Terminal Tariff Schedule (880-RICR-00-00-3)

Regulation Authority:

R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-64.10-6(d).

Purpose and Reason:

There are two sets of regulations governing the use of the Port of Davisville (the “Port”), 880-RICR-00-00-02, the Rules and Regulations for the Use of the Port of Davisville, Rhode Island, USA Marine Terminals and Associated Facilities (the “Rules”) and 880-RICR-00-003, the Terminal Tariff Schedule (the “Tariff Schedule”).  The Rules are intended to outline the policies and procedures for use of the Port by outside entities, and to outline the Quonset Development Corporation’s (“QDC’s”) powers and responsibilities for enforcement.   The primary revision to the Tariff Schedule updates the fees charged for use of the Port to align the fees with past inflation and the cost of operating the Port.  The revision also removes the fees from narrative in the text and creates a fee table.  Other revisions add fees for off-shore wind vessel types and clarify terms and policies.  Also, QDC identified several instances where policies related to the use of the Port existed in the Tariff Schedule, when they more properly belonged in the Rules, and the use-related language was removed from the Tariff Schedule.

In addition to the removal of a large amount of policy language (for placement in the Rules), other revisions are intended to clarify language, including:

• Removal of extraneous language from definitions.

• Addition of new definitions.

• Revision of language for consistency of use (i.e. consistently using the term “Terminal Tariff Charges” instead of “Port Schedule Charges”).

• Addition of language to clarify the way in which Port Security Charges are billed.

• Addition of language to clarify which vessels are to be charged the existing Port Operations Fee.

The fees for usage of Port facilities have been converted into a table.  In doing this, a large amount of text was removed, and some language was added to point users to the table.

In recent years, the Port has been visited by a large number of off-shore wind-related vessels.  As off-shore wind is a relatively new industry in the United States, fees for off-shore wind vessels were not included in the Tariff Schedule.  The proposed revisions to the Tariff Schedule include a section on fees for off-shore wind vessels.

The proposed tariffs included in the Tariff Schedule have been increased to account for inflation since the Schedule was adopted in 2015. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the not seasonally adjusted CPI-U Northeast saw a 22.29% increase between 2015 and 2023.  QDC is proposing to bring the fee schedule up-to-date over a three-year period, with 7% increases for FY 25, FY 26 and FY 27.  As the off-shore wind vessel charges are a new fee category, the revisions propose to maintain the fees for these vessels through FY 27.

Beginning in FY 28 and for every fiscal year thereafter, the rates will increase by the greater of 2.5% or the change in CPI-U for the previous calendar year.  QDC is to set and publish the new rates prior to the start of each fiscal year and may opt out of the fee increase at its discretion, should the increase not be beneficial to the agency’s economic development mission, as determined by the QDC Board of Directors.