LCO No. 540 1 of 2
General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 5175
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 540
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
REP. HORN, 64th Dist.
AN ACT CONCERNING THE SITING OF SOLAR FACILITIES ON
CERTAIN FARMLANDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
That the general statutes be amended to: (1) Require the 1
Commissioner of Agriculture to review Connecticut Siting Council 2
applications for solar facilities with a proposed capacity of one 3
megawatt or more and sixty-five megawatts or greater on prime 4
farmland or farmland of state-wide importance, as determined by the 5
United States Department of Agriculture or the Commissioner of 6
Agriculture, (2) require the Connecticut Siting Council to have a 7
member with a background in agriculture, (3) establish a Greenfields 8
Conversion Solar Mitigation Fund for the purpose of purchasing 9
conservation easements on agricultural lands, (4) require said agencies 10
to maintain on their Internet web sites information on applications for 11
such solar facilities and means for receipt of information by the public 12
on such applications, and (5) require a decommissioning bond for such 13
facilities on such farmlands. 14 Proposed Bill No. 5175
LCO No. 540 2 of 2
Statement of Purpose:
To mitigate the siting of solar facilities on prime farmlands and
farmlands of state-wide importance.