Rhode Island § 39-3-40 - Regulatory Powers of Administration

§ 39-3-40. Storage, transportation, and distribution of gas — Regulation — Penalties.

(a) In regulating the storage, transportation, and distribution of gas, and the pressure under which these operations may respectively be carried on, the division of public utilities and carriers may ascertain, determine, and fix adequate and serviceable standards for the measurement of quality, pressure, or other condition pertaining to the performing of its service, or to the furnishing of its product or commodity, by any gas storage, transportation, and distribution facility, and prescribe reasonable regulations for examination and testing of such service, product, or commodity.

(b)(1) Any person, firm, or corporation who or that violates any provision of any code adopted by the division pertaining to the safety of pipeline facilities and the transportation of gas, or of any regulation or rule thereunder, at a time when the division has submitted to and has in effect the annual certification from the United States Secretary of Transportation provided for in § 5(a) of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, as amended (see § 60101 et seq. of Title 49 of the United States Code), shall be subject to civil penalties as specified in 49 U.S.C. § 60122(a), as amended. To provide adequate protection against risks to life and property posed by pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities, the division shall possess the authority to adopt any of the safety standards for pipeline transportation and for pipeline facilities that are contained in 49 U.S.C. § 60101 et seq.

(2) Any such penalty shall be determined by the division. In determining the amount of the penalty, the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of the person, firm, or corporation charged; the gravity of the violation; and the good faith of the person, firm, or corporation charged in attempting to achieve compliance after notification of a violation; shall be considered. The amount of the penalty, where finally determined, may be deducted from any sums that the state may owe to the person, firm, or corporation charged or may be recovered in a civil action commenced in the state courts.