(a)  If any person resident or being in the United States is known to the director as the owner of a vessel, or any interest therein, or as having or exercising any control over the vessel as master, agent, insurer, or otherwise, or, in case of any other unlawful or unauthorized obstruction, as having alone or with others built, deposited, or caused the obstruction, or as owning, maintaining, or using the obstruction in whole or in part, the director shall give notice in writing to the owner or other person to remove the vessel or other obstruction within thirty (30) days of the date of the notice, or such extension of time as may be granted by the director.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 46-6-9

  • Director: means the director of the department of environmental management. See Rhode Island General Laws 46-6-8.1
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Obstruction: means any unlawful or unauthorized structure or thing that is deposited or suffered to be or remain in the tidal waters or upon the tidal lands of the state, and in the judgment of the director, is, or is liable to cause or become an obstruction to the safe and convenient use of the waters and submerged lands of the state for navigation and other lawful purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 46-6-8.1
  • Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, having a property interest in or title to a vessel or other obstruction. See Rhode Island General Laws 46-6-8.1
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
  • Vessel: means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. See Rhode Island General Laws 46-6-8.1

(b)  It shall be deemed a sufficient notice to all owners and other persons, if served upon any one or more of them by the director, or by the director’s order, by delivering the notice in hand, or by leaving it at the usual place of business, residence, or abode, or by duly mailing it to the post office address of the owner or other person on whom the notice is to be served.

(c)  Failure to comply with the notice shall result in a fine of one hundred dollars ($100) per day until the obstruction is removed.

History of Section.
G.L. 1896, ch. 118, § 19; G.L. 1909, ch. 144, § 19; G.L. 1923, ch. 149, § 18; G.L. 1938, ch. 112, § 18; impl. am. P.L. 1939, ch. 660, § 100; G.L. 1956, § 46-6-9; P.L. 1979, ch. 266, § 1.