Sec. 22a-27j. Additional fee for municipal planning, zoning, wetlands and coastal management applications. Use of revenue. Noncompliance. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 22a-27j. Additional fee for municipal planning, zoning, wetlands and coastal management applications. Use of revenue. Noncompliance. (a) Any person, firm or corporation, other than a municipality, making an application for any approval required by chapters 124, 126, 440 and 444 or by regulations adopted pursuant to said chapters shall pay a fee of twenty dollars, in addition to any other fee which may be required, to the municipal agency or legislative body which is authorized to approve the application. On and after July 1, 2004, the fee shall be thirty dollars. Such municipal agency or legislative body shall collect such fees, retaining two dollars of such fee for administrative costs, and shall pay the remainder of such fees quarterly to the Department of Environmental Protection and the receipts shall be deposited into an account of the State Treasurer and credited to the Environmental Quality Fund established pursuant to section 22a-27g. The portion of such fund attributable to the fees established by this section shall be used by the Department of Environmental Protection as follows: (1) Nineteen dollars shall be used for the purpose of funding the environmental review teams program of the Bureau of Water Management within said department, the Council on Soil and Water Conservation established pursuant to section 22a-315 and the eight county soil and water conservation districts, and (2) nine dollars shall be deposited into the hazard mitigation and floodplain management account established pursuant to section 22a-27q and used for grants under section 25-68k.

      (b) Not later than three months following the close of each fiscal year starting with fiscal year July 1, 2000, the Department of Environmental Protection shall identify those municipalities that are not in compliance with subsection (a) of this section for the previous fiscal year and shall provide the Office of Policy and Management with a list of such municipalities. The list shall be submitted annually and in such manner as the Office of Policy and Management may require. The Office of Policy and Management, when issuing the first payment from the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund established pursuant to section 3-55i, in the fiscal year during which said list is received, shall reduce said payment to a municipality by one thousand dollars for each quarter of the preceding fiscal year that the municipality has not been in compliance with subsection (a) of this section to a maximum of four thousand dollars in each fiscal year. The Office of Policy and Management shall certify to the State Comptroller the amount of any funds withheld under this subsection to be transferred to the Environmental Quality Fund for the uses set forth in subsection (a) of this section, and the State Comptroller shall cause said amount to be transferred to such fund.

      (P.A. 92-235, S. 4, 6; P.A. 93-86; P.A. 00-102, S. 1, 2; 00-196, S. 61; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 108; P.A. 04-144, S. 6.)

      History: P.A. 93-86 amended section to provide that funds and receipts shall be paid to environmental protection department and deposited into account of the state treasurer and credited to the environmental quality fund, replacing provision whereby fees were to be paid to state treasurer and deposited by him in conservation fund; P.A. 00-102 designated existing language as Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (b) re withholding of funds to municipalities not in compliance with section, effective May 26, 2000; P.A. 00-196 deleted former Subsec. (b) and added new Subsec. (b), making technical changes and providing that list be submitted annually not later than three months following close of each fiscal year starting with fiscal year July 1, 2000; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (a) to increase application fee from $10 to $20, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 04-144 amended Subsec. (a) by applying fee to applications filed pursuant to regulations adopted under enumerated chapters, increasing fees from $20 to $30 and amount retained by municipalities from $1 to $2 and providing that $19 be used for funding environmental review teams program and $9 be deposited in hazard mitigation and floodplain management account and used for grants under Sec. 25-68k, and amended Subsec. (b) by increasing the reduction to municipalities not in compliance in the fiscal year the list is received from $500 to $1,000 and increasing the maximum reduction for the preceding fiscal year from $2,000 to $4,000, effective July 1, 2004.