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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 117
February Session, 2022
AN ACT CONCERNING TREE REMOVAL ON PROPERTIES UNDER
THE CONTROL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this 1
section, "arborist" has the same meaning as provided in section 23-61a 2
of the general statutes. 3
(b) For any tree located in any state park or campground, prior to 4
authorizing the removal or pruning of five or more of such trees per acre 5
or the removal or pruning of any tree that is estimated by an arborist 6
consulted pursuant to this subsection to be seventy-five years or older, 7
a species of special concern or a threatened or endangered species, the 8
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall consult 9
with an arborist who is not otherwise employed by or under contract 10
with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to 11
determine any such tree that is identified for removal or pruning. Unless 12
the condition of such tree constitutes an immediate public hazard, as 13
determined by such arborist in accordance with subsection (c) of this 14
section, the commissioner shall, not less than ten days prior to the 15
scheduled removal or pruning of any such tree, post on each tree a 16
notice indicating the department's intention to remove or prune any 17 Substitute Bill No. 117
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such tree. If any person, firm or corporation objects to such removal or 18
pruning, such person, firm or corporation may make petition to the 19
commissioner, in writing, on a form prescribed by the commissioner. 20
The commissioner shall suspend the scheduled removal or pruning of 21
any such tree and hold a public hearing, in accordance with the 22
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, at a noticed time and 23
place after giving not less than ten days' notice of such public hearing to 24
all persons known by the commissioner to be interested in such petition 25
and after posting notice of such public hearing on any such tree. Not 26
later than ten days following any such public hearing, the commissioner 27
shall provide notice of the commissioner's decision concerning the 28
removal or pruning of any such tree to any person known by the 29
commissioner to be interested in such petition. 30
(c) In the event that any such tree constitutes an immediate public 31
hazard, as determined by the arborist described in subsection (b) of this 32
section, the commissioner shall consult with such arborist to determine 33
if such tree requires immediate removal. Prior to removing any such 34
tree, in determining whether any such tree constitutes an immediate 35
public hazard, such arborist shall consider the following: (1) The 36
proximity of such tree to the public's utilization of the state park or 37
campground and whether physical changes to the public's utilization of 38
such state park or campground could reasonably change the status of a 39
determination of such tree constituting an immediate public hazard; (2) 40
the feasibility of pruning or pesticide application in lieu of the removal 41
of any such tree; and (3) the age and history of any such tree to 42
determine if there is any social or scenic value to such tree. 43
(d) After considering the factors set forth in subdivisions (1) to (3), 44
inclusive, of subsection (c) of this section, such arborist may determine 45
that any tree constitutes an immediate public hazard and such 46
commissioner may provide for the immediate removal of any such tree. 47
The commissioner shall record the date and location of any such tree 48
that is removed as a result of the decision that such tree constituted an 49
immediate public hazard. Such record shall also indicate any specific 50 Substitute Bill No. 117
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determination made by such arborist in considering the factors 51
described in subsection (c) of this section. The commissioner shall cause 52
such record to be posted on the Internet web site of the Department of 53
Energy and Environmental Protection not later than three days after the 54
removal of any such tree. 55
(e) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall 56
provide for the planting of trees in such state park or campground to 57
replace any tree removed in accordance with the provisions of this 58
section. Any such planting shall be performed in a manner that will 59
yield the establishment of comparable trees in the area of such state park 60
or campground to any tree removed in accordance with the provisions 61
of this section. For purposes of this subsection, "comparable trees" 62
means trees that are of the same or a similar species as any tree removed 63
in accordance with the provisions of this section and that will yield 64
comparable calipers, canopy and aesthetic characteristics as any such 65
tree removed in accordance with the provisions of this section.66
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.