Substitute House Bill No. 5229, known as Public Act No. 24-12, is an act concerning the recommendations of the Eelgrass Working Group. The bill mandates that by January 1, 2025, the members of the Eelgrass Working Group, as established by special act 23-7, must reconvene to review the work of the Eelgrass Collaborative regarding permitting and policies for eelgrass restoration in the state. They are also tasked with reviewing the report produced by the Eelgrass Collaborative and evaluating existing regulations under the United States Army Corps of Engineers permits to determine if modifications are necessary and if similar changes should be applied to the policies of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture.

Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture and The University of Connecticut, to appoint an individual as the Connecticut Seagrass Coordinator. This coordinator will oversee interactions with stakeholders involved with eelgrass in Connecticut and Long Island Sound. Their responsibilities include developing policies for sustainable harvesting of eelgrass seeds, compiling best management practices for aquaculture near eelgrass meadows, prescribing eelgrass-friendly mooring systems, and establishing metrics to evaluate the state's eelgrass restoration efforts to ensure a reasonable return on investment. The act was approved on May 14, 2024.