The purpose of these Rules and Regulations is to establish both the procedures whereby applications for reimbursement for improvements in boating infrastructure may be submitted to the Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the standards under which such applications may be considered in order to determine which applications should be awarded partial reimbursement from funds made available to the State of Rhode Island from the Federal government pursuant to the National Boating Infrastructure Grant Program 50 C.F.R. § 86 (2017).

These Rules and Regulations are promulgated pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 42-17.1, and in accordance with the R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 42-35, the Administrative Procedures Act.

In order to properly implement an established federal program to provide funding assistance for the boating infrastructure program, the Division of Fish and Wildlife is required to adopt these Rules and Regulations to establish the procedures whereby applications for reimbursement for improvements in boating infrastructure may be submitted to the Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the standards under which such applications may be considered.

The terms and provisions of these Rules and Regulations shall be liberally construed to permit the Division to effectuate the purposes of state law, and the goals, and policies of the National Boating Infrastructure Grant Program 50 C.F.R. § 86 (2017).

These regulations hereby adopt and incorporate 50 C.F.R § 86 (2017) by reference, not including any further editions or amendments thereof and only to the extent that the provisions therein are not inconsistent with these regulations.

A. In addition to those definitions set forth in 50 C.F.R. § 86.12, the following definition shall be adopted for terms employed in these Rules and Regulations:

1. "Department" means the Department of Environmental Management.

2. "Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Management.

3. "Division" means the Division of Fish and Wildlife of the Department of Environmental Management.

4. "Tier I projects" means at 50 C.F.R. § 86.53(d)(1).

5. "Tier II projects" means at 50 C.F.R. § 86.53(d)(2).

If any provision of these Rules and Regulations, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the validity of the remainder of the Rules and Regulations shall not be affected thereby.

A. Proposals for Reimbursement

1. The Department of Environmental Management Division of Fish and Wildlife incorporates by reference and hereby adopts the regulations published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2001 and promulgated by the United States Department of Interior in order to establish the National Boating Infrastructure Grant Program, 50 C.F.R. § 86 (2017).

B. Standards for Consideration of Proposal

1. The standards for the Department’s consideration and ranking of applications for the awarding of reimbursement grants for Tier I projects shall be those standards and rankings which were adopted by the Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service for consideration and ranking of Tier II projects pursuant to 50 C.F.R. § 86.60.

C. Compliance Obligations

1. In order to be issued a reimbursement grant, an applicant is required to execute a copy of the “Rhode Island Boating Infrastructure Grant Program Grant Award Agreement."

D. Appeals Process

1. Applicants for grant reimbursement and respondents who may be the object of enforcement actions by the Division who alleged noncompliance with the Rhode Island Boating Infrastructure Grant Program Grant Award Agreement, may request a hearing before the Department’s Administrative Adjudication Division if such request is filed with the Administrative Adjudication Division within the time period provided pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-17.7-9.