For the second consecutive year, a Tiverton lawmaker is pushing to strip the Coastal Resources Management Council of its authority and hand coastal oversight to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton) introduced legislation this session — bill 2026-H 7996 — that would abolish the CRMC and replace it with a Division of Coastal Resources Management within the DEM. The new division would assume all duties and responsibilities previously held by the council.
“Many of the issues that have plagued CRMC for years — chronic delays in making simple permitting decisions, lack of members and frequent missed/canceled meetings, and the increasing number of flawed decisions being overturned by the courts — are caused by CRMC’s politically appointed board, and can only be solved by a complete overhaul,” Edwards said.
Under the bill, all prior actions taken by the CRMC would remain valid and enforceable by the DEM. The measure would take effect upon passage and has been referred to the House Committee on State Government and Elections.
Edwards introduced nearly identical legislation last session, bill 2025-H 5453, which also sought to fold coastal management into the DEM.
The push to reform or dismantle the CRMC is not new at the State House. The council has faced years of criticism over its composition and decision-making. In 2024, a broader coalition that included Attorney General Peter Neronha, Sen. Victoria Gu and Rep. Terri Cortvriend backed legislation that would have gone further — creating an entirely new, cabinet-level Department of Coastal Resources, rather than folding the function into DEM.
That effort drew support from environmental advocates including Save The Bay, whose executive director called for the “council structure” to be eliminated entirely. The bill was championed by Neronha, who argued the state deserved “a dedicated agency with the organization and expertise to handle complex permitting and enforcement issues.”
The CRMC, a politically appointed part-time board, has jurisdiction over 420 miles of Rhode Island coastline and oversees permitting for everything from offshore wind projects to marina expansions and aquaculture. Critics have long argued its members often lack relevant expertise in coastal, marine or environmental management.