The general assembly finds and declares:

(1)  Marine transportation in the state depends on adequate depth in waterways and harbors to permit the safe passage and operation of vessels.

(2)  Recreational and commercial boating depends on the availability of channels, harbors, marinas, and mooring areas with adequate depth to permit the safe passage, movement, mooring, docking, servicing and operating vessels.

(3)  Coastal features, such as salt ponds, can be impaired as habitat if channels and breachways do not allow adequate water circulation.

(4)  Dredging and appropriate dredged material management and disposal are in the interest of the state in order to protect public health and safety, to enhance environmental quality, and to preserve the recreational opportunities and promote the economic well-being of the people of the state.

(5)  General assembly recognizes and declares that the coastal resources of Rhode Island, a rich variety of natural, commercial, industrial, recreational, and aesthetic assets, are of immediate and potential value to the present and future development of this state; that unplanned or poorly planned development of this basic natural environment has already damaged or destroyed, or has the potential of damaging or destroying, the state’s coastal resources, and has restricted the most efficient and beneficial utilization of these resources; that it shall be the policy of this state to preserve, protect, develop, and, where possible, restore the coastal resources of the state for this and succeeding generations through comprehensive and coordinated long range planning and management designed to produce the maximum benefit for society from these coastal resources; and that preservation and restoration of ecological systems shall be the primary guiding principle upon which environmental alteration of coastal resources will be measured, judged, and regulated.