By Alex Kuffner — When Catherine Robinson Hall was appointed to a seat on the Coastal Resources Management Council in 2022, she represented something different for the powerful state agency that controls development along the Rhode Island shoreline…

By Emily Brennan — Some state legislators want to restructure the council that oversees Rhode Island’s coastline, but there’s a debate over how it should be reformed.

By Nancy Levin — The embattled Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has had a tough time recruiting new members. The 10-member panel has been four seats shy of a full roster since December — not unusual in recent years. Controversy surrounding the appointed regulatory body did not dissuade Dr. Michael Reuter, a Barrington podiatric surgeon and avid sailor, from seeking an appointment to the council.

By Antonio Noori Farzan — The Coastal Resources Management Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to deny Quidnessett Country Club's attempt to change the rules for its illegal seawall. There was no discussion before the 6-0 vote.

By Alex Nunes — Two lawsuits are challenging a law enacted in 2023 that sets a new definition for the public trust shoreline in Rhode Island

By Alex Kuffner — Attorney General Peter Neronha and others are calling on General Assembly leaders to move forward with legislation that would reform the embattled state agency that regulates coastal development in Rhode Island. 

By Alex Kuffner — …Neronha’s office is working with lawmakers and environmental advocates to try to ensure that more questionable decisions aren’t made by the powerful state agency whose responsibilities range from offshore wind power permitting to climate change planning. 

By Alex Nunes — The increasingly litigious shoreline fire district wants to end a state review that could result in a new beach right-of-way being designated in Westerly.

By Nancy Lavin — The group of coastal taxpayers seeking to stop state agencies from enforcing the new shoreline access law has no grounds to sue.

By Brian Amaral — a lawsuit filed Friday by the Rhode Island Association of coastal taxpayers opens a new chapter in Rhode Island long-running fight over shore access

By Alex Nunes — A group of coastal landowners is asking a federal District Court judge to block enforcement of a new state law intended to clarify where beachgoers can be along the state’s shoreline.

By Antonia Noori Farzan — Coastal property owners have filed a federal lawsuit to overturn Rhode Island's new shoreline-access law. The suit claims that the new legislation, which allows the public to use the shoreline up to 10 feet inland of the seaweed line, amounts to an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment.

By Ryan Blessing — A public hearing on whether Westerly’s Spring Avenue extension should be designated a state public right of way is expected to begin in late June.

By Alex Kuffner — Critics say that little has changed at the contentious state agency that has authority over everything from offshore wind projects to oyster farms along Rhode Island’s 400 miles of coastline.

By Jason Vallee — The Rhode Island Attorney General has returned an opinion to the Coastal Resources Management Council supporting and strongly advising the council to approve and designate Spray Rock Road as a public right of way to the Westerly waterfront.

By Alex Nunes — Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is getting involved in a closely-followed case over a contested right-of-way to the shore in South County.

By Jim Hummel — The Rhode Island Supreme Court has rejected — for a final time — a proposed marina expansion on Block Island, bringing an end to nearly two decades of hearings and litigation over the controversial project.

Interceding in a case raising significant issues involving government transparency in environmental disputes, four organizations recently filed a “friend of the court” brief in Rhode Island Supreme Court in a long-standing controversy involving the proposed expansion of Champlin’s Marina & Resort on Block Island.

By Sofie Rudin — Rhode Island’s coastal agency followed the law when it went into mediation with a Block Island marina owner. That’s the decision released Thursday by Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Lanphear.

By Jim Hummel — The mediated settlement of a controversial marina expansion on Block Island was a common-sense solution to nearly two decades of litigation. Or, it was a secret backroom deal that violated state law and excluded opponents who had fought the proposal every step of the way.