AN ACT CONCERNING A LONG ISLAND SOUND BLUE PLAN AND RESOURCE AND USE INVENTORY.

AN ACT CONCERNING A LONG ISLAND SOUND BLUE PLAN AND RESOURCE AND USE INVENTORY.

This bill requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner, within available resources, to:

The commissioner must do these things in conjunction with a 16-member Long Island Sound Resource and Use Inventory and Blue Plan Advisory Committee, which the bill creates.

The bill establishes a process for developing the inventory and plan, including provisions for public input. The draft inventory and plan must be completed by March 1, 2019 and the public must have at least 90 days for review and comment. The commissioner must adopt a final draft plan within 90 days after the public comment period ends. Once final, the bill requires the plan to be (1) reviewed by the Environment Committee and (2) submitted to the General Assembly for a vote before it can take effect. The bill requires the inventory and plan to be reviewed and updated every five years.

Under the bill, the plan's policies, locations, or standards must apply in a spatial planning area as depicted on a map the advisory committee prepares. DEEP and other state or local agencies must consider the plan when reviewing applications to conduct certain coastal activities.

*House Amendment “A” (1) removes the DEEP commissioner's authority to accept gifts, grants, donations, or bequests for the inventory and plan; (2) broadens the inventory's scope to include information on waterfowl hunting; and (3) specifies that the advisory committee's UConn faculty member is from the university's marine sciences programs.

*House Amendment “B” (1) exempts certain authorized areas along rivers flowing into the Sound from the spatial planning area and (2) requires the public hearings to be held in three separate areas of the state.

Under the bill, the inventory must be completed by a Long Island Sound Inventory and Science subcommittee convened by UConn. It must be comprised of the best available information and data on Long Island Sound's natural resources and uses, including all of its:

1. plants, animals, and habitats;

2. ecologically significant areas in nearshore and offshore waters and their substrates (surfaces where organisms grow);

3. uses of the waters and substrates, such as (a) boating and fishing; (b) waterfowl hunting; (c) shellfish beds; (d) aquaculture and energy facilities; (e) shipping corridors; and (f) electric power line, gas pipeline and telecommunications crossings; and

4. updates and additions to the comprehensive environmental assessment and plan on Long Island Sound crossings (such as pipelines).

1. establish the state's goals, siting priorities, and standards for effective stewardship of the Sound's waters held in trust for public benefit;

2. promote science-based management practices that consider existing natural, social, cultural, historic, and economic characteristics of planning areas within the Sound;

3. preserve and protect traditional riparian (banks of rivers or other waters) and water-dependent uses and activities;

4. promote maximum public access to the Sound's waters for traditional public trust uses, such as boating and fishing, unless it is (a) a national security interest or (b) necessary to protect coastal resources or preserve public health, safety, and welfare;

5. reflect the Sound's importance to state residents who make a living from or enjoy recreational boating or fishing;

6. analyze the implications of existing and potential uses and users of the Sound, focusing on avoiding conflicts;

7. reflect the value of biodiversity and ecosystem health, with regard to ecosystem interdependence;

8. identify and protect special, sensitive, and unique estuarine and marine life and habitats, such as scenic and visual resources;

9. adapt to evolving knowledge and understanding of the marine environment, including climate change and sea level rise adaptation;

10. foster sustainable uses that capitalize on economic opportunity without significant detriment to the Sound's ecology or natural beauty;

11. support infrastructure needed to sustain the state's economy and quality of life;

12. identify appropriate locations and performance standards for activities, uses, and facilities regulated under state permit programs, such as measures to guide siting uses in ways consistent with the plan; and

13. reflect the importance of planning for the Sound as an estuary that crosses state boundaries, including identifying potential measures that encourage the planning.

Under the bill, the plan must be consistent with the inventory described above and provide for ongoing acquisition and application of up-to-date resource and use data, including seafloor mapping. It must be consistent with the State's Plan of Conservation and Development and the goals and policies in the state's Coastal Management Act.

The bill requires the plan to be developed by a transparent and inclusive process that seeks widespread public and stakeholder participation and encourages public input in decision making. The plan must be coordinated, developed, and implemented with New York, to the greatest extent possible. It must also be coordinated, to the greatest extent feasible, with local, regional, and federal planning entities and agencies that include the (1) Connecticut-New York Bi-State Marine Spatial Planning Working Group, (2) Long Island Sound Study, and (3) National Ocean Policy's Northeast Regional Planning Body (see BACKGROUND).

Waters and Submerged Lands. The waters and submerged lands subject to the commissioner's planning, management, and coordination authority under the plan include Long Island Sound and its bays and inlets, from the mean high water line to the state's waterward boundaries with New York and Rhode Island. The bill specifies that the high water line is defined by the most recent data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Spatial Planning Area. The bill requires the advisory committee (see below) to prepare a map showing a spatial planning area where the plan's siting policies, location identifications, or performance standards for activities, uses, and facilities must apply.

The bill specifies that the spatial planning area is located seaward of the bathymetric contour (line of underwater depth) of minus ten feet North American Vertical Datum to the state's waterward boundaries with New York and Rhode Island. But it does not extend into (1) a river that flows into the Sound beyond the first motor vehicle or railroad bridge crossing the river or (2) an area along the river that the economic and community development (DECD) commissioner approves as an enterprise zone, which, under the bill, must be known as a defense plant zone (see BACKGROUND).

