Substitute House Bill No. 5335
Substitute House Bill No. 5335
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-226
AN ACT CONCERNING NUCLEAR SAFETY EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS AND THE AUTHORITY OF THE COMMISSION
ON FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL TO ADOPT
REGULATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 28-31 of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) The Department of Public Utility Control
shall establish a nuclear safety emergency
preparedness account, which shall be a separate,
nonlapsing account within the General Fund, and
which shall be financed through assessments of all
Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees operating
nuclear power generating facilities in the state.
The department shall initially assess the
licensees for a total of two million dollars. [At
such time as the balance of this account falls
below three hundred thousand dollars, the] THE
department may assess licensees for such amounts
as necessary for the purposes of the account,
provided the balance in the account AT THE END OF
THE FISCAL YEAR may not exceed three hundred
thousand dollars. The department [, upon request
of the director of the Office of Emergency
Management and with the approval of the Secretary
of the Office of Policy and Management, may assess
the licensees for special nonrecurring expenses in
any year for a total not to exceed one hundred
thousand dollars, provided the balance in the
account does not at any time exceed three hundred
thousand dollars, and] shall annually assess the
licensees, upon the request of the [director of
the Office of Emergency Management] COMMISSIONER
OF PUBLIC SAFETY, for funding to support annual
expenses of five staff positions in the Department
of Environmental Protection and [two] THREE staff
positions in the [Office of Emergency Management]
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. Personnel shall be
assigned to said staff positions solely for the
purposes of the program established pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section. Federal
reimbursements and grants obtained in support of
the nuclear safety emergency preparedness program
shall be paid into the General Fund and credited
to the account. The department shall develop an
equitable method of assessing the licensees for
their reasonable pro-rata share of such
assessments. All such assessments shall be
included as operating expenses of the licensees
for purposes of rate-making. All moneys within the
account shall be invested by the State Treasurer
in accordance with established investment
practices and all interest earned by such
investments shall be returned to the account.
(b) Moneys in the account shall be expended by
the director of the [Office of Emergency
Management] COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, in
conjunction with the Commissioner of Environmental
Protection, only to support the activities of a
nuclear safety emergency preparedness program and
only in accordance with the plan approved by the
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management
under subsection (c) of this section. The program
shall include, but not necessarily be limited to:
(1) Development of a detailed fixed facility
nuclear emergency response plan for areas
surrounding each nuclear electrical generation
facility and each away-from-reactor spent fuel
storage facility, (2) annual training of state and
local emergency response personnel, (3)
development of accident scenarios and exercising
of fixed facility nuclear emergency response
plans, (4) provision of specialized response
equipment necessary to accomplish this task [and]
(5) SUPPORT FOR THE OPERATIONS AND PERSONAL
SERVICES COSTS OF THE RADIOLOGICAL INSTRUMENT
MAINTENANCE AND CALIBRATION FACILITY, AS NECESSARY
TO REPLACE ANY REDUCTION IN CURRENT FEDERAL
FUNDING AND (6) any other measures as may be
required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Moneys in
the account shall be distributed as follows to
carry out the purposes of the program: The
[director] COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY may
expend not more than twenty-five per cent of the
proceeds of the maximum annual assessment for
administrative functions incident to the program.
He may expend such additional funds as are
necessary to assure and maintain emergency
operations center capabilities and specialized
response equipment necessary to implement the
fixed facility nuclear emergency response plans.
The remaining moneys in the account may be
allocated to other state agencies and used to
reimburse municipalities for costs incurred in the
purchase and maintenance of equipment and for
services rendered in carrying out the purposes of
the program.
(c) Not later than November first, annually,
the [director of the Office of Emergency
Management] COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, in
consultation with the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection, shall submit to the
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management a
plan for carrying out the purposes of the nuclear
safety emergency preparedness program during the
next state fiscal year. The plan shall include
proposed itemized expenditures AND MEASURES for
the program. The secretary shall review the plan
and, not later than December first, annually,
approve the plan if it conforms to the provisions
of this section.
(d) All moneys within the nuclear safety
emergency preparedness account may be expended
only in accordance with the provisions of this
section.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of
subsection (a) of this section, the Department of
Public Utility Control may allow an additional
assessment of the licensees to supplement the
initial assessment of such licensees if either the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the Federal
Emergency Management Agency disapproves or
informs, in writing, the director of the Office of
Emergency Management that it is likely to
disapprove the nuclear safety emergency
preparedness plan and additional funds are or
would be needed to conform the plan to acceptable
standards.
Sec. 2. Section 7-323l of the general statutes
is repealed and the following is substituted in
lieu thereof:
(a) The commission shall:
[(a)] (1) Recommend minimum standards of
education and physical condition required of each
candidate for any fire fighter position;
[(b)] (2) Establish standards for a fire
service training and education program, on a
voluntary basis, and develop and conduct an
examination program to certify those fire service
personnel who satisfactorily demonstrate their
ability to meet the requirements of the fire
service training and education program standards;
[(c)] (3) Conduct fire fighting training and
education programs designed to assist fire
fighters in developing and maintaining their
skills and keeping abreast of technological
advances in fire suppression, fire protection,
fire prevention and related fields;
[(d)] (4) Recommend standards for promotion to
the various ranks of fire departments;
[(e)] (5) Be authorized to apply for, receive
and distribute any federal or private funds or
contributions available for training and education
of fire fighting personnel; and
[(f)] (6) Submit to the Governor and Joint
Legislative Management Committee of the General
Assembly an annual report relating to the
activities, recommendations and accomplishments of
the commission.
(b) THE COMMISSION MAY ADOPT REGULATIONS, IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 54, AS
ARE NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION.
Approved June 8, 1998