(a)  The department shall allocate and distribute money from the litter control appropriation, by way of grants or transfers, to eligible persons for the following activities:

(1)  Collecting litter along public streets and highways, on parks and recreation lands, and on or along the waters of the state including, but not limited to, expenditures for a youth corps litter program which is hereby created and which shall employ persons from the state. To facilitate litter collection, the department shall transfer fifty-six thousand two hundred and fifty dollars ($56,250) on July 1, 1993, October 1, 1993, January 1, 1994, April 1, 1994, and every year thereafter, to the Department of Corrections for the purposes of litter pick-up on the state’s highways;

(2)  Establishing or expanding community recycling centers;

(3)  Improving enforcement of litter laws;

(4)  Purchasing litter receptacles, litter bags, collection and pickup equipment, and related materials;

(5)  Designing and publishing a state anti-litter symbol;

(6)  Organizing and conducting educational programs designed to increase public awareness of the litter problem, the need for compliance with anti-litter laws, the need for recycling, and the availability of community recycling centers;

(7)  Conducting initial surveys of the amount and composition of litter on the public places in the state and conducting follow-up surveys to measure the progress of litter reduction and recycling programs; and

(8)  Purchasing and erecting roadside signs indicating the penalties imposed for littering or the availability of community recycling centers.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 37-15-13

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Department: means the department of environmental management. See Rhode Island General Laws 37-15-3
  • Litter: means garbage, trash, waste, rubbish, ashes, cans, bottles, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, automobile parts, furniture, glass, or anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature thrown, dropped, discarded, placed, or deposited by a person on public property, on private property not owned by the person, or in or on waters of the state, unless the person has:

    (i)  Been directed to do so by a public official as part of a litter collection drive;

    (ii)  Discarded, thrown, dropped, placed, or discarded the material in a litter receptacle in a manner that prevented the material from being carried away by the elements; or

    (iii)  Been issued a license or permit covering the material pursuant to chapters 18. See Rhode Island General Laws 37-15-3

  • Program: means those activities of the department to encourage, manage, and fund litter control and recycling pursuant to this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 37-15-3
  • Recycling: means the reuse of recovered resources in manufacturing, agriculture, power production, or other processes. See Rhode Island General Laws 37-15-3
  • town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9

(b)  Any city or town that initiates a program mandating separation of certain forms of garbage, rubbish, or trash (such as newspapers, bottles, and cans) for the purpose of recycling shall be eligible to receive a grant or loan from the litter control account for that program.

(c)  The department shall not use any funds for the purpose of replacing any litter pickup or rubbish removal activity presently performed by the department.

(d)  The department of transportation shall continue to be responsible for the removal of litter from all state highways.

History of Section.
P.L. 1984, ch. 251, § 2; P.L. 1993, ch. 138, art. 74, § 1; P.L. 1995, ch. 370, art. 40, § 114.