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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 73
January Session, 2023
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 Section 16-50j of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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 5
only. 6
(b) Except for proceedings under chapter 445, this subsection and 7
subsection (c) of this section, the council shall consist of: (1) The 8
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or his 9
designee; (2) the chairperson of the Public Utilities Regulatory 10
Authority, or the chairperson's designee; (3) one designee of the 11
speaker of the House and one designee of the president pro tempore of 12
the Senate; and (4) five members of the public, to be appointed by the 13
Governor, at least two of whom shall be experienced in the field of 14
ecology, and not more than one of whom shall have affiliation, past or 15
present, with any utility or governmental utility regulatory agency, or 16
with any person owning, operating, controlling, or presently 17
contracting with respect to a facility, a hazardous waste facility, as 18 Substitute Bill No. 73
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defined in section 22a-115, or an ash residue disposal area. 19
(c) For proceedings under chapter 445, subsection (b) of this section 20
and this subsection, the council shall consist of (1) the Commissioners 21
of Public Health and Emergency Services and Public Protection or their 22
designated representatives; (2) the designees of the speaker of the 23
House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate 24
as provided in subsection (b) of this section; (3) the five members of the 25
public as provided in subsection (b) of this section; and (4) four ad hoc 26
members, three of whom shall be electors from the municipality in 27
which the proposed facility is to be located and one of whom shall be 28
an elector from a neighboring municipality likely to be most affected 29
by the proposed facility. The municipality most affected by the 30
proposed facility shall be determined by the permanent members of 31
the council. If any one of the five members of the public or of the 32
designees of the speaker of the House of Representatives or the 33
president pro tempore of the Senate resides (A) in the municipality in 34
which a hazardous waste facility is proposed to be located for a 35
proceeding concerning a hazardous waste facility or in which a low-36
level radioactive waste facility is proposed to be located for a 37
proceeding concerning a low-level radioactive waste facility, or (B) in 38
the neighboring municipality likely to be most affected by the 39
proposed facility, the appointing authority shall appoint a substitute 40
member for the proceedings on such proposal. If any appointee is 41
unable to perform his duties on the council due to illness, or has a 42
substantial financial or employment interest which is in conflict with 43
the proper discharge of his duties under this chapter, the appointing 44
authority shall appoint a substitute member for proceedings on such 45
proposal. An appointee shall report any substantial financial or 46
employment interest which might conflict with the proper discharge of 47
his duties under this chapter to the appointing authority who shall 48
determine if such conflict exists. If any state agency is the applicant, an 49
appointee shall not be deemed to have a substantial employment 50
conflict of interest because of employment with the state unless such 51
appointee is directly employed by the state agency making the 52 Substitute Bill No. 73
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application. Ad hoc members shall be appointed by the chief elected 53
official of the municipality they represent and shall continue their 54
membership until the council issues a letter of completion of the 55
development and management plan to the applicant. 56
(d) For any proceeding that occurs on or after the effective date of 57
this section, in addition to the membership provided for in subsection 58
(b) or (c) of this section, as applicable, the council shall consist of one 59
elector from the municipality in which such facility is proposed to be 60
located, as appointed by the chief elected official of such municipality. 61
In the event that such facility will be located in two or more 62
municipalities, one such elector shall be appointed by the applicable 63
regional council of governments for the affected municipalities. Each 64
such member shall serve as a nonvoting member for purposes of such 65
proceeding and shall abide by all applicable rules of confidentiality 66
concerning such proceeding. 67
[(d)] (e) The chairman of the council shall be appointed by the 68
Governor from among the five public members appointed by him, 69
with the advice and consent of the House or Senate, and shall serve as 70
chairman at the pleasure of the Governor. 71
[(e)] (f) The public members of the council, including the chairman, 72
the members appointed by the speaker of the House and president pro 73
tempore of the Senate and the four ad hoc members specified in 74
subsection (c) of this section, shall be compensated for their attendance 75
at public hearings, executive sessions, or other council business as may 76
require their attendance at the rate of two hundred dollars, provided in 77
no case shall the daily compensation exceed two hundred dollars. 78
[(f)] (g) The council shall, in addition to its other duties prescribed in 79
this chapter, adopt, amend, or rescind suitable regulations to carry out 80
the provisions of this chapter and the policies and practices of the 81
council in connection therewith, and appoint and prescribe the duties 82
of such staff as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 83
chapter. The chairman of the council, with the consent of five or more 84 Substitute Bill No. 73
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other members of the council, may appoint an executive director, who 85
shall be the chief administrative officer of the Connecticut Siting 86
