Copyright 2005 Providence Publications, LLC
The Providence Journal (Rhode Island)
January 23, 2005 Sunday
All Editions
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. C-01

LENGTH: 1612 words

HEADLINE: Rhode Island coastal regulator braces for change

BYLINE: PETER B. LORD, Journal Environment Writer

BODY:


The passage of the separation-of-powers measure may mean major changes in the membership of the Coastal Resources Management Council. But the exact impact is still being determined.

The next meeting of the Coastal Resources Management Council is Tuesday night, and this may be the last time all 16 members work together. But who replaces them and how this critical regulatory agency will be governed remain open questions.

Established 34 years ago and responsible for nearly everything that affects Rhode Island's shoreline, the General Assembly gave itself power to name eight of the members and the sitting governor the other eight.

That all changed with the voters' approval of separation of powers in November.

Or did it?

The measure barred legislators from serving on executive boards. Two weeks ago, Governor Carcieri appointed eight new commissioners to replace those who were representing the General Assembly.

But the appointments require Senate approval. The Senate Judiciary Committee, to which the appointments were referred, has scheduled no hearings.

And at least one of the appointees, Anna Prager, worries that she'll face opposition in the Senate.

Meanwhile, House Speaker William Murphy has not given up on thoughts of exempting CRMC from the separation-of-powers measure.

"CRMC, we're taking a look at. . . . I can't tell you right this minute exactly how we're going to proceed, but when we look at the Constitution, it says natural resources come under the charge of the legislature," Murphy said Wednesday. "Everything's on the table right now. We plan to meet within the next week with the Senate to go over the areas we agree on, and we should have an answer for you very shortly."

FOUR CRMC members are serving in the General Assembly; they resigned after voters approved separation of powers. The other four who were appointed by the legislature are expected to continue serving until the Senate approves their replacements.

What is certain is that the new commissioners will get a crash education in Rhode Island coastal issues and an opportunity to wield a lot of power. On a given evening, the council may get to say yes or no to construction of a dream house, installation of a dock, or dredging that may be critical for the operation of a marina.

The council, with just 26 full-time employees, supervised the recently completed $45-million Providence River dredging project and has just launched a $4.1-million restoration program at Ninigret Pond in Charlestown. It has completed master plans governing the use of major bodies of water such as Greenwich Bay, and it has designated hundreds of rights of way to the shore. It regulates vehicles using the beaches and licenses every dock on the coast.

The CRMC is one of the reasons Rhode Island's shoreline does not look like Myrtle Beach or Miami Beach.

"Most people do not know what CRMC is all about," says Michael Tikoian, the council's chairman, who works as an accountant in Providence. "We are much more than an agency that permits docks and buildings."

THE COUNCIL has always led a contentious life. Not only has it often been the object of criticism from those who say it favors developers, but Carcieri, as part of his Fiscal Fitness program, is considering folding it into the much larger Department of Environmental Management, according to spokesman Jeff Neal.

Fourteen years ago, with critics complaining that CRMC approved far too many condominiums and houses, then-Governor Edward D. DiPrete also lobbied for a merger with DEM.

It never happened. CRMC enjoyed great support in the General Assembly, which created it in 1971 following recommendations by a small group of businessmen and environmental leaders. It was an era when leaders at the national level were addressing environmental concerns by creating the Environmental Protection Agency and by passing the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Rhode Island's CRMC was the nation's first coastal environmental regulatory agency.

DEM is an arm of the executive branch and has had some powerful critics in the legislature.

Also, CRMC receives much of its money and support from one federal agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Many of the laws DEM enforces and much of the money it receives are derived from a different federal source, the U.S. EPA.

A key concept in the creation of CRMC was to have a group representing diverse interests voting on development proposals rather than a single person, as happens at DEM.

IN ITS EARLY years, the council was criticized for approving far more applications than it rejected, and for having too little staff to enforce its own regulations.

In 1984, the council hired its first professional director, Grover Fugate. Fugate reports to commissioners and the chairman, who are unpaid volunteers. He is still there, and under his tenure, complaints about CRMC have lessened.

