Substitute House Bill No. 5095
Substitute House Bill No. 5095
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-216
AN ACT CONCERNING THE LOCATION OF CREMATORIES,
PUBLIC NOTICE OF CERTAIN PERMIT APPLICATIONS TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND THE
SITING OF ASPHALT BATCHING AND MIX FACILITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 19a-320
of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) Any resident of this state, or any
corporation formed under the law of this state,
may erect, maintain and conduct a crematory in
this state and provide the necessary appliances
and facilities for the disposal by incineration of
the bodies of the dead, in accordance with the
provisions of this section. The location of such
crematory shall be within the confines of an
established cemetery containing not less than
twenty acres, which cemetery shall have been in
existence and operation for at least five years
immediately preceding the time of the erection of
such crematory, or shall be within the confines of
a plot of land approved for the location of a
crematory by the selectmen of any town, the mayor
and council or board of aldermen of any city and
the warden and burgesses of any borough; provided,
in any town, city or borough having a zoning
commission, such commission shall have the
authority to grant such approval. ON AND AFTER THE
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ACT, NO CREMATORY WHICH IS
NOT OPERATING ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ACT
SHALL BE LOCATED WITHIN FIVE HUNDRED FEET OF ANY
RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE OR LAND USED FOR RESIDENTIAL
PURPOSES NOT OWNED BY THE OWNER OF THE CREMATORY.
Sec. 2. Section 22a-6l of the general statutes
is repealed and the following is substituted in
lieu thereof:
The Commissioner of Environmental Protection
may require any applicant for a permit issued by
the commissioner pursuant to any provision of this
title to provide notice of such permit application
by posting notice of the application in accordance
with this section. Such notice shall not be
required for a permit for a transportation
project, a permit for the burning of brush
pursuant to subsection (f) of section 22a-174, or
a permit for any open burning conducted pursuant
to authorized fire fighting training by any fire
department. The applicant shall erect and maintain
in a legible condition a sign not less than six
feet by four feet upon the site where the activity
which is the subject of the permit application is
located or proposed to be located, which sign
shall be clearly visible from the public highway
and which sign shall be erected not later than
three days after the date the applicant receives,
by certified mail, written notice to the applicant
that notice under this section is required. The
sign shall include the words "Department of
Environmental Protection. Permit Applicant. For
further information contact:" and a phone number
for an office from which any interested person may
obtain a copy of the subject application and
information regarding the procedure for making
comment on the application. The sign shall be
maintained for a period of one hundred twenty days
or until the date on which the commissioner
publishes notice of his tentative determination on
the application, whichever is earlier. Any
applicant required to post notice in accordance
with this section shall submit to the commissioner
a written certification, under oath, of compliance
with the requirements of this section provided the
commissioner may require any additional proof of
such compliance. Such certification shall be on a
form specified by the commissioner. SUCH FORM
SHALL INCLUDE CERTIFICATION THAT NOTICE OF SUCH
APPLICATION HAS ALSO BEEN FILED WITH LOCAL
MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICIAL OF THE
MUNICIPALITY WITHIN WHICH THE SITE OR PROPOSED
SITE IS LOCATED, THE BUILDING OFFICIAL, THE ZONING
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS, LOCAL HEALTH OFFICIALS, AND
ANY LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, COMMITTEE, OR
OFFICIALS. The commissioner shall not process an
application until the applicant has submitted to
the commissioner the certification required by
this section. If the commissioner determines that
posting notice in accordance with this section
will not adequately apprise the public and
abutting landowners of the proposed activity, the
commissioner may require any other reasonable form
of notice he deems necessary.
Sec. 3. Section 22a-183 of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) Any person who owns or is in control of
any plant, building, structure, process or
equipment may apply to the commissioner for a
permit granting an exemption or partial exemption
from regulations issued pursuant to this chapter
governing the quality, nature, duration or extent
of discharges of air pollutants. The application
shall be accompanied by, or the applicant shall
furnish, such information and data as the
commissioner may require. The commissioner may
grant such permit if he finds that the discharges
occurring or proposed to occur do not constitute a
danger to public health or safety, and compliance
with the regulations from which exemption is
sought would produce SUBSTANTIAL practical
difficulty or hardship without equal or greater
benefits to the public.
(b) No permit shall be granted pursuant to
this section (1) except after A public hearing
HELD by the commissioner, [and] (2) until the
commissioner has considered the relative interests
of the applicant, owners of other property likely
to be affected by the discharges, and the general
public, as specified in section 22a-176, AND (3)
UNLESS THE COMMISSIONER HAS DETERMINED WHETHER THE
SOURCE, EITHER ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH
ANOTHER SOURCE, IF GRANTED SUCH PERMIT, ENDANGERS
PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY OR WELFARE OR THE
ENVIRONMENT.
(c) The exemption or partial exemption granted
by any permit pursuant to this section [may] SHALL
be limited in duration TO NO MORE THAN FIVE YEARS.
[in the discretion of the commissioner.] THE
COMMISSIONER OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MAY, UPON
FURTHER APPLICATION PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION,
GRANT FURTHER EXEMPTION OR PARTIAL EXEMPTION FROM
THE REGULATIONS ADOPTED UNDER THIS CHAPTER FOR
ADDITIONAL PERIODS OF NOT MORE THAN FIVE YEARS
DURATION.
(d) FOR ANY APPLICATION FOR A PERMIT UNDER
THIS CHAPTER PENDING BEFORE THE COMMISSIONER ON
THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION FOR WHICH THE
COMMISSIONER HAS NOT PUBLISHED NOTICE OF HIS
TENTATIVE DETERMINATION ON THE APPLICATION, IF THE
COMMISSIONER DETERMINES THAT COMPLIANCE BY AN
APPLICANT WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 22a-6l,
AS AMENDED BY SECTION 1 OF THIS ACT, IS NECESSARY
TO MORE ADEQUATELY APPRISE THE PUBLIC OR ABUTTING
LANDOWNERS OF THE PROPOSED ACTIVITY, THE
COMMISSIONER MAY REQUIRE COMPLIANCE WITH SUCH
SECTION.
Sec. 4. (NEW) No asphalt batching or
continuous mix facility shall be located in an
area which is less than one-third of a mile in
linear distance from any hospital, nursing home,
school, area of critical environmental concern,
watercourse, or area occupied by residential
housing. Such distance shall be measured from the
outermost perimeter of such facility to the
outermost point of such zones provided that any
such facility in operation as of December 31,
1997, shall not be subject to the provisions of
this section.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect from its
passage, except that section 1 shall take effect
October 1, 1998.
Approved June 1, 1998