In a time of rapidly shifting priorities on environmental and climate policies, our attorneys recently attended the Environmental Business Council’s annual R.I. Department of Environmental Management update, where leaders from across RIDEM spoke about the issues confronting their teams, and the State’s environmental and climate priorities.
R.I. DEM Priorities
DEM’s leaders addressed their many priorities of which a few key highlights include stormwater management, climate change and resilience and PFAS.
Stormwater Management: RIDEM expects stormwater permitting requirements to become effective in mid-2025 for certain commercial and industrial properties with over one acre of impervious cover in the Mashapaug Pond watershed in the Providence-Cranston area, and RIDEM plans to begin preliminary stakeholder engagement later this year.
Climate Change and Resilience: Rhode Island’s Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4) is beginning to develop the State’s 2025 Climate Action Strategy. This process is the next step in the implementation of the 2021 RI Act on Climate’s requirement that the state – through the EC4 – develop plans to incrementally reduce climate emissions to net-zero by 2050. The EC4 is made up of 13 State agencies focused on implementing policies to achieve Rhode Island’s goals for resiliency and sustainability established in the 2021 Act on Climate. The EC4 is accepting public comments on the 2025 Climate Action Strategy and clients interested in participating can submit comments here.
PFAS: RIDEM continues to be focused on its state-wide PFAS source investigation program. RIDEM is partnering with the RI Department of Health to test for PFAS in public water systems, rolling out voluntary testing for private water systems, and continues to investigate dumps/landfills and fire stations for PFAS. As a reminder to clients, RIDEM implemented new groundwater and surface water PFAS contamination limits in December 2023.
R.I. Environmental and Climate Legislation Update
In addition to Rhode Island’s regulatory priorities outlined by DEM, the General Assembly also passed a handful of key laws impacting environmental and climate issues in 2024 including the Consumer PFAS Ban Act of 2024, Energy Storage Systems Act, and the Renewable Ready Program.
Consumer PFAS Ban Act of 2024: The General Assembly passed into law (S 2152 Sub A / H 7356 Sub A) a ban on the manufacture, sale, or distribution of many consumer products, including furniture, furnishings, and apparel, that contain intentionally added PFAS after January 1, 2027. In addition, the law bans artificial turf and certain outdoor apparel containing PFAS after January 1, 2029, and limits the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS after January 1, 2025. The legislation grants authority to RIDEM to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the laws and provides for monetary penalties for violators.
Energy Storage Systems Act: The Act (S 2499 Sub A / H 7811aa) establishes energy storage capacity goals for the state, ratcheting up from 90MW by December 31, 2026; to 195MW by December 31, 2028; and 600MW by December 31, 2033. The Act also instructs the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank to develop funding programs to support the energy storage goals outlined in The Act, and directs the Public Utilities Commission to establish a distribution and tariff framework for energy storage.
Renewable Ready Program: With the passage of the Renewable Ready bill, (S 2293 Sub A / H 7616 Sub A) the General Assembly set out to improve the development of solar energy generation on brownfield sites, government building rooftops, and roadway rights of way – instead of in forested areas – by requiring the Office of Energy Resources and RIDEM to identify state and municipality owned property eligible for extra funding assistance. The law also establishes this funding program to help offset the costs of preparing eligible sites for renewable energy development, seeking to also take advantage of federal funding opportunities.
Conclusion
In light of these State priorities, and with the change in presidential administrations likely to bring a shift in Federal environmental and climate policies, many clients may feel the need to review their own compliance programs and development plans. While diverging state and federal priorities may contribute additional complexity to your business, active engagement with environmental and climate policies can provide clients with the opportunity to create competitive advantages when handled efficiently and effectively.
Please contact us if you have questions on any of the topics in this blog post, or any other questions about how environmental and climate policies may impact your business. Our team of attorneys are equipped to assist clients with navigating the shifting grounds of State and Federal environmental and climate policies.
