PROVIDENCE — More delays could be in the future for the proposed pyrolysis plant in North Kingstown, as lawmakers consider putting more skids on the development.

On the docket last week for lawmakers in the Senate Commerce Committee was S3224, which would put a one-year ban on all pyrolysis or thermal waste conversion plants in the Quonset area — the moratorium would expire next February — and S3225, which would put together a study commission to investigate the future of sludge disposal in Rhode Island.

The legislation comes on the heels of significant public criticism to a proposal from QSS Biosolids LLC to build a pyrolysis plant for wastewater sludge in the North Kingstown village of West Davisville.

If built, the plant would add to similar facilities in the Quonset area, including a biochar facility owned by a sister company of QSS Biosolids and an asphalt plant that has come under fire for its noxious odors. The biochar operation and the proposed pyrolysis facility are subsidiaries of Green Development LLC, with Mark DePasquale listed as owner of each.

“I don’t think the project has any place in the West Davisville portion of Quonset,”said Sen. Bridget Valverde, D-North Kingstown, who is sponsoring the one-year moratorium.

Unlike most jurisdictions, the Quonset area in North Kingstown is run entirely as a subsidiary of Rhode Island Commerce. In the past, it has been used to its advantage, as the Quonset Development Corporation, the quasi-public entity that handles day-to-day operations, courts companies such as defense contractors Electric Boat and Anduril to move facilities to Quonset-owned properties.

To a degree, most facilities are allowed to circumvent typical local building and zoning applications. It is something Quonset has been criticized before; earlier this year abutters and residents complained of a newly-operational asphalt plant owned and operated by Bitumar USA Inc., when the smells became overwhelming in the Davisville area.

North Kingstown residents have been mobilizing against the pyrolysis project, with some speaking in support of Valverde’s legislation and others in favor of a permanent ban on such facilities in Quonset.

“You’re being asked to make a choice tonight,” North Kingstown resident Vanessa Mascaro said at a recent committee hearing. “Either this type of site is appropriate next to schools, homes, families, and a sole source aquifer, or it’s not. And if it’s not, there’s no justification for allowing it next year.”

Richard Stang, an attorney from the Conservation Law Foundation, told Senate Commerce Committee members Rhode Island should pause any approvals of sludge disposal facilities until the state has studied the issue publicly.

“It’s not going anywhere,” Stang said. “This isn’t something you can just wish away.”

Rhode Island has a growing wastewater infrastructure issue. There are only two main plants that deal with sludge, the dewatered leftover solids from the treatment process. One is in Cranston and the other is in Woonsocket. Each one serves the surrounding community and treats millions of gallons of wastewater from homes and businesses daily.

The Woonsocket plant has come under scrutiny in recent years, from noxious odors reported by city residents. It is the subject of a class-action lawsuit. City officials have indicated their preference for the facility to be shut down, which would mean much of northern Rhode Island would have no place to ship their biosolid waste.

S3225 would create a 19-member commission to study the issue, including representatives from the state, the Narragansett Bay Commission, and the Department of Environmental Management, among others. The commission would have a special emphasis on the status of the Woonsocket facility, would investigate new technologies for disposal, and would have until the end of next January to issue its findings.

The Senate isn’t alone. In April, the House passed its own study commission, with an eye on creating a legal process to approve new sludge disposal facilities.

Both S3224 and S3225 were held for further study.