General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5116
February Session, 2022 LCO No. 1116
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
AN ACT REQUIRING THE CREATION OF UTILITY COMPANY TREE-
PLANTING FUNDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2022) (a) An electric distribution
2 company that has a service area of not more than seventeen towns shall
3 create and administer a fund to award moneys to municipalities for tree
4 planting. The fund shall distribute annually not less than one hundred
5 thousand dollars in the aggregate to municipalities in the service area.
6 (b) An electric distribution company that has a service area of
7 eighteen or more towns shall create and administer a fund to award
8 moneys to municipalities for tree planting. The fund shall distribute
9 annually not less than five hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate
10 to municipalities in the service area.
11 (c) The electric distribution companies shall determine the
12 application procedures for awarding moneys from the funds described
13 in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, provided: (1) There is no
14 application fee; (2) awards do not exceed fifteen thousand dollars per
15 project; and (3) eligibility is limited to municipalities in which the
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 Raised Bill No. 5116
16 electric distribution company awarding the moneys pruned or removed
17 trees in the previous year.
18 (d) All trees planted pursuant to this section shall be planted on
19 publicly owned land that is open to the public.
20 (e) No tree planted pursuant to this section may be planted on the site
21 of a tree that was removed by a telephone, telecommunications or
22 electric distribution company during vegetation management, as
23 defined in section 16-234 of the general statutes.
24 (f) The electric distribution companies shall use best efforts to award
25 moneys from the funds described in subsections (a) and (b) of this
26 section to municipalities in amounts proportionate to the scale of tree
27 removal and pruning conducted by the electric distribution companies
28 in those municipalities in the previous year.
29 (g) Any costs incurred by an electric distribution company pursuant
30 to this section shall not be recoverable.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require the utility companies to create and administer a fund that
distributes money to municipalities for tree-planting projects in public
areas.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
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