---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- HEALTH AND SAFETY (Updates and modernizes the department of environmental management’s ability to enforce environmental laws, and more specifically modifies practices regarding a notice of violation.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- HEALTH AND SAFETY (Updates and modernizes the department of environmental management’s ability to enforce environmental laws, and more specifically modifies practices regarding a notice of violation.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 6173"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 6173 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts", "Environment", "Health & Safety", "Waters and Navigation"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carson", "Cortvriend", "Donovan", "Knight", "Speakman"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-03-26"
last_action: "2021-07-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/81522a80-bb4f-4ae9-bca6-f224dc9b825d"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "4ec08391d21590f85e8cb1a31ef3635610eca6bd1b4c8449eb9552d4aa076a3f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 6173 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- HEALTH AND SAFETY (Updates and modernizes the department of environmental management’s ability to enforce environmental laws, and more specifically modifies practices regarding a notice of violation.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **6173 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H6173A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **70–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Carson — primary (person)
- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Donovan — primary (person)
- Knight — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-03-26** 03/26/2021 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-02** 04/02/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/06/2021)
- **2021-04-06** 04/06/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/21/2021)
- **2021-06-19** 06/19/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-21** 06/21/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-21** 06/21/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2021)
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-06-26** 06/26/2021 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/29/2021)
- **2021-06-29** 06/29/2021 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-03** 07/03/2021 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/81522a80-bb4f-4ae9-bca6-f224dc9b825d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).