Council. The executive director shall be exempt from classified service. 87
[(g)] (h) Prior to commencing any hearing pursuant to section 16-88
50m, the council shall consult with and solicit written comments from 89
(1) the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the 90
Department of Public Health, the Council on Environmental Quality, 91
the Department of Agriculture, the Public Utilities Regulatory 92
Authority, the Office of Policy and Management, the Department of 93
Economic and Community Development and the Department of 94
Transportation, and (2) in a hearing pursuant to section 16-50m, for a 95
facility described in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, 96
the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the 97
Department of Administrative Services and the Labor Department. 98
Copies of such comments shall be made available to all parties prior to 99
the commencement of the hearing. Subsequent to the commencement 100
of the hearing, said departments and council may file additional 101
written comments with the council within such period of time as the 102
council designates. All such written comments shall be made part of 103
the record provided by section 16-50o. Said departments and council 104
shall not enter any contract or agreement with any party to the 105
proceedings or hearings described in this section or section 16-50p that 106
requires said departments or council to withhold or retract comments, 107
refrain from participating in or withdraw from said proceedings or 108
hearings. 109
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 16-50l of the general statutes is 110
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 111
October 1, 2023): 112
(b) Each application shall be accompanied by proof of service of a 113
copy of such application on: (1) Each municipality in which any 114
portion of such facility is to be located, both as primarily proposed and 115
in the alternative locations listed, and any adjoining municipality 116
having a boundary not more than two thousand five hundred feet 117 Substitute Bill No. 73
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from such facility, which copy shall be served on the chief executive 118
officer of each such municipality and shall include notice of the date on 119
or about which the application is to be filed, and the zoning 120
commissions, planning commissions, planning and zoning 121
commissions, conservation commissions and inland wetlands agencies 122
of each such municipality, and the regional councils of governments 123
which encompass each such municipality; (2) the Attorney General; (3) 124
each member of the legislature in whose assembly or senate district the 125
facility or any alternative location listed in the application is to be 126
located; (4) any agency, department or instrumentality of the federal 127
government that has jurisdiction, whether concurrent with the state or 128
otherwise, over any matter that would be affected by such facility; (5) 129
each state department, agency and commission named in subsection 130
[(g)] (h) of section 16-50j, as amended by this act; and (6) such other 131
state and municipal bodies as the council may by regulation designate. 132
A notice of such application shall be given to the general public, in 133
municipalities entitled to receive notice under subdivision (1) of this 134
subsection, by the publication of a summary of such application and 135
the date on or about which it will be filed. Such notice shall be 136
published under the regulations to be promulgated by the council, in 137
such form and in such newspapers as will serve substantially to inform 138
the public of such application and to afford interested persons 139
sufficient time to prepare for and to be heard at the hearing prescribed 140
in section 16-50m. Such notice shall be published in not less than ten-141
point type. A notice of such an application for a certificate for a facility 142
described in subdivision (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (a) of section 143
16-50i shall also be sent, by certified or registered mail, to each person 144
appearing of record as an owner of property which abuts the proposed 145
primary or alternative sites on which the facility would be located. 146
Such notice shall be sent at the same time that notice of such 147
application is given to the general public. Notice of an application for a 148
certificate for a facility described in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of 149
section 16-50i shall also be provided to each electric distribution 150
company customer in the municipality where the facility is proposed 151
to be placed. Such notice shall (A) be provided on a separate enclosure 152 Substitute Bill No. 73
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with each customer's monthly bill for one or more months, (B) be 153
provided by the electric distribution company not earlier than sixty 154
days prior to filing the application with the council, but not later than 155
the date that the application is filed with the council, and (C) include: 156
A brief description of the project, including its location relative to the 157
affected municipality and adjacent streets; a brief technical description 158
of the project including its proposed length, voltage, and type and 159
range of heights of support structures or underground configuration; 160
the reason for the project; the address and a toll-free telephone number 161
of the applicant by which additional information about the project can 162
be obtained; and a statement in print no smaller than twenty-four-163
point type size stating "NOTICE OF PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF 164
A HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINE". 165
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023 16-50j
Sec. 2 October 1, 2023 16-50l(b)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Section 2 was added as a conforming change in accordance with
standard practice.
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.