New law will study creation of state Geographic Information System
The
legislation (2024-H
7985A, 2024-S
2995A) is
part of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s 15-bill package of legislation to
address Rhode Island’s housing crisis.
“More complete information about the geography of Rhode Island means more informed and better decisions, whether for conservation or development,” said Representative Spears (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly).
“This report will be the first step toward a uniform and detailed
statewide GIS that will give us all a much better understanding of Rhode
Island’s natural resources, open spaces and buildable land. This will help
municipalities, developers, conservation groups, policy-makers and the public
to make more informed decisions about their communities and the state as a
whole.”
Said Senator Mack (D-Dist. 6, Providence), “A comprehensive statewide GIS is a vital tool to making all kinds of decisions about development and conservation in Rhode Island. However, before launching into this project we have to understand the scope of this project, the support and staffing that will be required and the work that municipalities have already done in this area. This legislation will get us this report quickly so that we can take the next steps when the next legislative session begins.”
This
legislation instructs the Department of Administration to develop, with input
from the League of Cities and Towns, a report on the creation of a
comprehensive and integrated statewide GIS. This report will evaluate the cost,
staff, organizational changes and data security requirements needed to
establish and maintain the platform, in addition to the types of data that
would be needed from agencies and local governments to maintain the system.
The report will be delivered to General Assembly Leadership and the secretary of housing by Jan. 31, 2025.
The
department will also request surveys and reports from state agencies, cities
and towns about whether they maintain their own GIS, what platform they use,
the annual cost to maintain the system and what data is included in the system.
The law
aims to eventually help standardize GIS between municipalities and provide
publicly available GIS in municipalities that do not have it due to lack of
staff and resources.
