PART II
LONG ISLAND SOUND ADVISORY COUNCILS
AND LONG ISLAND SOUND ASSEMBLY.
LONG ISLAND SOUND FOUNDATION, INC.
PROTECTION OF LONG ISLAND SOUND
Sec. 25-154. Long Island Sound advisory councils. (a) There are established
three Long Island Sound advisory councils as follows: (1) An Eastern Long Island Sound
Advisory Council consisting of the towns of Stonington, Groton, Ledyard, Preston,
Norwich, Montville, New London, Waterford, East Lyme, Old Lyme, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Essex, Chester, Deep River, Clinton and Westbrook; (2) a Central Long Island
Sound Advisory Council consisting of the towns of Madison, Guilford, Branford, East
Haven, North Haven, Hamden, New Haven, West Haven and Orange; and (3) a Western
Long Island Sound Advisory Council consisting of the towns of Milford, Shelton, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Westport, Norwalk, Darien, Stamford and Greenwich.
(b) The membership of each council shall be comprised of the chief executive officer, or his designee, of each municipality in such council and nine members as follows:
One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one appointed by the minority
leader of the Senate, one appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one
appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and five appointed
by the Governor, one of whom shall represent an academic institution located within
the boundaries of the council, one of whom shall represent industry, one of whom shall
be an environmental specialist, one of whom shall be a member of an environmental
organization, and one of whom shall represent a volunteer or citizen organization. No
more than four of the Governor's appointments may be members of the same political
party as the Governor. The Governor shall designate one of the members of each council
appointed by him to call the first meeting of such council. The first meeting of each
council shall be called on or before August 1, 1989. At the first meeting of each council
a chairman and vice-chairman shall be elected by majority vote of the members of the
council.
(c) Each council shall prepare a report concerning the use and preservation of Long
Island Sound within its boundaries. Such report shall include, but not be limited to,
provisions prioritizing the concerns of citizens and organizations for the future of Long
Island Sound, recommendations for improving the biological integrity of and public
access to Long Island Sound and identification of available resources concerning Long
Island Sound. Such report shall be revised as each council deems necessary.
(d) Each council may organize, as it deems necessary, and utilize public or private
resources in accomplishing its duties, including those made available from educational
institutions and industry.
(e) Each council shall submit its report to the Long Island Sound Assembly not
more than one year after the first meeting of such council. Any revision shall be submitted
to said assembly within thirty days.
(P.A. 89-344, S. 2, 4.)
Sec. 25-155. Long Island Sound Assembly. (a) There is established the Long
Island Sound Assembly consisting of seven members of each Long Island Sound advisory council. The members shall be appointed by the chairman of each advisory council,
three of whom shall be chief executive officers, and four shall be appointed from the
members of such councils appointed by the Governor or the legislature, at least one of
whom shall be a public member, one shall represent an environmental organization and
one shall represent a volunteer or citizen organization.
(b) The assembly shall review the report of each advisory council submitted pursuant to section 25-154 for compatibility with the reports of the other councils and for
coordination with federal and state law and the activities of the Bi-State Long Island
Sound Marine Resources Committee. The assembly shall submit a report of its review
and any recommendations to the General Assembly on or before January first, annually.
On and after October 1, 1996, the report shall be submitted to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment
and, upon request, to any member of the General Assembly. A summary of the report
shall be submitted to each member of the General Assembly if the summary is two pages
or less and a notification of the report shall be submitted to each member if the summary
is more than two pages. Submission shall be by mailing the report, summary or notification to the legislative address of each member of the committee or the General Assembly,
as applicable.
(c) The assembly shall hold its first meeting, to be called by the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection, on or before September 1, 1989.
(P.A. 89-344, S. 1, 4; P.A. 96-251, S. 12.)
History: P.A. 96-251 amended Subsec. (b) by requiring that on and after October 1, 1996, reports be submitted to
environment committee and upon request to legislators and by adding provisions re submission of report summaries to
legislators.
Sec. 25-156. Long Island Sound Foundation, Inc. (a) There is established the
Long Island Sound Foundation, Inc., a nonstock, nonprofit corporation, organized under
the laws of the state of Connecticut as a state chartered foundation. The Long Island
Sound Foundation, Inc. shall be a successor organization to the Long Island Sound
Assembly established under section 25-155.
