffers, and floodplains are minimized and that any adverse effects on the aquatic 21
environment are minimized in each instance. 22
(4) Except as otherwise provided for farm road construction, filling of freshwater wetlands 23
conforms to the provisions of this chapter. 24
(j) For the purposes of this section, a “farmer” is an individual, partnership, or corporation 25
who operates a farm and has filed a 1040F U.S. Internal Revenue Form with the Internal Revenue 26
Service, has a state farm tax number, and has earned ten thousand dollars ($10,000) gross income 27
on farm products in each of the preceding four (4) years. 28
(k) For the purposes of this section as applicable to normal farming and ranching activities 29
specified in §§ 2-1-22(i)(1) and (i)(2) above, freshwater wetlands shall be defined as: freshwater 30
wetlands, floodplains, areas subject to storm flowage, areas subject to flooding as defined in § 2-1-31
20 and the land area within two hundred feet (200′) of a flowing body of water having a width of 32
ten feet (10′) or more during normal flow; the area of land within one hundred feet (100′) of a 33
flowing body of water having a width of less than ten feet (10′) during normal flow; and the area 34
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of land within fifty feet (50′) of a bog, marsh of one acre or greater, swamp of three (3) acres or 1
greater and pond not less than one quarter (¼) acre in extent. These areas shall also serve as the 2
jurisdictional area. 3
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 4
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LC002421
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- AGRICULTURAL FUNCTIO NS OF
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRO NMENTAL MANAGEMENT
***
This act would redefine what constitutes a farm by reducing the amount of revenue from 1
farm products required to be sold from ten thousand ($10,000) to two thousand five hundred dollars 2
($2500). The act would expand the farm to include all agricultural operations, including forestry. 3
This act would take effect upon passage. 4
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LC002421
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