Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

General Assembly                        Raised Bill No. 5497
       February Session, 2020                 LCO No. 2737
     Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
     Introduced by:
       (ENV)
 AN ACT CONCERNING MINOR REVISIONS TO ENVIRONMENT-
 RELATED STATUTES.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
       Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 22a-416 of the general statutes is
    repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
    passage):
      (d) As used in this section the terms "class I", "class II", "class III" and
   "class IV" mean the classifications of wastewater treatment plants
   provided for in regulations adopted by the Department of Energy and
   Environmental Protection. The Commissioner of Energy and
   Environmental Protection may establish requirements for the presence
   of approved operators at pollution abatement facilities. Applicants for
   class I, [and] class II, class III and class IV certificates shall [only] be
   required to pass the relevant standardized national examination
   prepared by the Association of Boards of Certification for Wastewater
   Treatment Facility Operators. [Applicants for class III and class IV
   certificates shall only be required to pass the relevant standardized
   national examination prepared by the Association of Boards of
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 Certification for Wastewater Treatment Facility Operators
 supplemented with additional questions submitted by the
 commissioner to such board. Operators with certificates issued by the
 commissioner prior to May 16, 1995, shall not be required to be
 reexamined.] The commissioner, or the commissioner's designated
 agent, shall administer and proctor the examination of all applicants.
 The qualifications of the operators at such facilities shall be subject to
 the approval of the commissioner. The commissioner may adopt
 regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, [requiring
 all operators at pollution abatement facilities to satisfactorily complete,
 on a regular basis, a state-certified training course, which may include
 training on the type of municipal pollution abatement facility at which
 the operator is employed and training concerning regulations
 promulgated during the preceding year. Any applicant for certification
 who passed either the examination prepared and administered on
 December 8, 1994, by the commissioner or the examination prepared by
 the Association of Boards of Certification for Wastewater Treatment
 Facility Operators and administered on December 8, 1994, by the
 commissioner shall be issued the appropriate certificate in accordance
 with the regulations adopted under this section] concerning application,
 certification, renewal and continuing education requirements for
 operators. On and after October 1, 2018, each certified operator shall
 obtain not less than six hours of continuing education each year.
 Continuing education units and associated courses shall be approved
 by the commissioner or the commissioner's designated agent in
 consultation with the operator certification advisory board. A record of
 such continuing education shall be maintained by the certified operator
 and by the facility employing the operator and shall be made available
 for inspection upon request by the commissioner.
    Sec. 2. Section 26-159a of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
    To establish and manage populations of marine and anadromous
 finfish and marine arthropods and to facilitate the establishment of
 unified coast-wide regulations in accordance with the provisions of
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 fishery management plans developed pursuant to the Fishery
 Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-265, as
 amended) or other regional fishery management authorities, the
 Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may adopt
 regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 governing
 possession of such species, sport fishing and commercial fishing by
 persons fishing for such species in the waters of this state or landing
 such species in this state, regardless of where such species were taken.
 Such regulations may: (1) Establish the open and closed seasons; (2)
 establish hours, days or periods during the open season when fishing
 shall not be permitted in designated waters or areas for all or limited
 species by all or limited methods; (3) establish legal lengths; (4) prescribe
 the legal methods of sport fishing for all or limited species; (5) establish
 for sport fishing the daily creel limit, the season creel limit and the
 possession limit; (6) restrict sport fishing from boats and other floating
 devices and sport fishing from designated areas; (7) determine the
 species which may be taken by commercial fishing methods, provided
 striped bass, Atlantic salmon, other anadromous salmon, brown trout,
 rainbow trout and brook trout may only be taken by angling and, if
 taken in the waters of this state, shall not be sold, bartered, exchanged
 or offered for sale, barter or exchange; (8) prescribe the legal methods of
 commercial fishing; (9) determine the specifications, materials and
 dimensions of nets, seines, fykes, traps, pounds, trawls, trolling gear,
 long lines, set lines and other commercial fishing gear used in the waters
 of this state; (10) regulate the use and marking of commercial fishing
 gear, including boats used to conduct activities authorized pursuant to
 section 26-142a; (11) determine the number and size of finfish and
 marine arthropods which may be taken by commercial fishermen; (12)
 determine the total number and pounds of finfish and marine
 arthropods, by species, which may be taken by commercial fishing
 methods or for commercial purposes during a calendar year or lesser
 period; (13) prohibit the landing of protected species; (14) for a fishing
 derby or tournament, require that such activity be registered and that
 an accurate report of all fish tagged, marked and taken, time spent on
 an area and any other data required by the commissioner for
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 management purposes be returned within a specified period of time.