(b) The Long Island Sound Foundation, Inc. shall: (1) Target and promote the coordination and support of research and education activities and public information programs regarding the restoration and protection of Long Island Sound; and (2) receive,
disburse and administer gifts, grants, endowments or other funds from any source that
supports research and education activities connected with the Long Island Sound ecosystem consistent with the purposes of this section. Recipients of such funds may include
nonprofit organizations, civic and community groups, schools, public agencies and the
private sector.
(P.A. 93-74, S. 48, 67.)
History: P.A. 93-74 effective July 1, 1993.
Sec. 25-157. Applications for crossings of Long Island Sound. Moratorium.
Petition to waive moratorium. Notwithstanding any other provision of the general
statutes, no state agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of Environmental
Protection and the Connecticut Siting Council, shall consider or render a final decision
for any applications relating to electric power line crossings, gas pipeline crossings or
telecommunications crossings of Long Island Sound that have required or will require
a certificate issued pursuant to section 16-50k or approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission including, but not limited to, electrical power line, gas pipeline or
telecommunications applications that are pending or received after June 3, 2002, for a
period of three years after June 3, 2002. Such moratorium shall not apply to applications
relating solely to the maintenance, repair or replacement necessary for repair of electrical
power lines, gas pipelines or telecommunications facilities currently used to provide
service to customers located on islands or peninsulas off the Connecticut coast or harbors, embayments, tidal rivers, streams or creeks. An applicant may seek a waiver of
such moratorium by submitting a petition to the following: The chairpersons and ranking
members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance
of matters relating to energy and the environment, the chairman of the Connecticut Siting
Council, the chairperson of the Public Utilities Control Authority, the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection, and any other state agency head with jurisdiction over the
subject of the petition. Such persons may grant a petition for a waiver by unanimous
consent. Nothing in section 16-244j, this section or sections 25-157a to 25-157c, inclusive, shall be construed to affect the project in the corridor across Long Island Sound,
from Norwalk to Northport, New York, to replace the existing electric cables that cross
the sound.
(P.A. 02-95, S. 1; P.A. 03-123, S. 6; 03-148, S. 1; P.A. 04-109, S. 12; 04-222, S. 5.)
History: P.A. 02-95 effective June 3, 2002; P.A. 03-123 made a technical change; P.A. 03-148 limited types of crossings
subject to moratorium to those that require a certificate issued pursuant to Sec. 16-50k or approval by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, changed moratorium from one year to two years and eliminated provision re task force chaired
by the Institute of Sustainable Energy, effective June 26, 2003; P.A. 04-109 made a technical change, effective May 21,
2004; P.A. 04-222 extended moratorium from two years to three years after June 3, 2002, and specified parties to whom
applicant for moratorium waiver shall submit petition, effective June 8, 2004.