But controversies haven't disappeared entirely. In 2001, the council voted to exempt CVS chairman Thomas Ryan from CRMC rules that would have required him to establish a vegetated buffer between his new $1.6-million house and the ocean at Anawan Cliffs in Narragansett. CRMC Vice Chairman Robert Ellis Smith called it "a real deviance from our past decisions."

Last year, CRMC approved a boating club on Little Compton's Sakonnet Point that was bitterly opposed by many residents who preferred keeping the point fully open for public use. Some complained the council violated its own rules.

The biggest issue before the CRMC is the proposal to expand Champlin's Marina on Block Island. Block Islanders have fought this all the way to the state Supreme Court to keep jurisdiction over the marina local, but the court ruled that CRMC would have the final say on coastal issues such as the marina.

At one public hearing on Block Island, local residents demanded that CRMC give them a fair hearing.

No one can complain that they didn't get a long hearing. A CRMC subcommittee has been listening to testimony for more than a year. Carcieri's appointments will knock off two of the subcommittee members, Gerald P. Zarrella Sr. and Thomas Ricci. But two remain, Paul Lemont and Jerry Sahagian. Tikoian says even one subcommittee member would be sufficient to keep the hearings going and collect further testimony. So reducing the panel to two should not stop the hearings.

When lawyers for the marina and its opponents are done, Lemont and Sahagian will be expected to reach a series of "findings" and submit a written recommendation to the full council.

Following past practice, Tikoian says he will insist that only council members who have read the hearing transcripts participate in the final vote.

The transcript, as of this month, is 2,500 pages long.

Current CRMC members have been reading transcripts as the hearings continued. New members will have to do a lot of reading to catch up.

THE NEW APPOINTMENTS require the consent of the state Senate. Tikoian says his legal advisers say no appointments are effective without Senate consent.

Save the Bay praised Carcieri for making the appointments and sending a strong message to General Assembly leaders that the CRMC should not be exempt from the separation-of-powers measure.

"The CRMC plays a critically important role in reaching the goals for the protection and health of Narragansett Bay enshrined in the legislation of 2004," says Save the Bay executive director Curt Spalding.

Carcieri's appointments establish clear lines of authority to the governor, Spalding says. The legislature can continue to provide oversight.

One current commissioner, Zarrella, was not happy to learn of his replacement through a story in The Journal.

"If he's the governor, and he purports to represent all of Rhode Island, he needs to show some compassion," Zarrella said in an interview. "He might as well have had Donald Trump come down here and tell us we were fired. None of us got so much as a letter. The least he could have done was to say to the members who were being replaced, 'I thank you for your hard work."'

Zarrella says Block Islanders and the Champlin's owners spent tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers for the hearings and he fears the process is being hurt by the subcommittee changes.

One other commissioner whose future is in question is DEM Acting Director Frederick Vincent. The DEM director, or his designee, has a seat on the commission. Vincent has been filling in at DEM for 14 months -- since Jan Reitsma resigned.

Carcieri is expected to select a permanent director within a month, according to Neal. The governor has looked at a number of candidates, Neal says, and Vincent is one.

Tikoian says all he can do is to keep the agency running as best he can. "As far as separation-of-power issues, I leave that up to the appointing bodies."

With reports from State House bureau reporter Liz Anderson.

Who's who

* Current CRMC commissioners previously appointed by the governor:

Michael M. Tikoian, chairman

Paul E. Lemont, vice chairman

Jerry Sahagian

Joseph R. Paolino

Raymond C. Coia

Neill Gray

Fred Vincent

Outgoing legislative appointees:

Gerald P. Zarrella

David Abedon

Thomas Ricci

K. Joseph Shekarchi

Resigned legislators:

Sen. Susan Sosnowski

Sen. Daniel Daponte

Rep. Eileen Naughton

Rep. Jan P. Malik

Governor's new appointees:

William F. Meyer

Paul Hansen

Anna F. Prager

Leslie M. Gray III

Janice Williams Oliver

Cynthia Fuller

Carol Hueston

Cristina T. Harsch

Additional governor's appointee awaiting confirmation:

Bruce H. Dawson

The proposal to expand Champlin's Marina on Block Island, shown here in March, is one of the biggest issues before the Coastal Resources Management Council. The CRMC has the final say on whether to approve the proposal.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO / JOHN FREIDAH