PART 1: LAWS AND PROGRAMS: THE GOVERNANCE SETTING AND 

 REORGANIZATION NEEDS 



1.1 LAWS AND PROGRAMS AFFFCTTNG NARRAGANSETT BAY 

 WATFR nriAIJTY 



Introduction 



In Rhode Island, government institutions concerned with Narragansett Bay pollution 

 and fisheries management have been in place for more than 100 years. Institutions 

 developed in response to emergence of specific problems, and put response-oriented 

 decision-making mechanisms in place. 



With changing program emphasis at the federal level, governing institutions in Rhode 

 Island have undergone a rapid series of changes in emphasis, accompanied by changes in 

 allocation of responsibility and alterations in institutional design. Institutions have 

 responded to the dictates of public concern, to specific crises, to requirements imposed by 

 federal legislation, and to the availability of federal implementation funding. New 

 structural approaches have been built on a longstanding framework. 



The patterns of institutional evolution are of key importance in understanding the issues 

 influencing the functioning of the various involved agencies, their interaction, and the 

 effectiveness of their operations. The Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode 

 Island has devoted-much attention to these issues, fi^om the perspectives of historical 

 development, evolution of authority, response to federal initiatives guiding environmental 

 regulation, and other aspects of political science. These research efforts, and the 

 methodology employed, have been of key importance in informing the process by which 

 estuary governance is evaluated nationwide. 



The present effort draws on the CRC results, but because it is designed as a plan and is 

 of limited scope, has not been based on the rigorous analytical methods employed by 

 political scientists. Conclusions and recommendations have been based on review of 

 available literature sources, task force results, and numerous detailed interviews with 

 officials, agency personnel, academics, task force members, and others close to the issues. 



Note: In all sections of the plan, issues of particular importance are highhghted in 

 bold-face. Recommendations are designated using side-bars. Those of very high 

 immediate priority are denoted with three asterisks; ones of very high near term priority are 

 denoted with two asterisks; ones of high longer term priority, but lower immediate term 

 priority are denoted with one asterisk. All recommendations, however, are considered to 

 be important in meeting program needs. 



Background 



The federal Water Quality Act of 1987 articulated a new policy goal for non-point 

 source control. Section 319 of the Act states that: 



...(7) it is the national policy that programs for the control of non-point sources of 

 pollution be developed and implemented in an expeditious manner so as to enable the goals 

 of this Act to be met through the control of both point and non-point sources of pollution. 



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