| 16 | | - | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) A municipality may impose a buyer's tax on the conveyance of real property, occurring on or after July 1, 2011, at the rate of not more than one per cent of the consideration paid by the buyer in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Such tax may be retained by the municipality, shall be kept in a separate account and shall be used for any of the following purposes: (1) Purchase of development rights related to or the purchase of open space land, forest land, farm land or waterfront property by the municipality or by the municipality in cooperation with the state or federal government or with a private organization such as a land trust, (2) brownfield remediation, (3) water treatment and storm sewers, (4) clean air projects, (5) energy conservation, (6) alternative transportation infrastructure, (7) historic preservation, or (8) green building retrofits. |
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| 16 | + | Section 1. Section 22a-6p of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011): |
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| 18 | | - | (b) Conveyances resulting in the preservation of open space land, forest or farm land shall be exempt from any tax imposed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. |
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| 18 | + | (a) Not later than seven days from June 9, 2010, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall commence a review of the existing time frames for the review of all individual permits issued by the department. Not later than September 30, 2010, the commissioner shall issue a comprehensive report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment that (1) proposes a plan to establish a pilot expedited permitting process for not less than two hundred representative manufacturing or other industrial facilities, (2) prescribes changes to be made to the department's review schedules for individual permits, including reducing the time frames for identifying deficiencies in permit applications and issuing tentative determinations in accordance with subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (b) of this section, and (3) indentifies the process improvements, additional resources, staffing and programmatic changes necessary to meet such time frames. |
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| 20 | | - | (c) The tax imposed by subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any deeds, transfers or conveyances enumerated in subsection (a) of section 12-498 of the general statutes. |
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| 20 | + | (b) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, establishing schedules for timely action for each application for a permit for activity regulated under this title. Such schedules may be based on the lengths of time that the commissioner deems appropriate for different categories of permit applications and permits and may address situations when more than one permit is required for the regulated activity. Each such schedule shall contain the following: |
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| 21 | + | |
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| 22 | + | (1) A provision that the schedule shall begin when an application is received by the Department of Environmental Protection, any public notice requirements have been fulfilled and the application fee is paid; |
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| 23 | + | |
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| 24 | + | (2) One or more periods of reasonable length, but not longer than ninety days, based on the nature and complexity of the review required of the department, at the end of which time the department shall issue a decision to grant or deny the permit or identify deficiencies in the application, provided the schedule may also reasonably limit the amount of time in which the applicant may remedy such deficiencies. If, after ninety days, the department has issued no decision, such application shall be deemed approved. All reasonable efforts shall be made by the department to ensure that deficiencies in any application for a permit are identified and the applicant notified in writing of such deficiencies not later than sixty days after the department receives such application; |
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| 25 | + | |
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| 26 | + | (3) A period of reasonable length, but not longer than ninety days, based on the nature and complexity of the review required of the commissioner, beginning with receipt of materials submitted by the applicant in response to the commissioner's identification of deficiencies, at the end of which time the commissioner shall issue a tentative determination to grant or deny the permit. All reasonable efforts shall be made by the department to issue a tentative determination to grant or deny a permit not later than [one hundred eighty] ninety days after the department determines that the application materials are sufficient, provided such [one-hundred-eighty-day] ninety-day period shall not include any period of time during which the commissioner has requested, in writing, and is waiting to receive, additional application materials from an applicant; |
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| 27 | + | |
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| 28 | + | (4) A period of reasonable length after such tentative determination and the conclusion of any public hearing held with regard to such decision; |
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| 29 | + | |
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| 30 | + | (5) Allowance for applicable state or federal public participation requirements; and |
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| 31 | + | |
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| 32 | + | (6) A provision extending the time periods set forth in subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection when action by another state agency or a federal or municipal agency is required before the commissioner may act, when (A) judicial proceedings affect the ability of the commissioner or the applicant to proceed with the application, (B) the commissioner has commenced enforcement proceedings which could result in revocation of an existing permit for the facility or regulated activity that is the subject of the application and denial of the application, or (C) the applicant provides written assent extending any applicable time period. |
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| 33 | + | |
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| 34 | + | (c) The commissioner shall annually compile and report on the department's Internet web site, by category of permit, instances in which the schedules for timely action set forth in this subsection were not achieved and explanations for the department's inability to meet such time frames. |
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