 Any person who violates any regulation concerning sport fishing
 adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 and this section
 shall have committed an infraction and may pay the fine by mail or
 plead not guilty under the provisions of section 51-164n. [, except that
 any person who violates any regulation adopted in accordance with the
 provisions of chapter 54 and this section pertaining to the taking of
 striped bass shall be fined one hundred dollars for each fish taken or
 possessed for the first violation, be fined two hundred dollars for each
 fish taken or possessed for the second violation and be fined five
 hundred dollars for each fish taken or possessed or imprisoned not more
 than thirty days, or both for each subsequent violation. No part of any
 fine imposed for the taking or possession of any striped bass in violation
 of any such regulation shall be remitted.]
    Sec. 3. Subsection (g) of section 22a-50 of the general statutes is
 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
 passage):
    (g) The registrant shall pay a fee of [nine hundred forty dollars] one
 hundred eighty-eight dollars per calendar year, or any portion thereof,
 for each pesticide registered and for each renewal of a registration. [A
 registration shall expire after five years.] The commissioner may register
 a pesticide for a period of one year or five years. For such five-year
 registrations, the commissioner shall establish regulations to phase in
 pesticide registration so that one fifth of the pesticides registered expire
 each year. The commissioner may register a pesticide for less than five
 years and prorate the registration fee accordingly to implement the
 regulations established pursuant to this subsection. The fees collected in
 accordance with this section shall be deposited in the General Fund.
 There shall be no refund of a registration fee if a product is voluntarily
 withdrawn or cancelled before the end of its registration period.
    Sec. 4. Subsection (f) of section 22a-54 of the general statutes is
 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
 passage):
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    (f) (1) The commissioner may by regulation adopted in accordance
 with the provisions of chapter 54 prescribe fees for applicants to defray
 the cost of administering examinations and assisting in carrying out the
 purposes of section 22a-451, except the fees for certification and renewal
 of a certification shall be as follows: [(1)] (A) For supervisory
 certification as a commercial applicator, two hundred eighty-five
 dollars; [(2)] (B) for operational certification as a commercial applicator,
 eighty dollars, and [(3)] (C) for certification as a private applicator, one
 hundred dollars. A federal, state or municipal employee who applies
 pesticides solely as part of his employment shall be exempt from
 payment of a fee. Any certificate issued to a federal, state or municipal
 employee for which a fee has not been paid shall be void if the holder
 leaves government employment. The fees collected in accordance with
 this section shall be deposited in the General Fund.
    (2) Not less than sixty days before the date of expiration of a
 certification, the commissioner shall provide notice of expiration and a
 renewal application to each licensee. If a signed renewal application
 accompanied by the applicable renewal fee is not received by the
 commissioner on or before midnight of the expiration date, or if the
 expiration date is a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, on or before
 midnight of the next business day, the license shall automatically lapse.
 Failure of a licensee to receive a notice of expiration and renewal
 application shall not prevent a lapse of a license.
    (3) The commissioner may renew any certification issued pursuant to
 this section for the holder of a certification that has lapsed less than one
 year, provided the holder of such certification submits to the
 commissioner a signed renewal application, payment of the applicable
 renewal fee and any late fee. Such late fee shall be calculated as follows:
 Beginning on the first day that such certification lapses, ten per cent of
 the applicable renewal fee plus one and one-quarter per cent per month,
 or part thereof, for a period not to exceed one year. Any holder of a
 certification that has lapsed more than one year shall be examined in
 accordance with the requirements of this section and any regulation
 adopted pursuant to the provisions of this section.
