ecoRI News — Series of Bills Would Revamp Ocean State’s Coastal Management Agency

The Coastal Resources Management Council was created in 1971 to manage coastal development along Rhode Island’s 400-plus miles of shoreline, including the beachfront town of Westerly. (Frank Carini/ecoRI News)

April 24, 2023

By Rob Smith / ecoRI News Staff — PROVIDENCE — The calls for reforming the state’s coastal management agency are growing stronger in the General Assembly.

Last week, members of the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee heard a package of five bills to overhaul the Coastal Resources Management Council, the regulatory agency responsible for permitting offshore wind, aquaculture, and development along Rhode Island’s more than 400 miles of coastline.

Unusually for state agencies, CRMC’s final decision-making authority lies with a 10-member council, on which nine seats are appointed by the governor, and the council has no coastal policy expertise requirements for its members. Members representing specific communities are required to be appointed or elected officials within that community, although that rule often hasn’t been enforced.

As a result, the council has attracted increased scrutiny over its decisions in recent years.

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