Wastewater & Biosolids at the State House
Biosolids disposal became one of the defining environmental issues of the 2026 General Assembly session. Woonsocket — whose incinerator handles the sludge of more than 15 Rhode Island communities and regional agencies — intends to close that facility when its operator's contract ends in 2027, and a proposed $150 million sludge pyrolysis plant at Quonset Point in North Kingstown drew intense local opposition. Lawmakers responded with a moratorium, a statewide study commission (with a seat reserved for a RICWA member), and continued implementation of 2025's PFAS biosolids testing law. The measures below are current as of July 21, 2026; check each bill's status page for later action.
2026 – S 3224A / H 8400 — Moratorium on Thermal Waste Conversion Facilities at Quonset (Enacted)
Introduced in the Senate on April 20, 2026 by Senators Valverde, DiMario, and Euer (with House companion H 8400, introduced April 3, 2026 by Representatives Casimiro, Craven, McEntee, Caldwell, Finkelman, Solomon, and Kazarian), this act adds a new section 42-64.10-16 to the General Laws prohibiting the Quonset Development Corporation from authorizing, permitting, leasing, or otherwise allowing the siting, construction, or operation of any "thermal waste conversion facility" — including pyrolysis of sewage sludge — within the Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park. The Substitute A version passed the General Assembly on June 11, 2026, the final night of the session, took effect upon passage, and was signed by Governor McKee in late June 2026. The prohibition sunsets on June 1, 2027, effectively pausing the proposed QSS Biosolids pyrolysis plant while the state studies long-term solutions.
Official bill text (2026-S 3224 Sub A, PDF) · S 3224 status · H 8400 status · Coverage: Waste Dive
2026 – H 7532B / S 3225A — Special Joint Legislative Commission to Study Sludge Management (Passed & signed)
This joint resolution — introduced in the House on February 6, 2026 by Representatives Cortvriend, Noret, and Phillips and referred to House Environment and Natural Resources, with the Senate version introduced April 20, 2026 by Senators DiMario, Valverde, and Euer — creates a 21-member special joint legislative commission to comprehensively review sludge management in Rhode Island, including the cost to ratepayers, environmental and climate impacts, and potential statewide solutions such as pyrolysis and other emerging technologies. The commission's seats include legislators from both chambers, the Narragansett Bay Commission, RIDEM, RI Resource Recovery, Clean Water Action, NEBRA, the Conservation Law Foundation, a URI professor, representatives of incinerator communities, and — notably for our members — one member of the Rhode Island Clean Water Association, appointed by the Chair of the RICWA Board of Directors. Passed in the final days of the session and signed by the Governor on June 22, 2026 (as reported by What's Up Newp), the commission must report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by April 1, 2027, and expires June 1, 2027.
Official resolution text (2026-H 7532 Sub B, PDF) · Senate version (2026-S 3225 Sub A, PDF) · H 7532 status · Coverage: What's Up Newp
2025 – H 5844A / S 0650 — PFAS Testing of Biosolids Before Land Application (Enacted 2025, now in effect)
Sponsored by Representative Terri Cortvriend (D‑Dist. 72) with Senator Alana DiMario (D‑Dist. 36) carrying the Senate companion, this law requires any operator seeking approval to distribute or land-apply biosolids to test those materials for PFAS ("forever chemicals") and to submit quarterly test results to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, which may use the results in permitting decisions. The House passed H 5844A on May 1, 2025, the Governor signed the legislation in June 2025, and the first quarterly reports were due to DEM by December 31, 2025 — meaning 2026 is the first full year of statewide PFAS data on Rhode Island biosolids. The commission created by H 7532 is expected to draw on this data as it evaluates disposal options.
Also on our radar
Two further 2026 measures touching waste conversion and refuse disposal — H 7620 (introduced February 11, 2026) and H 8431 (introduced April 10, 2026) — were tracked by the Town of North Kingstown alongside the Quonset bills. Neither advanced to passage before the session ended. RICWA will continue monitoring these and any successor bills when the General Assembly reconvenes in January 2027, ahead of the study commission's April 1, 2027 report.
Town of North Kingstown: QBP Projects of Concern (bill tracker) · Background: Rhode Island Current