AN ACT CONCERNING SMART GROWTH AND PLANS OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

This bill postpones, from March 1, 2009 to March 1, 2011, the deadline for revising the five-year State Plan of Conservation and Development (State Plan of C&D), which the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) prepares. In doing so, it resets the schedule for revising the plan and pushes back the deadline for recommending priority-funding areas. The bill also requires the plan's next and subsequent revisions to be consistent with the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

Current law requires municipalities to update these plans at least once every 10 years and disqualifies those that do not from discretionary state funds until they do or the OPM secretary waives this provision. The bill suspends the provision until the next time the state adopts the revised Plan of C&D, which, under the bill, is scheduled to happen on or before July 1, 2012.

Lastly, the bill requires the Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development to study how OPM: (1) prepares the State Plan of C&D and incorporates specified smart growth principles in it, (2) applies the plan and these principles to state agency actions, and (3) integrates the plan with municipal and regional plans of C&D. In studying the plan, the committee must consult with specified groups and report its findings and recommendations to the legislature by February 1, 2010.

(The smart growth principles the bill specifies are those state agencies must use when reviewing specific types of projects under sHB 6464 (File 916)).

*House Amendment “A” deletes the requirement that (1) state, regional, and local plans of C&D incorporate the bill's smart growth principles and (2) OPM prepare model zoning regulations incorporating those principles. It adds provisions (1) postponing the deadline for the next State Plan of C&D revision, (2) requiring that plan to be consistent with local C&D plans and the state's climate change plan, (3) suspending the provision disqualifying municipalities for state discretionary funds for failing to update their C&D plans, (4) requiring the study of the State Plan of C&D's preparation and application. It makes minor changes to the definition of smart growth and the smart growth principles.

*Senate Amendment “A” (1) expands the affordable housing smart growth principle to include developing such housing where it is compatible with smart growth, (2) expands the study's scope to include the integration of the State Plan of C&D with regional and local plans of C&D, and (3) deletes the requirement that the State Plan of C&D be consistent with each local plan of C&D.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except for the change temporarily suspending the provision under which municipalities that do not update their local plans as the law requires become ineligible for state discretionary funds, which takes effect July 1, 2010.

The State Plan of C&D sets policies for locating large-scale, state funded capitol projects. By postponing the deadline for revising the plan, the bill resets the time period for the next plan from 2010-2015 to 2012-2017. The plan's policy guidelines aim to preserve farms, forests, and open space by locating large-scale, state funded development projects in places where roads, sewers, and other supporting infrastructure already exist.

By pushing back the deadline for completing the next revision, the bill also pushes back OPM's deadline for recommending priority funding areas, (places where the state can fund growth-related projects). PA 05-205 required OPM to submit its recommendations to the Continuing Committee along with the revised plan for 2010-2015. By law, the committee must submit its priority funding areas recommendations to the legislature, along with the revised plan, for approval.

The bill also resets the statutory schedule for revising the plan. The table below compares the schedule under the current law and the bill.

By law, the State Plan of C&D must promote specific policy goals, including reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the state. The bill specifies that this goal must be consistent with the Connecticut Climate Change Action Plan. It also eliminates the requirement that OPM, together with the Department of Environmental Protection, report every three years on the net amount of carbon dioxide annually emitted in Connecticut.

In studying how the state prepares and applies the State Plan of C&D, the 10-member Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development (Continuing Committee) must consult with municipalities, regional planning organizations, state agencies, the public, and other stakeholders.

The bill requires the Continuing Committee to determine how OPM incorporates smart growth principles in the plan and how state agencies apply those principles. It bases the principles on its definition of “smart growth. ” Under the bill, smart growth is an economic, social, and environmental development that:

1. simultaneously promotes economic competitiveness and preserves natural resources and

2. allows state, regional, and municipal officials and the communities and constituents they serve to collaboratively plan, make decisions, and evaluate policies.

The development must use financial or other incentives to promote competitiveness and preserve resources.

The principles must be in the form of standards and objectives that can help policy makers act and decide in ways that support and encourage smart growth. The standards and criteria may include:

1. integrating planning to coordinate state and local tax, transportation, housing, and environmental policies;

2. reducing the extent to which municipalities depend on the property tax and compete for new growth by delivering services regionally;

3. redeveloping existing infrastructure and resources, including brownfields and historic places;

4. providing rail, public transit, bikeways, walking, and other transportation alternatives to automobile travel while reducing energy consumption;

5. developing or preserving housing affordable to households with different incomes (a) near transportation and employment centers or (b) where such housing is compatible with smart growth;

6. concentrating mixed use, mixed income development near transit nodes and civic, employment, or cultural centers; and

7. conserving and protecting natural resources by preserving open space, water resources, farmland, environmentally sensitive areas, and historic property, and furthering energy efficiency.

The Governor's Steering Committee on Climate Change prepared this plan and made specific recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plan recommends (1) supporting landfill-to-gas energy projects to capture and use methane as a fuel and (2) increasing recycling and source reduction. It set a goal of reducing non-farm fertilizer use by 7. 5% in 2010 and 15% in 2020. The plan also recommends:

1. setting minimum efficiency levels for appliances;

2. encouraging consumers to replace old appliances with newer, more efficient ones; and

3. identifying measures to reduce gases with high global warming potential.

By law, this 10-member committee must set broad goals and objectives for the state's physical and economic development and send them to the OPM secretary. It also must review and approve the five-year State Plan of C&D each time the secretary changes or revises it (CGS § 4-60d).

The committee is chaired by the Senate and House chairpersons of the Planning and Development Committee. The other members are appointed by the legislative leaders. The Senate president pro tempore and the House speaker appoint two members each from their respective chambers. The Senate and House majority and minority leaders each appoint one member from their respective chambers.

sHB 6464 (File 916) allows state agencies to fund projects under specified programs only if they are consistent with its smart growth principles.

sHB 6595 (File 571) pushes back the deadline, from March 1, 2009 to March 1, 2011, for the next revision of the state C&D plan.

Yea

Nay

(03/20/2009)

Yea

Nay

(04/27/2009)

*Event and Bill Section*	*Current Law*	*Bill*
Submit draft of revised plan to Continuing Committee (§ 4 (a))	September 1, 2008	September 1, 2010
Make further revisions (§ 4 (b))	Between December 1, 2008 and March 1, 2009	Between December 1, 2010 and March 1, 2011
Publish and disseminate plan (§§ 3 & 4 (b))	No later than March 1, 2009	March 1, 2011
Conduct hearings (§ 4 (c))	Not later than five months after publication (July 31, 2009)	Not later than five months after publication (July 31, 2011)
Submit final draft to Continuing Committee (§ 5)	No later than three months after the hearings (October 31, 2009)	By December 1, 2011 for the 2012-2017 plan (subsequent plans must be submitted no later than three months after the hearing)