Laws and Programs 



CRMC 



Responsibility for administration of the Coastal Community Assistance 

 Program should be given to CRMC, and should be used to fund local "programs 

 which meet specific standards and selection criteria related to CRMCs mandate and 

 program priorities. 



Responsibility for enforcement of CRMC program requirements should 

 be removed from DEM and given to CRMC. Trained enforcement officers on the 

 CRMC staff need to be available to undertake inspections and other field enforcement 

 duties. 



RIDEM AND CRMC 



In coastal as well as inland areas, DEM and CRMC need to develop an 

 improved method of addressing incremental and cumulative effects of 

 development, which specifically considers the connections between land 

 uses/development impacts and alterations in resource values. The 



methodology should evaluate disturbances and effects, and subsequent impacts on 

 resources, accounting for the multiplicative or interactive effect of separate disturbances. 

 Assessment of cumulative impacts must be very coordinated with monitoring and data 

 management activities, so that optimal use may be made of baseline data and subsequent 

 monitoring results in evaluation. 



Very fundamental policy decisions need to be made as to "how much is too much" for 

 an ecological system so that managers and permit evaluators can make permitting decisions 

 based on resource vulnerability. Other states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have 

 attempted to develop vulnerability indices ftr use in evaluating cumulative impacts. The 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for example, approaches cumulative impact evaluation via 

 its review of the significance of project-induced alterations. 



The methodology developed to address cumulative impact review should be consistent 

 with the recommendations, which concern rationalization of the water use and water quality 

 impact evaluation process between DEM and CRMC. 



Develop guidelines setting specific standards to govern the siting and 

 design of development so as to consider water quality concerns as a basis 

 for siting, operation, and maintenance. 



Utilize the Section 319 Non-point Source Program and the 205(j) Basin 

 Planning framework in establishing priorities and in articulating detailed 

 water quality goals to guide non-point pollution efforts in specific areas. 



Develop a planning process for these selected areas which clearly links defined water 

 quality goals to non-point pollution control programs and requirements. 



Establish a pre-development and post-development water quality 

 monitoring program for use in critical watershed areas and estuarine waters 



along the lines of the 1-99 construction area monitoring effon initiated by DEM and DOT in 

 WoonsockeL Define how water quality measurements will be used in evaluating the 

 adequacy of stormwater, erosion, and sedimentation control measures and facility designs. 

 Define how water quality measures will be used in measuring adequacy of facility 



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