Rules and Regulations Governing the Administration of Federal Groundfish Disaster Funds– Phase Two Program for Rhode Island

Regulation Authority:

Title 20 and Chapter 42-17.1, and promulgated in accordance with Chapter 42-35 of the Rhode Island General Laws of 1956, as amended.

Purpose and Reason:

The purpose of these rules and regulations is to implement the Rhode Island component of Phase Two of the Consensus Plan for the Distribution of Federal Northeast Multi-species [Groundfish] Fishery Disaster Funds (hereinafter, the Phase Two Program). The three-phase Consensus Plan provides economic relief to mitigate losses resulting from the Northeast Multi-species Fishery Disaster declared by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in September 2012. For this Phase Two Program, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (hereinafter, the Department) will disburse $519,656 in federal aid to assist those engaged in the Rhode Island groundfish community who were significantly adversely affected by the groundfish disaster. The framework for disbursement, which these rules and regulations codify, is set forth in the grant application titled Rhode Island Proposal for Groundfish Relief for 2012 Groundfish Disaster Declaration: Bin 2 – State Disaster Assistance Plan that was approved by NOAA Fisheries on April 29, 2015 (Grant #NA15NMF4540009). Minor language clarifications were made and the application form (to be finalized) was deleted pursuant to the hearing process.