Bill Text: CT SB01020 | 2011 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut Senate Bill 1020 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Water Resources And Economic Development.

Spectrum:

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-06-08 - Senate Recommitted to Commerce [SB01020 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2011-SB01020-Comm_Sub.html

General Assembly		*Substitute Bill No. 1020*
*January Session, 2011*		_____SB01020CE____030911____

AN ACT CONCERNING WATER RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

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

Section 1. Section 26-141b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):

(a) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall, on or before December 31, [2006] 2012, [and after consultation and cooperation] in concurrence with the Department of Public Health, the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Utility Control, and after consultation and cooperation with an advisory group convened by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, and any other agency, board or commission of the state with which said commissioner shall deem it advisable to consult and after recognizing and providing for the needs and requirements of public health, flood control, industry, public utilities, water supply, public safety, agriculture and other lawful uses of such waters and further recognizing and providing for stream and river ecology, the requirements of natural aquatic life, natural wildlife and public recreation, and after considering the natural flow of water into an impoundment or diversion, and being reasonably consistent therewith, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, establishing flow regulations for all river and stream systems. Such flow regulations shall: (1) Apply to all river and stream systems within this state; (2) preserve and protect the natural aquatic life, including anadromous fish, contained within such waters; (3) preserve and protect the natural and stocked wildlife dependent upon the flow of such water; (4) promote and protect the usage of such water for public recreation; (5) be based, to the maximum extent practicable, on natural variation of flows and water levels while providing for the needs and requirements of public health, flood control, industry, public utilities, water supply, public safety, agriculture and other lawful uses of such waters; and (6) be based on the best available science, including, but not limited to, natural aquatic habitat, biota, subregional basin boundaries, areas of stratified drift, stream gages and flow data, locations of registered, permitted, and proposed diversions and withdrawal data reported pursuant to section 22a-368a, locations where any dams or other structures impound or divert the waters of a river or stream and any release made therefrom, and any other data for developing such regulations or individual management plans. Such flow regulations [may] shall not require any public water system, as defined in subsection (a) of section 25-33d, to comply with reservoir release requirements that will cause a reduction in safe yield, available supply or margin of safety to levels that are not sufficient to meet the public health, safety, agricultural and economic development needs of the state and shall provide special conditions or exemptions including, but not limited to, an extreme economic hardship or other circumstance, an agricultural diversion, a water quality certification related to a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, [or] as necessary to allow a public water system, as defined in subsection (a) of section 25-33d, to comply with the obligations of such system as set forth in the regulations of Connecticut state agencies or where compliance requires the expenditure of resources for the development of new sources of water supplies or storage which is not technically feasible or financially viable. Any flow management plan contained in a resolution, agreement or stipulated judgment to which the state, acting through the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, is a party, or the management plan developed pursuant to section 3 of public act 00-152, is exempt from any such flow regulations. Flow regulations that were adopted pursuant to this section and sections 26-141a and 26-141c prior to October 1, 2005, shall remain in effect until the Commissioner of Environmental Protection adopts new regulations pursuant to this section.

(b) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Public Health, shall conduct an analysis of all basins in Connecticut using existing data and resources to classify rivers and streams, or segments thereof, according to their current and proposed future use, and establish priorities for compliance with flow regulations for any dam or other structure that impounds or instantaneously diverts a river or stream. In establishing such priorities for compliance, said commissioners shall solicit input from appropriate state agencies and stakeholders and consider the potential impacts of compliance with the flow regulations on economic development, brownfields remediation, the adequacy of public water supplies to meet the current and future public health and safety needs of the communities served, the ability of water companies to maintain an adequate margin of safety, as determined by the Department of Public Health, the impact on water rates and the anticipated environmental benefits from compliance. For purposes of this section, rivers and streams adjacent to or immediately downstream of public water supply sources, or located in areas of significance for economic development shall not be classified in a manner that would prevent human alteration of the natural stream flow consistent with the continued use of such public water supply sources, or economic development.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2011) The Department of Public Utility Control shall provide ratemaking mechanisms that allow for the timely recovery of costs of compliance with the flow regulations proposed pursuant to section 26-141b of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and shall amend existing regulations to allow a water company to include in such company's rate base new facilities and improvements to facilities necessary to comply with the flow regulations and to allow the affected water company to implement a rate surcharge for such costs of compliance until such time as the company files its next general rate case.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2011	26-141b
Sec. 2	July 1, 2011	New section

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In section 1(b) the phrase "in consultation with the Commissioner of Public Health" in the first sentence was moved to the beginning of the sentence for consistency and to conform with the intent of the committee, and the word "screening" was changed to "analysis" for clarity. In section 2, after "26-141b" the phrase "of the general statutes" was added for consistency with drafting conventions.

Joint Favorable Subst.-LCO