R.I. Gen. Laws § 2-23-5

This is the official text of R.I. Gen. Laws § 2-23-5, part of Rhode Island’s Gen. Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of Rhode Island, published by the state as "Gen. Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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§ 2-23-5. Nuisance actions against agricultural operations.

Official statutory text

(a) No agricultural operation, as defined in this chapter is found to be a public or private nuisance, due to alleged objectionable:

(1) Odor from livestock, manure, fertilizer, or feed, occasioned by generally accepted farming procedures;

(2) Noise from livestock or farm equipment used in normal, generally accepted farming procedures;

(3) Dust created during plowing or cultivation operations;

(4) Use of pesticides, rodenticides, insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides.

This provision pertains only to nuisance actions under chapter 1 of title 10.

(b) In addition, no city or town ordinance adopted under §€‚23-19.2-1 shall be enforced against any agricultural operation as defined in this chapter. In addition, no rule or regulation of the department of transportation shall be enforced against any agricultural operation to prevent it from placing a seasonal directional sign or display on the state€™s right-of-way, on the condition that that sign or display conforms with the local zoning ordinance, and that sign or display is promptly removed by the agricultural operation upon the conclusion of the season for which said sign or display was placed.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.