Sec. 22a-112. Financial assistance. Grants to municipalities. Contracts or grant agreements concerning coastal management. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 22a-112. Financial assistance. Grants to municipalities. Contracts or grant agreements concerning coastal management. (a) In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the commissioner shall equitably allocate any funds received for the implementation of this chapter between coastal-related state programs, which may include coastal research projects, and municipal coastal programs.

      (b) Upon receipt by the commissioner of a written application from a coastal municipality, said commissioner shall make a grant to such municipality of not less than twenty-five hundred dollars to be used to carry out the responsibilities of such municipality under this chapter, provided, on or after July 1, 1980, funds shall be allocated to coastal municipalities in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) of this section.

      (c) The commissioner shall provide, within available appropriations, continuing financial assistance to coastal municipalities to carry out their responsibilities under this chapter. Municipalities may apply annually for financial assistance in carrying out their responsibilities for municipal coastal site plan reviews under sections 22a-105 to 22a-109, inclusive, and for the purpose of preparing and implementing municipal coastal programs under sections 22a-101 to 22a-104, inclusive. The commissioner shall, by regulations adopted in accordance with chapter 54, establish reasonable application requirements consistent with federal application requirements. In reviewing municipal applications for financial assistance the commissioner shall consider: (1) The area, length of shorefront, population and development pressures within the municipality's coastal boundary, (2) the nature of the municipality's coastal resources and coastal-related problems, (3) the demonstrated capacity and commitment of the municipality to carrying out the purposes of this chapter, (4) the number of coastal site plan reviews conducted by the municipality, (5) the availability of funds, and (6) the state plan for conservation and development adopted pursuant to part I of chapter 297.

      (d) Not less than thirty per cent of any funds received annually by the state under Section 306 of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act shall be provided annually to coastal municipalities for municipal coastal site plan reviews under sections 22a-105 to 22a-109, inclusive. Up to an additional twenty per cent of any funds received annually by the state under Section 306 of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act shall as a first priority be provided annually to assist coastal municipalities which have chosen to prepare and implement a municipal coastal program under sections 22a-101 to 22a-104, inclusive, provided, if in any one year the total amount of all grants to municipalities which have agreed to adopt municipal coastal programs is less than twenty per cent of such federal funds received in that year, the difference shall be allocated for the purposes of this chapter in accordance with subsection (a) of this section.

      (e) Any funds appropriated to the Department of Environmental Protection for the purposes of subsection (b) of this section and for the purpose of providing matching funds to implement a coastal management program pursuant to this chapter which are not used for such purposes shall be allocated to coastal municipalities in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

      (f) The legislative body of a municipality or, in the case of a municipality for which the legislative body is a town meeting or a representative town meeting, the board of selectmen may, by majority vote, authorize the chief executive officer to enter into contracts or grant agreements concerning coastal management with the commissioner. Such contracts or agreements include but are not limited to those for funding of coastal site plan review, municipal coastal program and any other demonstration or coastal research project funded in accordance with this section.

      (P.A. 79-535, S. 6, 24, 25; P.A. 82-250, S. 5, 6; P.A. 86-336, S. 2, 19; P.A. 05-288, S. 97, 98.)

      History: P.A. 82-250 added Subsec. (f) authorizing the legislative body or board of selectmen of a coastal community to empower the chief executive officer of a coastal community to enter into contract or grant agreements with the commissioner for funding coastal site plan review, municipal coastal programs and coastal research projects; P.A. 86-336 amended Subsec. (c) to limit provision of continuing financial assistance to coastal municipalities to "within available appropriations"; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsecs. (b) and (d), effective July 13, 2005.