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    Sec. 5. Subsection (c) of section 22-11h of the general statutes is
 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
 passage):
    (c) Individual structures used for aquaculture as defined in section
 22-11c, including, but not limited to, racks, cages or bags, as well as
 buoys marking such structures, which [do not otherwise require]
 received a permit under federal Army Corps of Engineers regulations
 and do not interfere with navigation in designated or customary boating
 or shipping lanes and channels, shall be placed in leased or designated
 shellfish areas and shall be exempt from the requirements of sections
 22a-359 to 22a-363f, inclusive.
    Sec. 6. Section 26-107h of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
    On or before February first, annually, the Commissioner of Energy
 and Environmental Protection [shall] may submit to the joint standing
 committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters
 relating to the environment a report on the progress of the program
 established under section 26-107f, the purposes for which any funds
 allocated to said program were expended and the future of the program.
    Sec. 7. Section 26-107i of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
    The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may
 establish a program for the sale of wildlife stamps, prints, posters,
 calendars, publications or other items and for the receipt of private
 donations. Any revenue received from the sale of such goods or
 materials and any such private donations shall be deposited in the
 General Fund and allocated to the program established under section
 26-107f.
   Sec. 8. Section 26-137 of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
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    No person shall take or attempt to take any fish [, with the exception
 of lamprey eels during the open season for the same,] within two
 hundred fifty feet of any fishway, except that the commissioner when
 he or she deems necessary may extend or reduce such distance and shall
 indicate such other distance by posting.
    Sec. 9. Subsection (a) of section 23-5d of the general statutes is
 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
 passage):
     (a) The commissioner may approve a natural area preserve [only
 upon the recommendation of the Natural Area Preserves Advisory
 Committee and] only after public hearing and upon notice. The notice
 required by this section shall set forth the substance of the proposed
 action and describe, with or without legal description, the area affected
 and shall set forth the time and place of the hearing, and shall be
 published at least once in the Connecticut Law Journal not less than
 fifteen days nor more than sixty days before such hearing. Such notice
 shall also be published twice in a newspaper having a substantial
 circulation in the municipality or municipalities in which the natural
 area is situated, at intervals of not less than ten days, the first not more
 than forty-five days nor less than thirty days, and the last not less than
 five days before such hearing.
    Sec. 10. Subsection (a) of section 23-5e of the general statutes is
 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
 passage):
    (a) An area designated as a natural area preserve is declared to be put
 to its highest, best and most important use for public benefit and no
 interest therein owned by the state shall be alienated or put to any use
 other than as a natural area preserve, except upon a finding by the
 commissioner [in consultation with the natural area preserves
 committee] that (1) such alienation or other use serves a public necessity
 and that no prudent alternative exists or (2) the features of the land
 found worthy of preservation have been destroyed or irretrievably
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 damaged so that the public purpose in preserving such land has been
 frustrated, and after the approval of such proposed alienation or other
 use by the Governor. Any alienation shall be subject to the payment of
 just compensation to the state for the use of the commissioner and to
 such other terms and conditions as the commissioner shall determine.
 Any finding which the commissioner is required to make under sections
 23-5a to 23-5i, inclusive, shall be made only after public hearing and
 upon notice. The notice required by this section shall set forth the
 substance of the proposed action and describe, with or without legal
 description, the area affected, and shall set forth the time and place of
 the hearing, and shall be published at least twice in the Connecticut Law
 Journal, at intervals of not less than fifteen days, the first not more than
 sixty days nor less than thirty days, and the last not less than five days
 before such hearing. Such notice shall also be published twice in a
 newspaper having a substantial circulation in the municipality or
 municipalities in which the area directly affected is situated, at intervals
 of not less than ten days, the first not more than forty-five days, nor less
 than thirty days, and the last not less than five days before such hearing.
 No finding which the commissioner is required to make under sections
233