Local Dam Management Districts

Volume I Chapter 3. Hydropower Rhode Island Renewable Energy Siting Partnership incentives foster distributed generation, net metering, interconnection, and tax incentives. These incentives apply to multiple forms of renewable energy, including hydropower, and are discussed in detail in Chapter 1, Section 5 of this report. In addition, Rhode Island offers a tax credit to hydroelectric power developers to help offset the costs of hydropower equipment installation R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-20. Small hydroelectric power production facilities defined as facilities with 15,000 kW of installed capacity constructed on existing dams defined as dams built before May 20, 1981 not requiring construction or enlargement of the impoundment in order to generate hydroelectric energy are eligible for the credit. The tax credit is calculated according to the installation costs associated with the project. The credit may equal no more than 10 percent of the installation costs associated with the facility, or 500,000 in expenditures, for a maximum income tax credit of 50,000 dollars. 4.3 Rhode Island Municipal Ordinances S ECTION S UMMARY  Municipalities may establish dam management districts DMDs to manage the services provided by dams and the possible risks posed by dams that no longer serve a purpose. Two DMDs have been established in Rhode Island: the Boone Lake DMD in Exeter and the Pascoag ReservoirEcho Lake DMD in Burrillville and Glocester. Hydropower projects proposed within a DMD should consult with these entities.  Rhode Island’s Soil Erosion and Sediment Control law includes a model ordinance that may be adopted by municipalities to control erosion. South Kingstown, Providence, Cranston and Cumberland have passed soil erosion and sediment control ordinances. Hydropower construction activities in these locations must comply with the requirements of these ordinances if they are expected to result in erosion.

4.3.1 Local Dam Management Districts

Rhode Island law allows for the creation of dam management districts DMDs through municipal ordinances “to protect the values that dams provide, or mitigate the risk posed by dams that no longer serve any useful purpose R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-62- 1.” Municipalities may create more than one DMD per city or town; conversely, several municipalities may create one or more DMDs jointly. DMDs are legally constituted as corporations and are administratively separate from municipalities and the state. They may encompass all or part of the municipalities that establish them. An ordinance establishing a DMD must set forth the boundaries of the DMD, provide for governance and administration of the DMD, and establish requirements for annual reporting by the DMD to the municipality. It is within the purview of a DMD to improve dam safety though dam repairs, maintenance, management andor removal; to undertake public education programs to inform Page 287 Volume I Chapter 3. Hydropower Rhode Island Renewable Energy Siting Partnership residents of the district about procedures for proper maintenance and operation of dams; to caution residents about the implications for failing to meet accepted dam safety practices; and to raise funds for the expenses associated with the operation of the DMD. Two DMDs have been created in Rhode Island since the enactment of the statute. The Boone Lake DMD was created by Exeter in 2007 to collect money for the costs of maintaining and repairing State Dam No. 219 Town of Exeter 2007. The Pascoag ReservoirEcho Lake DMD was created by Burrillville and Glocester in 2009 to apportion the costs of maintenance and repair among the owners of property within the DMD, which includes Pascoag ReservoirEcho Lake and the properties which have direct access to the lake Pascoag ReservoirEcho Lake Dam Management District 2010.

4.3.2 Soil Erosion Ordinances