OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6744
AN ACT CONCERNING COMPENSATORY REFORESTATION
PLANS, THE CONSTRUCTION OF NOISE BARRIERS, DECIBEL
TESTING FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND IDLING MOTOR
VEHICLES..
Primary Analyst: PM 4/4/23
Contributing Analyst(s): LG, MR
Reviewer: MM
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Department of Transportation TF - Cost 500,000 50 million -
100 million
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection
GF - See Below See Below See Below
Department of Motor Vehicles TF - Cost See Below See Below
Note: TF=Transportation Fund; GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Various Municipalities Revenue
Gain
Potential Potential
Explanation
Section 1 requires the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and
Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to take numerous actions
regarding reforestation with respect to planned DOT projects involving
deforestation.
This section requires DOT to annually develop and submit to DEEP
for approval, a plan for the compensatory reforestation for all DOT-
owned and -maintained areas of at least half an acre that are scheduled
for deforestation in the upcoming year, with the first plan due by July 1,
2024. The plan must comply with regulations that DEEP adopts, 2023HB-06744-R000456-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
including planting priority as it relates to native species and other
reforestation considerations. This has no fiscal impact to DEEP as the
department has expertise within its Forestry Division that can be used
for this purpose.
This section requires DOT to enter into a memorandum of agreement
(MOA) with DEEP to reimburse DEEP for the actual labor hours spent
reviewing and implementing DOT’s compensatory reforestation plans.
If reforestation cannot be accomplished for a given project, then DOT
must pay the value of the required trees, as determined by the plan, to
an account managed by DEEP for reforestation. This would result in
costs to DOT associated with the value of the number of trees required
under the reforestation plan, and a revenue gain to DEEP in the same
amount.
The annual cost to DOT for developing the plan and for paying DEEP
to either plant trees directly and/or fund the newly-established
reforestation account is expected to be significant. DOT does not have
experience planting trees but, based on the amount of land the
department deforests in any given year through both its maintenance
and construction programs, reforestation efforts are expected to be in
the $50 million - $100 million range annually, beginning in FY 25. Minor
costs are also expected in FY 24 to support plan development.
Sections 2 and 3 require DOT to conduct an evaluation of
constructing noise barriers for Type II projects (i.e., retrofit of existing
highways), to establish a priority list of such projects, and to submit the
results to the Transportation Committee by February 1, 2024. This is
expected to cost up to $500,000 for DOT to hire a consultant to perform
the evaluation and prioritization work.
Section 6 allows municipalities to impose a fine of up to $90 for
violating the vehicle idling ban. This results in a potential revenue gain
to municipalities beginning in FY 24. Any revenue gain would be
dependent on if the municipality imposes the fine, the amount of the
fine, and the number of violations. 2023HB-06744-R000456-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
Section 8 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
establish a 12-month noise testing pilot program at five of its emissions
stations and to submit the results of such program to the Appropriations
and Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committees by January 1, 2025. The
cost of such a program depends on planning decisions to be made by
DMV but is not expected to be significant.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation and the terms of the MOA
between DOT and DEEP.