Save The Bay’s 2025 Legislative Priorities
by Jed Thorp, director of advocacy
The Rhode Island General Assembly’s 2025 Legislative Session is underway, and Save The Bay is once again championing policies that will protect and improve Narragansett Bay, while defending the Bay against legislation that could cause harm. We are excited to work with legislators and other state leaders on several initiatives, including our 2025 legislative priorities.
Reforming CRMC
In 2024, the General Assembly failed again to enact significant reform of Rhode Island’s important, but troubled, Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). Created in 1972 “to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, restore the coastal resources of the state,” CRMC plans and regulates aquaculture, offshore wind energy, shoreline access, docks, marinas and the permitting of all development within 200 feet of the coast.
While CRMC’s respected, professional staff use their expertise to review development proposals impacting our coastal resources, their findings are only recommendations to a politically-appointed Council whose members are not required to have any expertise on coastal matters. Numerous controversial decisions in recent years have shown that the Council often violates its own rules and, in many cases, does not follow the recommendations of CRMC staff. Council meetings are frequently canceled due to a lack of quorum, which unnecessarily delays permitting decisions and increases costs for applicants and the state.
Our coastal resources deserve a decision-making body that is knowledgeable, efficient, and politically accountable. Save The Bay has long advocated for removing the politically-appointed Council, and we remain determined to work with our allies to reform the CRMC in the 2025 legislative session
Tackling Plastics
Plastic pollution is a growing problem in Narragansett Bay, with beverage containers (and beverage container pieces) among the most collected items during shoreline cleanups. A recent study from the University of Rhode Island estimates that there are now roughly 1,000 tons of microplastic in the bottom sediment of the Bay.
Save The Bay, along with nearly every other environmental and conservation organization in the state, has called for Rhode Island to adopt a recycling refund system for beverage containers (also known as a ’bottle bill’) to help reduce one of the most common forms of litter and marine debris. While the General Assembly has yet to pass such legislation, they did create a special joint legislative study commission in 2023 to closely examine the problem of plastic bottle waste and potential solutions. Save The Bay has served on the study commission over the past year alongside environmental advocates, regulators, legislators and representatives from various parts of the beverage industry. After hearing from a series of local and national experts, and looking at data from states and countries with deposit return systems, it’s even more apparent that a bottle bill is the single most effective policy we could adopt to reduce litter and marine debris from beverage containers.
The study commission’s deadline for recommendations to the General Assembly has been extended to April 2025. A new version of the RI bottle bill will be introduced this year. Save The Bay will be working with coalition partners and legislative allies to make 2025 the year Rhode Island finally joins our neighbors in the region and passes a bottle bill to reduce beverage container litter.
Other Legislation
Save The Bay will once again have a close eye on the Governor’s budget, as well as other pieces of legislation that may impact the Bay and surrounding watershed as they emerge throughout the session. While we’re ready to jump into action this session, we can’t make progress alone! You can help us achieve these legislative priorities by signing up for our Action Alerts, which provide important updates and easy-to-use guidance on communicating with your elected officials. We hope you’ll join us by using your voice to protect Narragansett Bay!