H 8613

2026 -- H 8613
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 LC006560
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  STATE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND
  IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
  JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
  ____________
  AN ACT
  RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- FARMLAND PRESERVATION
  ACT
  Introduced By: Representatives Lima, Costantino, Read, and Cotter
  Date Introduced: June 04, 2026
  Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing
 It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1SECTION 1. Section 42-82-16 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-82 entitled "Farmland
2 Preservation Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:
342-82-16. Charges for utility extension.
4(a) No city, town, quasi-municipal corporation, or public corporation may assess the owner
5 of an agricultural operation having frontage on a public roadway for the extension of water and
6 sewer utilities past the property.
7(b)"Connection fees", for purposes of this section, mean any impact fee or connection fee
8 or any other fee designed to circumvent the prohibition contained in this section. "Connection fee"
9 shall not include any administrative, overhead, or equipment fee or the construction costs related
10 to extension of or connection to a water main.
11(c) No city, town, quasi-municipal corporation or public corporation shall assess the owner
12 of an agricultural operation as defined in § 2-23-4, or agricultural land as defined in § 42-82-2, in
13 existence as of July 1, 2026 and having frontage on a public roadway, a connection fee for the
14 extension of water utilities past the property. The protection afforded by this section shall be null
15 and void and the assessments made if the owner of the agricultural operation develops or sells to
16 other than a qualifying agricultural operation the property or farmland.
17(b)(d) The owner of the agricultural operation may only be charged for the extension of
18 sewer utilities if the owner has requested the utility extension. The agricultural operation may tie
1 into any sewer utility extension made past that property for the normal cost of tie-in and no cost for
2 the infrastructure improvement except for its base usable charge. The protection afforded by this
3 section shall be null and void and the assessments made if the owner of the agricultural operation
4 develops or sells to other than a qualifying agricultural operation the property or farmland within
5 twenty (20) years of the date the utility extensions were operational.
6SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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  EXPLANATION
  BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
  OF
  AN ACT
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- FARMLAND PRESERVATION
  ACT
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1This act would prohibit any city, town, quasi-municipal corporation or public corporation
2 from assessing any existing agricultural operation or agricultural land for the extension of any water
3 utilities past the property and from imposing any connection fee.
4This act would take effect upon passage.
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