HB 5433 — AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PROCEDURE FOR THE STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER TO MAKE DETERMINATIONS CONCERNING CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS.

As used in this section, "sacred sites" and "archaeological sites" have the same meanings as provided in section 10-381.

(d) (1) The Council on Environmental Quality shall publish a document at least once a month to be called the Environmental Monitor which shall include any notices the council receives pursuant to sections 22a-1b to 22a-1i, inclusive, as amended by this act, and shall include notice of the opportunity to request a public scoping meeting.

Filings of such notices received by five o'clock p.m.

on the first day of each month shall be published in the Environmental Monitor that is issued not later LCO No.

2613 4 of 9 Raised Bill No.5433 than ten days thereafter.

(2) The Council on Environmental Quality shall post the Environmental Monitor on its Internet site and distribute a subscription or a copy of the Environmental Monitor by electronic mail to any state agency, municipality or person upon request.

The council shall also provide the Environmental Monitor to the clerk of each municipality for posting in its town hall.

(e) Any state department, institution or agency that conducts an environmental impact evaluation pursuant to subsection (c) of this section may enter into a contract with a person for the preparation of such evaluation, provided such department, institution or agency:

(1) Guides such person in the preparation of such evaluation, (2) participates in the preparation of such evaluation, (3) independently reviews such evaluation prior to submitting such evaluation for commentpursuanttosection22a-1d,and(4)assuresthatanythirdparty responsible for conducting any activity that is the subject of such evaluation is not a party to such contract.

Such department, institution or agency may require any such third party responsible for conducting any activity that is the subject of such evaluation to remit a fee to such department, institution or agency in an amount sufficient to pay for the cost of hiring a person to prepare such evaluation in accordance with the provisions of this subsection.

Sec.

2.

(3) "State"Sponsoring entity"agency" meanshas athe statesame department,meaning institutionas ordescribed agencyin undersections section22a-1 22a-1bto 22a-1h, inclusive, of the general statutes,statutes; as amended by this act;

(4) "State fundingentity" recipient" means a recipientstate ofdepartment, stateinstitution fundingor agency under LCOsections No.22a-1 to 22a-1h, inclusive, of the general statutes;

2613(5) 5"State offunding 9recipient" Raisedmeans Billa No.5433recipient sectionof 22a-1bstate offunding theunder generalsections statutes,22a-1 asto amended22a-1h, byinclusive, thisof act;the general statutes;

and (5)(6) "State Historic Preservation Officer" hasmeans the sameindividual meaningappointed by the Governor pursuant to 54 USC 302301(1), as providedamended infrom sectiontime 22a-1bto oftime, to administer the generalstate statutes,historic aspreservation amendedprogram bysHB5433 this/ act.File No.

(b)459 Each1 sponsoringsHB5433 agencyFile underNo. section 22a-1b of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer to determine whether an individual activity or a sequence of planned activities proposed to be undertaken by the sponsoring agency, a state entity or a state funding recipient is within the category of actions which may significantly affect the environment because suchactivityorsequenceofactivities couldhaveamajorimpact on the state's historic structures and landmarks.

In459 makingin suchaccordance determination, the State Historic Preservation Officer shall collaborate with the54 sponsoringUSC agency,302303, stateas entityamended orfrom statetime fundingto recipient,time. as applicable.

(b) A sponsoring agency may, in accordance with sections 22a-1 to 22a-1h, inclusive, of the general statutes, consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer to determine whether an individual activity or a sequence of planned activities proposed to be undertaken by the sponsoring agency, a state entity or a state funding recipient is within the category of actions which may significantly affect the environment because suchactivityorsequenceofactivitiescouldhaveamajorimpact on the state's historic structures and landmarks.

The State Historic Preservation Officer shall, in making such determination, collaborate with the sponsoring agency, state entity or state funding recipient, as applicable.

(d) (1) If the State Historic Preservation Officer determines that such individual activity or sequence of planned activities is within the category of actions which will significantly affect the environment because such activity or sequence of activities will have a major impact on historic structures and landmarks, the officer shallshall, proposein acollaboration mitigationwith plan requiring the sponsoring agency, state entity or state funding recipient, as applicable,applicable,proposeamitigationplanrequiringsuchsponsoringagency, state entity or state funding recipient to mitigate such impact.

LCO(2) The sponsoring agency, state entity or state funding recipient, as applicable, shall, to the extent possible, submit to the State Historic PreservationOfficer allpertinent informationregardingsuchindividual sHB5433 / File No.

2613459 62 ofsHB5433 9File RaisedNo. Bill No.5433 (2) The sponsoring agency, state entity or state funding recipient, as applicable, shall, to the extent possible, submit to the State Historic PreservationOfficer allpertinent informationregarding suchindividual activity or sequence of plannedactivities that may affect suchmitigation plan.

459 activity or sequence of plannedactivitiesthat may affect suchmitigation plan.

The execution of such mitigation agreement shall constitute a determination by the State Historic PreservationOfficer that saidofficer issatisfiedissatisfiedtheenvironmentaleffect the environmental effect will be mitigated.

Such revised mitigation agreement may be executed by the officer and the sponsoring agency, state entity or thestate LCOfunding No.recipient, as applicable.

2613The 7execution of 9such Raisedrevised Billmitigation agreement shall constitute a determination by the State Historic Preservation Officer that said officer is satisfied the sHB5433 / File No.

5433459 state3 fundingsHB5433 recipient,File asNo. applicable.

