Rhode Island § 46-13-22 - Public Drinking Water Supply

§ 46-13-22. Cross-connection control.

(a) The director is hereby authorized to adopt consistent statewide regulations governing the content of cross-connection control plans and to require that all community public water systems and all non-transient, non-community public water systems prepare a cross-connection control plan. The purpose of these plans shall be to protect the public water system distribution and transmission infrastructure from contamination through cross-connections. All community public water systems and all non-transient, non-community public water systems shall certify to the director that said plan complies with the regulations in accordance with the following schedule:

(1) Community and non-transient, non-community public water systems serving more than five hundred (500) people shall submit certification of compliance no later than June 30, 2011, and implement said plan immediately thereafter.

(2) Community and non-transient, non-community public water systems serving five hundred (500) people or fewer shall submit certification of compliance no later than June 30, 2012, and implement said plan immediately thereafter.

(b) The regulations governing cross-connection control plans adopted by the director shall at a minimum include: the installation of cross-connection control valves at all newly constructed service connections prior to the provision of water service; the installation of cross connection control valves at all commercial and industrial service connections. The installation of cross-connection control devices shall not be made a mandatory condition of a transfer of a residential property that exists as of the effective date of this act [June 27, 2007].

(c) Public water supply systems shall be authorized to terminate water service to any customer who fails to install the appropriate cross-connection control device upon due notice.

(d) The cross-connection control devices required to be installed shall be models approved by the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research of the University of Southern California (FCCCHR, USC), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and/or the American Society of Sanitary Engineers (ASSE).

(e) The director may also adopt and enforce standards including the establishment of fees for certification of persons engaged in cross-connection surveying or backflow prevention, assembly training, repair and maintenance testing.

(f) Any regulations and/or standards promulgated, amended and/or administered pursuant to the provisions of this section shall conform to the requirements of chapter 35 of title 42 (“The Administrative Procedures Act.”)