R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19.9-1
There is created the Rhode Island-Massachusetts Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact. The party states recognize that the Congress has declared that each state is responsible for providing for the availability of capacity, either within or outside its borders, for disposal of low-level waste generated within its borders, except for waste which remains a federal responsibility, including waste generated as a result of atomic energy defense activities of the federal government, as defined in the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2021b et seq., or federal research and development activities. The party states further recognize that the Congress of the United States has provided for, and encouraged the development of, regional low-level waste compacts to manage low-level waste. The party states recognize that the long-term, safe and efficient management of low-level waste generated within the region requires that sufficient capacity to manage low-level waste is properly provided.
In order to promote public health and safety in the region, it is the policy of the party states to: enter into a regional low-level waste management compact as a means of facilitating an interstate cooperative effort; promote safe transportation of low-level waste generated in the region; minimize the number of facilities required to effectively and efficiently manage the low-level waste generated in the region; assist in the reduction of both the volume of low-level waste generated in the region and the volume of low-level waste that must be disposed in the region, to the extent consistent with protection of public health, safety, and the environment; distribute the costs, benefits, and obligations of proper low-level waste management equitably among the party states; and promote the environmentally sound and economical management of low-level waste throughout the packaging, transportation, storage, disposal, closure, post-closure observation and maintenance and institutional control periods of waste-related activity.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19.9-1