Sec. 25-157a. Comprehensive environmental assessment and plan re crossings of Long Island Sound. Not later than one year from June 3, 2002, a comprehensive
environmental assessment and plan shall be completed under the direction of the Institute
for Sustainable Energy. In conducting the comprehensive environmental assessment
and plan, a task force shall work with the Institute of Sustainable Energy that consists
of the task force members contained in Executive Order Number 26 of Governor John
G. Rowland and a representative of: (1) The Bureau of Fisheries of the Department of
Environmental Protection; (2) the Director of the Bureau of Aquaculture of the Department of Agriculture; (3) the Bureau of Aviation and Ports, Connecticut Coastline Port
Authority of the Department of Transportation; (4) the Connecticut Seafood Council;
(5) the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries; (6) Save the Sound, Inc.; (7) the Connecticut
Fund for the Environment, Inc.; (8) the Long Island Soundkeeper; (9) the State Geologist; and (10) no more than one representative each from the holder of a permit for a
merchant cable, one representative from an applicant for a gas pipeline, one representative from each local gas and electric distribution company and one representative from
the telecommunications industry. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the task force
from soliciting the participation of other persons in the development of the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan including, but not limited to, federal agencies
regarding matters within such agencies' jurisdiction. Such assessment and plan shall
include, but not be limited to, a review and analysis of those criteria set forth in Executive
Order Number 26 of Governor John G. Rowland in addition to the following: (A) In
consultation with the Institute of Water Resources at The University of Connecticut
and The University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service, a comprehensive
inventory and mapping of all existing environmental data on the natural resources of
Long Island Sound, including, but not limited to: All coastal resources, as defined in
section 22a-93, all points of public access and public use, locations of rare and endangered species including the breeding and nesting areas for such rare and endangered
species, locations of historically productive fishing grounds and locations of unusual
and important submerged vegetation; (B) an evaluation of the relative importance and
uniqueness of the natural resources and an identification of the most ecologically sensitive natural resources of Long Island Sound; (C) an assessment of the present status,
future potential and environmental impacts on Long Island Sound of meeting the region's energy needs that do not require the laying of a power line or cable within Long
Island Sound; (D) an evaluation of methods to minimize the numbers and impacts of
electric power line crossings, gas pipeline crossings and telecommunications crossings
within Long Island Sound, including an evaluation of the individual and cumulative
environmental impacts of any such proposed crossings; (E) an inventory of current
crossings of Long Island Sound and an evaluation of the current environmental status
of those areas that have crossings; (F) an evaluation of the reliability and operational
impacts to the state and region of proposed crossings of Long Island Sound and an
evaluation of the impact on reliability by recommended limitations on such crossings;
(G) recommendations for providing for regional energy needs while protecting Long
Island Sound to the maximum extent possible; and (H) recommendations on natural
resource performance bond levels to insure and reimburse the state in the event that future
electric power line crossings, gas pipeline crossings or telecommunications crossings
substantially damage the public trust in the natural resources of Long Island Sound. For
the purposes of sections 25-157 to 25-157c, inclusive, "Long Island Sound" shall include
its harbors, embayments, tidal rivers, streams and creeks to the extent that any such
projects would impact such harbors, embayments, tidal rivers, streams and creeks.
(P.A. 02-95, S. 3; P.A. 03-123, S. 7; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(f); P.A. 04-189, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 02-95 effective June 3, 2002; P.A. 03-123 made a technical change, effective June 26, 2003; June 30 Sp.
Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Department of Agriculture with Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective
July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments
of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004.
Sec. 25-157b. Crossings of Long Island Sound. Evaluation of application's
consistency with comprehensive environmental assessment plan. Any application
for an electric power line, gas pipeline or telecommunications crossing of Long Island
Sound that is considered by any state agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of Environmental Protection or the Connecticut Siting Council, after the creation
of the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan, described in section 25-157a,
shall additionally be evaluated for such application's: (1) Likelihood to impair the public
trust in Long Island Sound based on, but not limited to, the information contained in
the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan; (2) consistency with the recommendations of the comprehensive environmental assessment; and (3) environmental
impact, both individual and cumulative, including but not limited to those impacts anticipated by the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan described in section
25-157a.
(P.A. 02-95, S. 4.)
History: P.A. 02-95 effective June 3, 2002.
Sec. 25-157c. State's advisory opinion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Request for moratorium. Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the Connecticut Siting Council, within fifteen days of June 3, 2002, shall submit
the state's advisory opinion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting
that, on behalf of the state, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission not approve any
new individual electric power line crossing, gas pipeline crossing or telecommunications
crossing until the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan described in section 25-157a is completed and that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission avoid
environmental damage to Long Island Sound to the greatest extent possible when licensing any future project by considering the recommendations contained in the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan described in section 25-157a. Notwithstanding
the provisions of sections 16-244j and 25-157 to 25-157b, inclusive, and this section,
if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proceeds with consideration of any such
project, regardless of the Siting Council's request, the Connecticut Siting Council and
any other state agency with jurisdiction over such project shall review such proposed
project and recommend siting, construction procedures and environmental mitigation
measures to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for such project that conform
with the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan described in section 25-157a, to the degree such assessment and plan information is available.
(P.A. 02-95, S. 5.)
History: P.A. 02-95 effective June 3, 2002.