§ 46-12.7-4.1. Uniform oil response and prevention fee. (a) A uniform oil spill response and prevention fee in an amount not exceeding five cents ($.05) for each barrel of petroleum products, as set by the director pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, shall be imposed upon every person owning petroleum products at the time the petroleum products are received at a marine terminal within this state by means of a vessel from a point of origin outside this state. The fee shall be remitted to the division of taxation on the 30th day of each month based upon the number of barrels of petroleum products received during the preceding month.

(b) Every owner of petroleum products shall be liable for the fee until it has been paid to the state, except that payment to a marine terminal operator registered under this chapter is sufficient to relieve the owner from further liability for the fee; provided, however, that the fee for asphalt products and asphalt derivatives shall be one cent ($.01) per barrel of asphalt products or derivatives.

(c) Whenever the director, in consultation with the department and the division of taxation, estimates that the amount in the fund will reach the amount specified in subsection (e) of this section, and the money in the fund is not required for the purposes specified in § 46-12.7-5.1, the director shall instruct the division of taxation to cease collecting the fee.

(d) The director shall set the amount of the oil spill prevention and response fees. The administrator, except for the fee set out in subsection (b), shall not set the amount of the fee at less than five cents ($0.05) for each barrel of petroleum products or crude oil, unless the director finds that the assessment of a lesser fee will cause the fund to reach the designated amount within six (6) months.

(e) For the purposes of this chapter, "designated amount" means an amount equal to ten million dollars ($10,000,000), adjusted for inflation after January 1, 1998, according to an index which the director may reasonably choose.

(f) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the oil spill prevention, administration, and response fund, and shall be disbursed according to the purposes expressed in § 46-12.7-5.1.

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f) of this section, each July 1st, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of the fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the coastal and estuarine habitat restoration trust fund (the "trust").

History of Section. (P.L. 1996, ch. 289, § 4; P.L. 2000, ch. 348, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 62, § 2; P.L. 2004, ch. 595, art. 44, § 2; P.L. 2007, ch. 340, § 43.)