Approved by the Legislative Commissioner

April 25, 2016

AN ACT CONCERNING GUIDELINES FOR THE CREATION OF A "CONNECTICUT-GROWN BEER" DESIGNATION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, shall develop guidelines for the creation of a "Connecticut-Grown beer" designation and the requisite statutory and regulatory provisions necessary for establishing and promoting such designation. Such guidelines shall include recommendations concerning: (1) The type of hops and cereal grains that are best suited for Connecticut's soils, topography and climate, (2) best practices for cultivating hops and cereal grains in Connecticut, including management strategies for insects, diseases, weather and other environmental factors, (3) the minimum, maximum and average harvest yields per plant and per acre for hops and cereal grains under cultivation in Connecticut at various stages of maturity, (4) the average time for hops to reach maturity from planting and cutting to average harvest yields, (5) the minimum and average weight of cereal grains and hops required per gallon of finished beer, (6) legislation required to increase the amount of Connecticut-Grown cereal grains and hops that could be used in "Connecticut-Grown beer", (7) policies governing the establishment of a permit for farm breweries, (8) any existing state and federal grants and programs that could be used to increase production of Connecticut-Grown cereal grains and hops, (9) the total percentage of Connecticut-Grown product used in manufacturing a beer that is necessary to designate the beer as Connecticut-Grown, (10) reporting requirements necessary for brewers of "Connecticut-Grown beer", (11) verification systems for evaluating compliance with and enforcing regulations pertaining to "Connecticut-Grown beer", and (12) any other issue deemed relevant to such designation by the Department of Agriculture and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

(b) Not later than January 1, 2017, the Department of Agriculture and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station shall submit such guidelines to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment and general law, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill requires the Department of Agriculture (DoAg), in consultation with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), to develop certain guidelines to create a “Connecticut-Grown beer” designation by January 1, 2017. As DoAg currently has staff with expertise to develop the guidelines, the bill does not result in a fiscal impact.

House “A” replaces the establishment of a farm brewery manufacturer permit with a requirement for the “Connecticut-Grown beer” designation. This does not result in a fiscal impact.

The Out Years

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 5580 (as amended by House "A")

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A FARM BREWERY MANUFACTURER PERMIT.

SUMMARY:

The Office of Legislative Research does not analyze Special Acts.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Environment Committee

Joint Favorable

General Law Committee

Joint Favorable