Rhode Island § 20-10-6 - Aquaculture

§ 20-10-6. Leases.

(a) The CRMC, in accordance with chapter 6 of title 37, is authorized and empowered, when it shall serve the purposes of this chapter, to lease the land submerged under the coastal waters of the state, including any coastal ponds or estuaries to coastal rivers, and the water column above those submerged lands, to an applicant who has been granted an aquaculture permit pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; provided, that the CRMC finds that a lease giving the applicant exclusive use of the submerged lands and water column, including the surface of the water, is necessary to the effective conduct of the permitted aquaculture activities.

(b) Those leases shall be granted for a term concurrent with the term of the aquaculture permit and may be renewed from time to time upon renewal of the aquaculture permits.

(c) Those leases shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the aquaculture permit, and any renewal of the permit, and the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted under this chapter. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the permit or renewal, or the provisions of this chapter, or the rules and regulations adopted under this chapter, shall be grounds for termination of the lease at the discretion of the CRMC.

(d) Any assignment or sublease of the whole or any part of the area subject to lease shall constitute a breach of the lease and constitute cause for the termination of the lease, unless that assignment or subletting has received the prior approval of the CRMC.