The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) coordinates all of the state's environmental protection and management programs. The Air, Solid Waste, and Hazardous Materials Section enforces controls on solid waste disposal, hazardous waste management facilities, industrial air pollution, and site remediation; the Water Quality Management Section regulates waste-treatment facilities, the discharge of industrial and oil wastes into state waters and public sewer facilities, groundwater protection, freshwater wetlands, dam maintenance, and home sewage disposal systems; the Natural Resources Management Section oversees fish, wildlife and estuarine resources, forest management, parks and recreation, and the enforcement of conservation laws; Planning and Administrative Services assists industry in pollution prevention, administers recycling programs, administers land preservation programs, and coordinates land acquisitions. The department also oversees water supply management. In 2003, the DEM, working the Department of Health, operated a Mosquito Abatement Coordination Office to help citizens minimize the risk of contracting West Nile virus from the mosquito population.
In 2003, Rhode Island had 187 hazardous waste sites listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's database, 12 of which were on the National Priorities List. In 1996, 10% of the state's area was wetland. In 2001, Rhode Island received $28,618,000 in federal grants from the Environmental Protection Agency; EPA expenditures for procurement contracts in Rhode Island that year amounted to $2,128,000.