LCO No. 2175 1 of 2
General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 5936
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2175
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
REP. DEVLIN, 134th Dist.
REP. TURCO, 27th Dist.
AN ACT CONCERNING DAMAGES INCURRED BY A PROPERTY
OWNER DUE TO FALLING TREES OR TREE LIMBS FROM
NEIGHBORING PROPERTY THAT IS OWNED BY THE STATE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
That the general statutes be amended to: (1) Create a statutory 1
assumption of liability by the state in the case of a state-owned tree 2
falling in whole or in part onto private property with such liability being 3
limited to the actual costs of removal by a licensed arborist; (2) create an 4
exception in section 4-142 of the general statutes to the jurisdiction of 5
the Office of the Claims Commissioner for requests from licensed 6
arborists for reimbursement for the actual costs of removing a tree 7
located on state property that has fallen in whole or in part on private 8
property; (3) allow licensed arborists performing such tree removal 9
work to directly submit a claim for reimbursement to the state 10
Department of Transportation; and (4) require the state Department of 11
Transportation to revise its Vegetation Management Guidelines to 12
reflect the updated state policy that the state bears responsibility for the 13
costs associated with the removal of fallen state-owned trees. 14 Proposed Bill No. 5936
LCO No. 2175 2 of 2
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure the state assumes liability for damages caused by state-owned
trees that have fallen on private property and to eliminate the out-of-
pocket removal costs by owners of private property to remove such
state-owned trees.