Controversial coastal council, hampered by vacancies, could soon have a new member
There may soon be a new face on the powerful coastal regulatory council that oversees everything from beach access to offshore wind turbines to oyster farms.
On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture voted unanimously to advance the nomination of longtime Cranston lawyer Stephen Izzi to the Coastal Resources Management Council.
With at least two vacant seats, the council has been forced to cancel meetings because not enough members have been available for a quorum. Additionally, a number of members' terms have expired.
The appointed council has been dogged with accusations of insider deals in recent years, and there's been talk of eliminating it altogether. The CRMC is unlike any other agency in Rhode Island: It has a director and a staff made up of professionals with expertise in relevant fields, but major decisions are left up to the volunteer council, which is composed of political appointees who may not have any familiarity with coastal issues.
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Over the past year, a special House commission chaired by Rep. Deb Ruggiero, D-Jamestown, discussed ways to potentially revamp the agency. Among the proposals: reduce the appointed council's authority, so that it only has an advisory role.
In the meantime, however, the number of empty seats on the council has meant that decisions are being postponed for months.
Noting the number of vacancies and members with expired terms, Save the Bay's director of advocacy, Topher Hamblett, praised "a solid nomination by the governor" on Tuesday. He noted that Izzi has experience in environmental law, in addition to other kinds of law.
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"As long as the council structure still exists as it does, expertise should be important criteria," Hamblett testified. "The council certainly needs an attorney, and one that has practiced environmental law before."
Izzi would be replacing Joy Montanaro, a dental hygienist from Cranston who currently holds one of the seats reserved for a member of the public from a coastal community. The secretary of state's website indicates that Montanaro was appointed in 2013 to a term expiring in 2016.
Izzi also lives in Cranston, which has about three and a half miles of shoreline. He described himself on Tuesday as an attorney with expertise in land use and development, and described protection from sea-level rise as a major concern.
Sen. Meghan Kallman, D-Pawtucket, noted that the CRMC has "had something of a fraught relationship with some members of the Rhode Island community" in recent years.
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"You’re absolutely right," Izzi replied. "Conflicts in the use of these resources, these valuable resources, are inevitable. I think by hearing everyone’s position and doing our best through expert testimony, new technology, we can bring parties together and try to use the resources we have to the benefit of everyone."
He added: "I read the papers. I know, kind of, what the controversies are ... whether it’s shellfishing or oyster farming or recreational boating. Everyone wants to use the Bay at the same time, and it’s a question of balancing. And that’s what the council is there for."
Rep. Arthur Handy and Sen. Joshua Miller, both Cranston Democrats, were among those who came out in support of Izzi's nomination, saying they had known him and his family a long time.
"When appropriate, we would ask that yourself and other CRMC members advocate for a full board of people who are as appropriate as you are to be sitting on the CRMC," Miller said.
"I do have a connection with the governor's office, and I will speak to them about making a full complement of the CRMC," Izzi agreed. "I think it’s necessary."
The CRMC is supposed to have 10 members, with one seat reserved for the director of the Department of Environmental Management.
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A list available on the agency's website, dated March 2022, lists only six members in addition to the DEM director. The secretary of state's website indicates that the terms of all but one of those members have expired.
As the Providence Business News first reported, three out of eight full council meetings this year have been cancelled, often due to the lack of the six people needed for a quorum. Five of nine scheduled subcommittee meetings have also been cancelled.
Among the items on hold is an application from Perry Raso, the owner of Matunuck Oyster Farm, to expand his shellfish-growing operation in South Kingstown's Potter Pond. In November, a CRMC subcommittee recommended rejecting the application.
The full council was scheduled to take up the matter in February, but that meeting was cancelled and the vote was pushed back to April. The April meeting was also cancelled, and has not been rescheduled.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI CRMC: Senate panel approves nomination of lawyer Stephen Izzi
