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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 198
February Session, 2024
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 Section 16-50j of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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, 2024): 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
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 Substitute Bill No. 198
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(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
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 Substitute Bill No. 198
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development and management plan to the applicant. 54
(d) For any proceeding that occurs on or after the effective date of this 55
section, in addition to the membership provided for in subsection (b) or 56
(c) of this section, as applicable, the council shall include one elector 57
from the municipality in which such facility is proposed to be located, 58
as appointed by the chief elected official of such municipality. In the 59
event that such facility will be located in two or more municipalities, 60
one such elector shall be appointed by the applicable regional council of 61
governments for the affected municipalities. Each such member shall 62
serve as a nonvoting member for purposes of such proceeding and shall 63
abide by all applicable rules of confidentiality concerning such 64
proceeding. 65
[(d)] (e) The chairman of the council shall be appointed by the 66
Governor from among the five public members appointed by him, with 67
the advice and consent of the House or Senate, and shall serve as 68
chairman at the pleasure of the Governor. 69
[(e)] (f) The public members of the council, including the chairman, 70
the members appointed by the speaker of the House and president pro 71
tempore of the Senate and the four ad hoc members specified in 72
subsection (c) of this section, shall be compensated for their attendance 73
at public hearings, executive sessions, or other council business as may 74
require their attendance at the rate of two hundred dollars, provided in 75
no case shall the daily compensation exceed two hundred dollars. 76
[(f)] (g) The council shall, in addition to its other duties prescribed in 77
this chapter, adopt, amend, or rescind suitable regulations to carry out 78
the provisions of this chapter and the policies and practices of the 79
council in connection therewith, and appoint and prescribe the duties of 80
such staff as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. 81
The chairman of the council, with the consent of five or more other 82
members of the council, may appoint an executive director, who shall 83
be the chief administrative officer of the Connecticut Siting Council. The 84
executive director shall be exempt from classified service. 85 Substitute Bill No. 198
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[(g)] (h) Prior to commencing any hearing pursuant to section 16-50m, 86
the council shall consult with and solicit written comments from (1) the 87
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Department 88
of Public Health, the Council on Environmental Quality, the 89
Department of Agriculture, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, 90
the Office of Policy and Management, the Department of Economic and 91
Community Development and the Department of Transportation, and 92
(2) in a hearing pursuant to section 16-50m, for a facility described in 93
subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, the Department of 94
Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Department of 95
Administrative Services and the Labor Department. Copies of such 96
comments shall be made available to all parties prior to the 97
commencement of the hearing. Subsequent to the commencement of the 98
hearing, said departments and council may file additional written 99
comments with the council within such period of time as the council 100
designates. All such written comments shall be made part of the record 101
provided by section 16-50o. Said departments and council shall not 102
enter any contract or agreement with any party to the proceedings or 103
hearings described in this section or section 16-50p that requires said 104
departments or council to withhold or retract comments, refrain from 105
participating in or withdraw from said proceedings or hearings. 106
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 16-50l of the general statutes is 107
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 108
1, 2024): 109
(b) Each application shall be accompanied by proof of service of a 110
copy of such application on: (1) Each municipality in which any portion 111
of such facility is to be located, both as primarily proposed and in the 112
alternative locations listed, and any adjoining municipality having a 113
boundary not more than two thousand five hundred feet from such 114
facility, which copy shall be served on the chief executive officer of each 115
such municipality and shall include notice of the date on or about which 116
the application is to be filed, and the zoning commissions, planning 117
commissions, planning and zoning commissions, conservation 118 Substitute Bill No. 198
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commissions and inland wetlands agencies of each such municipality, 119
and the regional councils of governments which encompass each such 120
municipality; (2) the Attorney General; (3) each member of the 121
legislature in whose assembly or senate district the facility or any 122
alternative location listed in the application is to be located; (4) any 123
agency, department or instrumentality of the federal government that 124
has jurisdiction, whether concurrent with the state or otherwise, over 125
any matter that would be affected by such facility; (5) each state 126
department, agency and commission named in subsection [(g)] (h) of 127
section 16-50j, as amended by this act; and (6) such other state and 128
municipal bodies as the council may by regulation designate. A notice 129
of such application shall be given to the general public, in municipalities 130
entitled to receive notice under subdivision (1) of this subsection, by the 131
publication of a summary of such application and the date on or about 132
which it will be filed. Such notice shall be published under the 133
regulations to be promulgated by the council, in such form and in such 134
newspapers as will serve substantially to inform the public of such 135
application and to afford interested persons sufficient time to prepare 136
for and to be heard at the hearing prescribed in section 16-50m. Such 137
notice shall be published in not less than ten-point type. A notice of such 138
an application for a certificate for a facility described in subdivision (3), 139
(4), (5) or (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i shall also be sent, by 140
certified or registered mail, to each person appearing of record as an 141
owner of property which abuts the proposed primary or alternative sites 142
on which the facility would be located. Such notice shall be sent at the 143
same time that notice of such application is given to the general public. 144
Notice of an application for a certificate for a facility described in 145
subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i shall also be provided 146
to each electric distribution company customer in the municipality 147
where the facility is proposed to be placed. Such notice shall (A) be 148
provided on a separate enclosure with each customer's monthly bill for 149
one or more months, (B) be provided by the electric distribution 150
company not earlier than sixty days prior to filing the application with 151
the council, but not later than the date that the application is filed with 152
the council, and (C) include: A brief description of the project, including 153 Substitute Bill No. 198
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its location relative to the affected municipality and adjacent streets; a 154
brief technical description of the project including its proposed length, 155
voltage, and type and range of heights of support structures or 156
underground configuration; the reason for the project; the address and 157
a toll-free telephone number of the applicant by which additional 158
information about the project can be obtained; and a statement in print 159
no smaller than twenty-four-point type size stating "NOTICE OF 160
PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF A HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRIC 161
TRANSMISSION LINE". 162
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 16-50j
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 16-50l(b)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(d), "consist of" was changed to "include" for clarity.
ENV Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO