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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 73
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 2963
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING LOCAL REPRESENTATION ON THE
CONNECTICUT SITING COUNCIL FOR LOCAL PROJECTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 16-50j of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 2
(a) There is established a "Connecticut Siting Council", hereinafter 3
referred to as the "council", which shall be within the Department of 4
Energy and Environmental Protection for administrative purposes only. 5
(b) Except for proceedings under chapter 445, this subsection and 6
subsection (c) of this section, the council shall consist of: (1) The 7
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or his 8
designee; (2) the chairperson of the Public Utilities Regulatory 9
Authority, or the chairperson's designee; (3) one designee of the speaker 10
of the House and one designee of the president pro tempore of the 11
Senate; and (4) five members of the public, to be appointed by the 12
Governor, at least two of whom shall be experienced in the field of 13
ecology, and not more than one of whom shall have affiliation, past or 14
present, with any utility or governmental utility regulatory agency, or 15
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with any person owning, operating, controlling, or presently 16
contracting with respect to a facility, a hazardous waste facility, as 17
defined in section 22a-115, or an ash residue disposal area. 18
(c) For proceedings under chapter 445, subsection (b) of this section 19
and this subsection, the council shall consist of (1) the Commissioners of 20
Public Health and Emergency Services and Public Protection or their 21
designated representatives; (2) the designees of the speaker of the House 22
of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate as 23
provided in subsection (b) of this section; (3) the five members of the 24
public as provided in subsection (b) of this section; and (4) four ad hoc 25
members, three of whom shall be electors from the municipality in 26
which the proposed facility is to be located and one of whom shall be an 27
elector from a neighboring municipality likely to be most affected by the 28
proposed facility. The municipality most affected by the proposed 29
facility shall be determined by the permanent members of the council. 30
If any one of the five members of the public or of the designees of the 31
speaker of the House of Representatives or the president pro tempore of 32
the Senate resides (A) in the municipality in which a hazardous waste 33
facility is proposed to be located for a proceeding concerning a 34
hazardous waste facility or in which a low-level radioactive waste 35
facility is proposed to be located for a proceeding concerning a low-level 36
radioactive waste facility, or (B) in the neighboring municipality likely 37
to be most affected by the proposed facility, the appointing authority 38
shall appoint a substitute member for the proceedings on such proposal. 39
If any appointee is unable to perform his duties on the council due to 40
illness, or has a substantial financial or employment interest which is in 41
conflict with the proper discharge of his duties under this chapter, the 42
appointing authority shall appoint a substitute member for proceedings 43
on such proposal. An appointee shall report any substantial financial or 44
employment interest which might conflict with the proper discharge of 45
his duties under this chapter to the appointing authority who shall 46
determine if such conflict exists. If any state agency is the applicant, an 47
appointee shall not be deemed to have a substantial employment 48
conflict of interest because of employment with the state unless such 49
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appointee is directly employed by the state agency making the 50
application. Ad hoc members shall be appointed by the chief elected 51
official of the municipality they represent and shall continue their 52
membership until the council issues a letter of completion of the 53
development and management plan to the applicant. 54
(d) For proceedings involving any electric distribution company, in 55
addition to the membership provided for in subsection (b) of this 56
section, the council shall consist of one elector from the municipality in 57
which such facility is proposed to be located, as appointed by the chief 58
elected official of such municipality. In the event that such facility will 59
be located in two or more municipalities, one such elector shall be 60
appointed by the applicable regional council of governments for the 61
affected municipalities. Each such member shall serve as a nonvoting 62
member for purposes of such proceeding and shall abide by all 63
applicable rules of confidentiality concerning such proceeding. 64
[(d)] (e) The chairman of the council shall be appointed by the 65
Governor from among the five public members appointed by him, with 66
the advice and consent of the House or Senate, and shall serve as 67
chairman at the pleasure of the Governor. 68
[(e)] (f) The public members of the council, including the chairman, 69
the members appointed by the speaker of the House and president pro 70
tempore of the Senate and the four ad hoc members specified in 71
subsection (c) of this section, shall be compensated for their attendance 72
at public hearings, executive sessions, or other council business as may 73
require their attendance at the rate of two hundred dollars, provided in 74
no case shall the daily compensation exceed two hundred dollars. 75
[(f)] (g) The council shall, in addition to its other duties prescribed in 76
this chapter, adopt, amend, or rescind suitable regulations to carry out 77
the provisions of this chapter and the policies and practices of the 78
council in connection therewith, and appoint and prescribe the duties of 79
such staff as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. 80
The chairman of the council, with the consent of five or more other 81
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members of the council, may appoint an executive director, who shall 82
be the chief administrative officer of the Connecticut Siting Council. The 83
executive director shall be exempt from classified service. 84
[(g)] (h) Prior to commencing any hearing pursuant to section 16-50m, 85
the council shall consult with and solicit written comments from (1) the 86
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Department 87
of Public Health, the Council on Environmental Quality, the 88
Department of Agriculture, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, 89
the Office of Policy and Management, the Department of Economic and 90
Community Development and the Department of Transportation, and 91
(2) in a hearing pursuant to section 16-50m, for a facility described in 92
subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, the Department of 93
Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Department of 94
Administrative Services and the Labor Department. Copies of such 95
comments shall be made available to all parties prior to the 96
commencement of the hearing. Subsequent to the commencement of the 97
hearing, said departments and council may file additional written 98
comments with the council within such period of time as the council 99
designates. All such written comments shall be made part of the record 100
provided by section 16-50o. Said departments and council shall not 101
enter any contract or agreement with any party to the proceedings or 102
hearings described in this section or section 16-50p that requires said 103
departments or council to withhold or retract comments, refrain from 104
participating in or withdraw from said proceedings or hearings. 105
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023 16-50j
Statement of Purpose:
To require local representation on the Connecticut Siting Council.
[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.]
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Co-Sponsors: SEN. HARDING, 30th Dist.
S.B. 73