To help the commissioner develop the inventory and plan, the bill requires the advisory committee to hold at least three public hearings in different coastal municipalities to receive public comments and submissions. The bill specifies that one hearing each must be held (1) east of the Connecticut River, (2) west of the Housatonic River, and (3) between the Connecticut and Housatonic rivers. It allows the committee to provide other public outreach and input measures to assure stakeholder engagement and representation.

While helping to complete the draft inventory and plan, but before they are available for public comment, the committee must consult with the DECD commissioner and representatives from:

The bill also requires the committee, to the extent feasible, to consult with applicable New York state agencies, advisory counterparts, and the Connecticut-New York Bi-State Marine Spatial Planning Working Group to create a mutually agreeable process to develop the inventory and plan.

Once the draft inventory and plan are completed, the bill requires the DEEP commissioner to make them available for public review and comment for at least 90 days. He must post them, and the notice of public comment period, on DEEP's and the Office of Policy and Management's websites. Notice must also be published in the Environmental Monitor and the Connecticut Law Journal.

The commissioner must adopt a final draft no later than 90 days after the public comment period ends.

Under the bill, once a final draft of the plan is completed, the commissioner must submit it to the Environment Committee for review. The committee must hold a public hearing on the plan within 45 days after the start of the legislative session following the plan's receipt. It must, within 45 days after this public hearing, submit to the General Assembly (1) the plan and (2) its recommendation for approval or disapproval.

The plan takes effect when it is approved by a majority vote of each chamber of the General Assembly. If the legislature disapproves it, in whole or part, it is deemed rejected and must be returned to the advisory committee for revision.

The bill requires revisions to the inventory and plan to be submitted to the Environment Committee and approved by the General Assembly, following the same procedure as described above. The DEEP commissioner is responsible for reviewing and updating the inventory and plan at least once every five years.

The bill requires the DEEP commissioner to develop and implement a public outreach and information program to inform the public about the plan. It also requires the advisory committee to hold at least one public hearing each year to receive public comments and submissions on the inventory and plan. The program and hearing must be accomplished within available resources.

Under the bill, once the inventory and plan are approved as described, the plan must be considered when reviewing applications for:

1. aquaculture operations permits or producer licenses and seaweed planting and cultivation licenses;

2. shellfish grounds leases;

3. certificates of environmental compatibility and public need from the Connecticut Siting Council;

4. emergency or temporary authorizations for certain regulated activities to prevent loss of life, health, wealth, or property;

5. electric power line, gas pipeline, or telecommunications crossings of Long Island Sound;

6. dredging, erecting structures, placing fill, obstructions, or encroachments, or conducting work related to these activities, in tidal, coastal, or navigable waters waterward of the coastal jurisdiction line; or

7. coastal structure maintenance and other activities eligible for a certificate of permission from DEEP;

8. discharging water, substance, or material into state waters; or

9. a state water quality certification pursuant to federal law.

It allows the plan to be used for guidance in pre-application discussions between applicants and the DEEP commissioner.

The bill also requires the commissioner to seek federal approval needed to incorporate the plan as an enforceable policy in the state's coastal management program under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

Under the bill, the advisory committee consists of 16 members. It includes (1) the DEEP, transportation, and agriculture commissioners, or their designees; (2) the OPM secretary, or his designee; (3) one Connecticut Siting Council representative; and (4) 11 appointed members, as Table 1 shows.

Under the bill, the DEEP commissioner serves as the committee's chairperson and must convene the first meeting by August 30, 2015 (i.e., 60 days after the bill's effective date). The bill allows him to ask committee members to help with administrative functions, such as convening and noticing meetings and drafting assessments and reports.

The bill places the committee in DEEP for administrative purposes only. Thus, it makes DEEP responsible for, among other things, providing administrative and clerical functions for the committee to the extent the DEEP commissioner considers necessary.

In addition to helping the DEEP commissioner develop the draft inventory and plan, the bill requires the committee to advise the commissioner on operating, implementing, and updating the inventory and plan within six months after the General Assembly's approval. It must also meet quarterly to review the plan's implementation, identify emerging issues, and recommend any needed or desired changes to the plan.

Connecticut's enterprise zone program offers various tax incentives and other benefits for businesses operating in designated economically distressed areas. Generally, municipalities must be considered “distressed municipalities” to designate an area as an enterprise zone, and the area they choose to designate must meet certain poverty or unemployment criteria. The DECD commissioner approves the zones. There are currently 17 enterprise zones.

In 1985, in an effort to better protect Long Island Sound, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Connecticut, and New York formed the Long Island Sound Study, a bi-state partnership consisting of federal and state agencies, user groups, organizations, and individuals seeking to restore and protect the Sound.

Formed by a presidential Executive Order in 2010, the National Ocean Policy was established to help manage the country's oceans and coasts. The policy encourages a science-based spatial planning process to analyze current and future uses of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. The approach is executed through regional planning bodies. Members of the Northeast Regional Planning Body include federal, tribal, state, and New England Fishery Management Council representatives.

*Appointing Authority*	*Number*	*Qualifications*
Governor	Five	● A faculty member from UConn's marine sciences programs ● A representative of the gas and electric distribution industries ● A representative of the shellfish industry or an organization familiar with commercial or recreational aquaculture ● A representative of a nonprofit conservation organization with expertise in marine assessments and planning ● A representative of coastal municipalities
Senate president pro tempore	One	A representative of a conservation organization that specializes in coastal issues
Senate majority leader	One	A representative of the commercial boating or shipping industries
Senate minority leader	One	A representative of the marine trades industry
House speaker	One	A representative of the commercial finfish industry
House majority leader	One	A representative of coastal municipalities
House minority leader	One	A representative of the recreational fishing and hunting community