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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1242
January Session, 2025
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] For the purposes described in subsection (b) of this section, 3
the State Bond Commission shall have the power from time to time to 4
authorize the issuance of bonds of the state [, in accordance with the 5
provisions of section 3-20 of the general statutes,] in one or more series 6
and in principal amounts not exceeding in the aggregate twenty million 7
dollars for the Connecticut Port Authority established pursuant to 8
section 15-31a of the general statutes. [The amount authorized for the 9
issuance and sale of such bonds in each of the following fiscal years shall 10
not exceed the following corresponding amount for each such fiscal 11
year, provided, to the extent the authority does not provide for the use 12
of all or a portion of such amount in any such fiscal year, such amount 13
not provided for shall be carried forward and added to the authorized 14
amount for the next succeeding fiscal year, and, provided further, the 15
costs of issuance and capitalized interest, if any, may be added to the 16
capped amount in each fiscal year, and each of the authorized amounts 17
shall be effective on July first of the fiscal year indicated as follows: 18
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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 19
understanding between the Connecticut Port Authority and the state, 20
acting by and through the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 21
Management and the Treasurer, providing for the issuance of said 22
bonds for the purposes of projects undertaken by the Connecticut Port 23
Authority regarding ports not located in the towns of New Haven, New 24
London or Bridgeport, including provisions regarding the extent to 25
which federal, private or other moneys then available or thereafter to be 26
made available for costs should be added to the proceeds of the bonds 27
authorized pursuant to this section for such projects. The memorandum 28
of understanding shall be deemed to satisfy the provisions of section 3-29
20 of the general statutes and the exercise of any right or power granted 30
thereby that is not inconsistent with the provisions of this section.] The 31
proceeds of the sale of such bonds, to the extent of the amount stated in 32
subsection (a) of this section, shall be deposited into the small harbor 33
improvement projects account, established pursuant to section 13b-55d, 34
as amended by this act. 35
(c) All provisions of section 3-20 of the general statutes, or the exercise 36
of any right or power granted thereby, that are not inconsistent with the 37
provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply to all 38
bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this 39
section. Temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived 40 Substitute Bill No. 1242
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from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in 41
accordance with said section, and from time to time renewed. All bonds 42
issued pursuant to this section shall be general obligations of the state 43
and the full faith and credit of the state of Connecticut are pledged for 44
the payment of the principal of and interest on said bonds as the same 45
become due, and accordingly and as part of the contract of the state with 46
the holders of said bonds, appropriation of all amounts necessary for 47
punctual payment of such principal and interest is hereby made, and 48
the Treasurer shall pay such principal and interest as the same become 49
due. 50
[(d) Subject to the amount of limitations of the capping provisions in 51
subsection (a) of this section, the principal amount of the bonds 52
authorized under this section shall be deemed to be an appropriation 53
and allocation of such amount, and such approval of such request shall 54
be deemed the allotment by the Governor of such capital outlays within 55
the meaning of section 4-85 of the general statutes.] 56
Sec. 2. Section 13b-55d of the general statutes is repealed and the 57
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 58
(a) As used in this section, "small harbor" means any harbor in the 59
state not under the authority of the Connecticut Port Authority. 60
(b) The Connecticut Port Authority, established under section 15-31a, 61
shall establish a competitive grant program to be known as the small 62
harbor improvements projects grant program. Such program shall 63
provide funding to municipalities and private entities for small harbor 64
improvement projects for purposes of improving the economy and 65
infrastructure of the state. Such projects may include federal and 66
nonfederal dredging projects in small harbors and private maritime 67
infrastructure projects in small harbors, provided all applicable permits 68
and authorizations are obtained before such private maritime 69
infrastructure projects receive any such grant award. With regard to 70
federal and nonfederal dredging projects, grants may be awarded to (1) 71
support, in full or in part, local and state matching requirements for such 72 Substitute Bill No. 1242
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projects; (2) cover the incremental costs associated with applicable 73
environmental regulatory requirements or management practices, 74
including beneficial use; (3) cover part or all of the costs of such projects 75
in the absence of adequate federal funds; and (4) provide 76
reimbursement for such projects that were approved by the authority 77
for funding or that commenced prior to the disbursement of such funds 78
due to time considerations that impacted the flow of commerce at such 79
small harbor. 80
(c) Applications shall be submitted annually to the Connecticut Port 81
Authority at such times and in such manner as the authority prescribes. 82
The authority shall develop the eligibility criteria for participation in the 83
program and determine the amount a private entity shall be required to 84
provide to match any such grant. The authority shall give preference to 85
applications submitted by a municipality. 86
[(a)] (d) The Connecticut Port Authority shall establish an account to 87
be known as the "small harbor improvement projects account". There 88
shall be deposited in the account: (1) The proceeds of notes, bonds or 89
other obligations issued by the state for the purpose of deposit therein 90
and used in accordance with the permissible uses thereof; (2) funds 91
appropriated by the General Assembly for the purpose of deposit 92
therein and used in accordance with the permissible uses thereof; and 93
(3) any other funds required or permitted by law to be deposited in the 94
account. The funds in said account shall be expended by the authority 95
for the [purposes described in subsection (b) of this section. As used in 96
this section, "small harbor" means any harbor in the state not under the 97
authority of the Connecticut Port Authority. 98
(b) The small harbor improvement projects account may be used (1) 99
for federal and nonfederal dredging projects in small harbors to (A) 100
support, in full or in part, local and state matching requirements for such 101
projects; (B) cover the incremental costs associated with applicable 102
environmental regulatory requirements or management practices, 103
including beneficial use; and (C) cover part or all of the costs of such 104
projects in the absence of adequate federal funds; and (2) to fund private 105 Substitute Bill No. 1242
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maritime infrastructure projects in small harbors, provided all 106
applicable permits and authorizations are obtained before such private 107
maritime infrastructure projects receive any such funding] purpose of 108
providing grants pursuant to the program described in subsection (b) of 109
this section. If the account is used for the purpose described in 110
[subparagraph (C) of] subdivision [(1)] (3) of [this] subsection (b) of this 111
section, the authority shall pursue reimbursement to the account from 112
the federal government. 113
[(c)] (e) The authority shall adopt procedures in accordance with 114
section 1-121 to implement the provisions of this section, including, but 115
not limited to, a process for contracting for projects in small harbors 116
under this section. 117
Sec. 3. Subsection (m) of section 32 of public act 15-1 of the June 118
special session, as amended by section 230 of public act 16-4 of the May 119
special session and section 540 of public act 17-2 of the June special 120
session, is amended to read as follows (Effective July 1, 2025): 121
(m) For the Connecticut Port Authority: Grants -in-aid for 122
improvements to ports, harbors and marinas, including dredging and 123
navigational improvements, and reimbursement for dredging projects 124
at small harbors, as defined in section 13b-55d, as amended by this act, 125
not exceeding $6,750,000, provided not less than $5,000,000 shall be 126
made available to the ports, harbors and marinas in the state other than 127
the deep water ports in the cities of Bridgeport, New Haven and New 128
London. 129
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)
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Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Section 3 was redrafted to reflect the current version of subsection (m)
of section 32 of public act 15-1.
TRA Joint Favorable Subst.