R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19.1-2: Legislative findings.

The general assembly recognizes and declares that:

(1) Continuing technological progress, increases in the amounts of manufacture, and the abatement of air and water pollution have resulted in ever-increasing quantities of hazardous wastes;

(2) The environment and the public health and safety are threatened where hazardous wastes are not managed in an environmentally sound manner;

(3) Any threat to the environment from the effects of the improper, inadequate, or unsound management of hazardous wastes also poses a threat to the public health and safety, since hazardous wastes that enter the environment may be carried by water, land, or air to human beings;

(4) The long term health effects of hazardous wastes are uncertain; and

(5) The problem of managing hazardous wastes has become a matter of statewide concern, but actions taken up to this time fall short of necessary regulation of hazardous waste management.