General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5686
January Session, 2015 LCO No. 3942
*03942HB05686ENV*
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
General Assembly
Committee Bill No. 5686
January Session, 2015
LCO No. 3942
*03942HB05686ENV*
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE APPROVAL OF LAND SWAPS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, prior to entering any agreement for the exchange of land or interest in land that is under the care, custody or control of the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection or the Commissioner of Agriculture, the respective commissioner shall assure that: (1) The exchange is not contrary to the terms or conditions under which the acquisition, gift, or bequest of such land or interest in land to be conveyed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection or the Department of Agriculture, as applicable, in such exchange was accepted; (2) the land or interest in land to be conveyed by the applicable department in such exchange was evaluated by the applicable department and determined not to be integral or significant to the resource management programs of the applicable department; (3) appraisals demonstrate that the fair market value of the land or interest in land to be received by the applicable department in such exchange is equal to or greater than the fair market value of the land or interest in land to be conveyed by the applicable department; (4) the land or interest in land to be received by the applicable department in such exchange provides substantially greater utility to the resource management programs of the applicable department than the land or interest in land to be conveyed by the applicable department in such exchange; (5) any proposed use of the land or interest in land to be conveyed by the applicable department in such exchange, if known at the time of the exchange, is consistent with the state plan of conservation and development; and (6) unless the respective commissioner determines that it is in the best interests of the state to not require such encumbrance, the land or interest in land to be conveyed by the applicable department in such exchange shall be conveyed subject to: (A) A conservation or other easement or similar encumbrance in favor of the state ensuring that any restriction on such land or interest in land that was in effect immediately prior to the exchange remains in effect after the exchange, and (B) a reverter clause stipulating that the land or interest in land shall revert back to the state if the easement or similar encumbrance is violated or not upheld.
(b) Prior to undertaking the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection or the Commissioner of Agriculture, as applicable, shall post notice of the proposed exchange of land or interest in land on the Internet web site of his or her department. If the respective commissioner receives twenty-five or more written requests from twenty-five or more individuals for a public hearing on such proposed exchange, said commissioner shall hold a public hearing on such proposed exchange in the town in which such land or interest in land to be conveyed by the applicable department is located. In the event such land or interest in land is located in more than one town, the respective commissioner shall hold such public hearing in the town where the greater number of members of the public can be accommodated.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
from passage
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require certain notice, public hearing opportunity and assurances prior to the exchange of land or interest in land that is under the care, custody or control of the Commissioners of Energy and Environmental Protection and Agriculture.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. WILLIS, 64th Dist.
Co-Sponsors:
REP. WILLIS, 64th Dist.
H.B. 5686