LCO No. 4381 1 of 5
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1242
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4381
Referred to Committee on TRANSPORTATION
Introduced by:
(TRA)
AN ACT FUNDING SMALL HARBOR IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 102 of public act 21-111, as amended by section 82 1
of public act 23-205, is amended to read as follows (Effective July 1, 2025): 2
(a) The State Bond Commission shall authorize the issuance of bonds 3
of the state, in accordance with the provisions of section 3-20 of the 4
general statutes, in principal amounts not exceeding in the aggregate 5
twenty million dollars for the Connecticut Port Authority established 6
pursuant to section 15-31a of the general statutes. [The amount 7
authorized for the issuance and sale of such bonds in each of the 8
following fiscal years shall not exceed the following corresponding 9
amount for each such fiscal year, provided, to the extent the authority 10
does not provide for the use of all or a portion of such amount in any 11
such fiscal year, such amount not provided for shall be carried forward 12
and added to the authorized amount for the next succeeding fiscal year, 13
and, provided further, the costs of issuance and capitalized interest, if 14
any, may be added to the capped amount in each fiscal year, and each 15
of the authorized amounts shall be effective on July first of the fiscal year 16
Raised Bill No. 1242
LCO No. 4381 2 of 5
indicated as follows: 17
T1 Fiscal Year Ending Amount
T2 June Thirtieth
T3 2022 $5,000,000
T4 2023 5,000,000
T5 2024 2,500,000
T6
T7 2025
2,500,000
T8
T9 2026 5,000,000
T10 Total $20,000,000]
(b) [The State Bond Commission shall approve a memorandum of 18
understanding between the Connecticut Port Authority and the state, 19
acting by and through the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 20
Management and the Treasurer, providing for the issuance of said 21
bonds for the purposes of projects undertaken by the Connecticut Port 22
Authority regarding ports not located in the towns of New Haven, New 23
London or Bridgeport, including provisions regarding the extent to 24
which federal, private or other moneys then available or thereafter to be 25
made available for costs should be added to the proceeds of the bonds 26
authorized pursuant to this section for such projects. The memorandum 27
of understanding shall be deemed to satisfy the provisions of section 3-28
20 of the general statutes and the exercise of any right or power granted 29
thereby that is not inconsistent with the provisions of this section.] The 30
proceeds of the sale of such bonds, to the extent of the amount stated in 31
subsection (a) of this section, shall be deposited into the small harbor 32
improvement projects account, established pursuant to section 13b-55d 33
of the general statutes, as amended by this act. 34
(c) All provisions of section 3-20 of the general statutes, or the exercise 35
of any right or power granted thereby, that are not inconsistent with the 36
Raised Bill No. 1242
LCO No. 4381 3 of 5
provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply to all 37
bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this 38
section. Temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived 39
from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in 40
accordance with said section, and from time to time renewed. All bonds 41
issued pursuant to this section shall be general obligations of the state 42
and the full faith and credit of the state of Connecticut are pledged for 43
the payment of the principal of and interest on said bonds as the same 44
become due, and accordingly and as part of the contract of the state with 45
the holders of said bonds, appropriation of all amounts necessary for 46
punctual payment of such principal and interest is hereby made, and 47
the Treasurer shall pay such principal and interest as the same become 48
due. 49
[(d) Subject to the amount of limitations of the capping provisions in 50
subsection (a) of this section, the principal amount of the bonds 51
authorized under this section shall be deemed to be an appropriation 52
and allocation of such amount, and such approval of such request shall 53
be deemed the allotment by the Governor of such capital outlays within 54
the meaning of section 4-85 of the general statutes.] 55
Sec. 2. Section 13b-55d of the general statutes is repealed and the 56
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 57
(a) As used in this section, "small harbor" means any harbor in the 58
state not under the authority of the Connecticut Port Authority. 59
(b) The Connecticut Port Authority shall establish an account to be 60
known as the "small harbor improvement projects account". There shall 61
be deposited in the account: (1) The proceeds of notes, bonds or other 62
obligations issued by the state for the purpose of deposit therein and 63
used in accordance with the permissible uses thereof; (2) funds 64
appropriated by the General Assembly for the purpose of deposit 65
therein and used in accordance with the permissible uses thereof; and 66
(3) any other funds required or permitted by law to be deposited in the 67
Raised Bill No. 1242
LCO No. 4381 4 of 5
account. The funds in said account shall be expended by the authority 68
for the purposes described in subsection [(b)] (c) of this section. [As used 69
in this section, "small harbor" means any harbor in the state not under 70
the authority of the Connecticut Port Authority.] 71
[(b)] (c) The small harbor improvement projects account may be used 72
(1) for federal and nonfederal dredging projects in small harbors to (A) 73
support, in full or in part, local and state matching requirements for such 74
projects; (B) cover the incremental costs associated with applicable 75
environmental regulatory requirements or management practices, 76
including beneficial use; and (C) cover part or all of the costs of such 77
projects in the absence of adequate federal funds; [and] (2) to fund 78
private maritime infrastructure projects in small harbors, provided all 79
applicable permits and authorizations are obtained before such private 80
maritime infrastructure projects receive any such funding; and (3) to 81
provide reimbursement for dredging projects that were approved by the 82
Connecticut Port Authority for funding or that commenced prior to the 83
disbursement of such funds due to time considerations that impacted 84
the flow of commerce at such small harbor. If the account is used for the 85
purpose described in subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this 86
subsection, the authority shall pursue reimbursement to the account 87
from the federal government. 88
[(c)] (d) The authority shall adopt procedures in accordance with 89
section 1-121 to implement the provisions of this section, including, but 90
not limited to, a process for contracting for projects in small harbors 91
under this section. 92
Sec. 3. Subsection (m) of section 32 of public act 15-1 of the June 93
special session is amended to read as follows (Effective July 1, 2025): 94
(m) For the Connecticut Port Authority: Grants-in-aid for 95
improvements to ports, harbors and marinas, including dredging and 96
navigational improvements, and reimbursement for dredging projects 97
at small harbors, as defined in section 13b-55d, as amended by this act, 98
Raised Bill No. 1242
LCO No. 4381 5 of 5
not exceeding $17,500,000, provided not less than $5,000,000 shall be 99
made available to the ports, harbors and marinas in the state other than 100
the deep water ports in the cities of Bridgeport, New Haven and New 101
London. 102
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 PA 21-111, Sec. 102
Sec. 2 July 1, 2025 13b-55d
Sec. 3 July 1, 2025 PA 15-1 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 32(m)
Statement of Purpose:
To provide funding for small harbor improvement projects and permit
such funds to be used for the reimbursement of dredging projects at
small harbors.
[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.]