RI LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM GETS $1 MILLION IN FEDERAL GRANT MONEY
The federal government, through Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grants, is providing four Rhode Island entities with $1.1 million to help support and grow the state’s local food system.
These projects support the development of RI Grown products and will support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally produced products, according to the state Department of Environmental Management.
DEM’s RFSI grant program is supported by American Rescue Plan funding from the US Department of Agriculture to provide grants that directly support middle-of-the-supply-chain activities in the state’s local food system. The grant awardees are: Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Providence ($193,463); Southside Community Land Trust, Cranston ($519,939); Brandon Family Farm, West Kingston ($101, 670); and Hard-Pressed Cider Co., West Greenwich ($282,844).
GOV. MCKEE NAMES FOOT DOCTOR TO COASTAL REGULATORY AGENCY
Gov. Dan McKee has chosen Barrington resident Michael Reuter to become the latest member of the public to serve on the Coastal Resources Management Council.
Reuter, who was confirmed by the state Senate, will occupy the seat on the council formerly held by Catherine Robinson Hall, a former attorney for the Department of Environmental Management and a coastal policy professor, who resigned last year.
Reuter is a board-certified podiatric surgeon and instructor at Rhode Island and Miriam hospitals, according to a short bio featured on the Brown University Health website. He earned his degree from New York College of Podiatric Medicine and completed his residency at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence.
Reuter is also listed as vice commodore on the board of directors for the Barrington Yacht Club. Reuter told senators he had first-hand experience dealing with coastal regulations. In August 2021, Reuter and his wife bought waterfront property along Mathewson Road in Barrington. A burst heating pipe on the second floor of the home resulted in a flood that required reconstruction of the house.
“I then became a self-educated expert in building rules around the water,” Reuter said. “I had to go before CRMC, and my permit was held up. Not only did I have a displaced family, I was trying to get back into a home which should have been a pretty simple thing, but it got held up for an additional four to six months.”
PROPOSED ELECTRIC VEHICLE TAX ANGERS ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
PROVIDENCE — In an electric vehicle world, what happens to the gas tax? Every time Rhode Islanders go to fill their cars, they’re taxed 37 cents for every gallon of gas purchased, with proceeds from that tax going toward maintaining paved roads, with a smaller portion set aside for public transit. But the Act on Climate law envisions a world without fossil fuel infrastructure to reduce emissions, including the everyday gas-guzzling cars that clog up Interstate 95 every morning and afternoon. What’s going to replace that revenue stream for roads and transit in a shiny new gasless future?
If you’re Gov. Dan Mckee, the answer is an additional registration fee for electric plug-in and hybrid vehicles. But the move has been criticized by some environmental groups that are worried such a fee would stunt the transition away from gas-powered cars. “We’re concerned about the impacts it will have on people making decisions about what vehicles they’re going to switch to in the future, especially when Rhode Island really needs to ramp up its electric vehicle adoption rates to decarbonize our transportation sector,” said Tina Munter, Rhode Island policy advocate at the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, which has come out against the new registration fee.
Under the governor’s proposal, battery electric vehicles (BEV) would pay an additional $150 annually, with plug-in hybrids paying an additional $75 per year, when owners acquire or renew their state registration. State budget officials said they calibrated the fee structure to make up for the assumed gas tax proceeds that electric vehicle owners would pay if they were driving gas-guzzling cars instead. McKee’s proposal, however, doesn’t include any additional funds for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority; instead, all proceeds from the EV fees go toward the state’s highway maintenance fund. The proposed fee would align RI with 39 other states that already impose similar fees on EVs, according to budget officials, with another 32 having similar fees on plug-in hybrids. •
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