The459 execution of such revised mitigation agreement shall constitute a determination by the State Historic Preservation Officer that said officer is satisfied the environmental effect will be mitigated.

(g) If the State Historic Preservation Officer proposes a mitigation plan pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (d) of this section but a mitigation agreement is not executed under subsection (d), (e) or (f) of thissection,thesponsoringagencythis shallconductanearlypublicscopingsection, the sponsoring agency may conduct an early public scoping process in accordance with subsection (b) of section 22a-1b of the general statutes,statutes. as amended by this act.

Section 1 October 1, 2024 22a-1bNew LCOsection No.CE Joint Favorable Subst.

2613sHB5433 8/ ofFile 9 Raised Bill No.

5433459 Sec.4 sHB5433 File No.

2459 OctoberThe 1,following 2024Fiscal NewImpact section Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of Purpose:the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

ToIn establishgeneral, afiscal procedureimpacts forare thebased Stateupon Historica Preservationvariety Officerof toinformational makesources, determinationsincluding concerningthe certainanalyst’s environmentalprofessional effectsknowledge. and establish mitigation plans concerning such environmental effects.

[ProposedWhenever deletionsapplicable, areagency encloseddata inis brackets.consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

ProposedOFA additionsFiscal areNote indicatedState byImpact: underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

2613None 9Municipal ofImpact: 9

None Explanation The billhasno fiscal impact by establishing proceduresrelatingtothe State Historic Preservation Officer’s (SHPO) project reviews.

The bill generally codifies the recommendations of the SHPO working group which SHPO has begun to implement in current practice.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None sHB5433 / File No.

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459 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 5433 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PROCEDURE FOR THE STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER TO MAKE DETERMINATIONS CONCERNING CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS.

SUMMARY ThisbillcodifiesinstatuteandrevisesproceduresrelatingtotheState Historic Preservation Officer’s (SHPO) project reviews under the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA).

Currently, SHPO reviews projects under CEPA to determine whether there could be an impact on the state’s historic structures and landmarks, but neither CEPA nor its regulations specify requirements for SHPO’s reviews (see BACKGROUND).

Among other things, the bill requires SHPO to make an initial determination of a project’s impact within 30 days after receiving information it deems reasonably necessary to make the determination.

If SHPO determines that there will be a major impact on historic structures and landmarks, then it must propose a mitigation plan in collaboration with the sponsoring agency;

state entity (i.e., a state department, institution, or agency);

or state funding recipient (collectively, “project proponent”).

The bill allows the project proponent, if it declines to execute the proposed mitigation agreement, to request the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) commissioner to review the plan and recommend revisions.

(SHPO is within DECD.) It also allows state funding recipients, instead of executing a mitigation agreement with SHPO, to elect to pay mitigation costs of 15% of the state funding or $750,000, whichever is less, to resolve the impact.

It also allows the sponsoring agency to conduct public scoping in accordance with CEPA if no agreement is reached.

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459 EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2024 SHPO REVIEW CEPA and Historic Preservation Generally, CEPA provides a declaration of state policy and establishes a process by which state agencies must identify and review their proposed actions that may significantly affect the environment (CGS § 22a-1a et seq.).

Under CEPA and the bill, “actions which may significantly affect the environment” include individual activities or a sequence of planned activities proposed to be undertaken by state departments, institutions, or agencies, or funded in whole or in part by the state, which could have a major impact on, among other things, historic structures and landmarks (CGS § 22a-1c).

By law and under thebill, “historic structuresand landmarks” means any building, structure, object, or site that is significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture or property used in connection with it, including sacred sites and archaeological sites (CGS § 10-410).

SHPO Reviews Under the bill, a sponsoring agency may consult with SHPO to determine whether a project proponent’s proposed individual activities or sequence of planned activities could have a major impact on the state’s historic structures and landmarks (and potentially significantly affect the environment).

Although CEPA does not define “sponsoring agency,” under CEPA regulations each agency responsible for recommending or initiating an action is considered a sponsoring agency (Conn.

Agencies Regs., § 22a-1a-2(a)).

The bill requires SHPO to make an initial determination within 30 days after receiving information it deems reasonably necessary to make the determination.

SHPO must collaborate with the project proponent in making this determination.

It must provide written notice to the sponsoring agency if it determines that there is no effect or no major impact on historic structures or landmarks.

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459 Determination of Major Impact If SHPO determines that there will be a major impact on historic structures and landmarks, then it must propose a mitigation plan in collaboration with the project proponent.

To the extent possible, the project proponent must submit to SHPO all pertinent information that may affect the mitigation plan, and SHPO must consider this information in developing the plan.

The bill requires SHPO to memorialize the mitigation plan in an agreement that the project proponent may execute.

Executing the original agreement or a revised agreement (see below) constitutes a determinationbySHPO thatit issatisfiedtheenvironmentalimpactwill be mitigated.

DECD Review.

The bill allows the project proponent, if it declines to execute theagreement,torequest theDECDcommissioner to reviewthe plan and recommend revisions.

The proponent may make this request within 15 days after SHPO proposes the mitigation plan.

The request must be in a form and manner the commissioner prescribes and may include a request for a conference withthecommissioner, SHPO, project proponent, and any other interested party.

Within 30 days after receiving the request, the commissioner must hold the conference (if requested) and make recommendations (if any) for revising the proposed mitigation plan, which SHPO must incorporate into a revised plan.

Under the bill, SHPO must memorialize the revised plan into a revised agreement that the office and project proponent may execute.

If the commissioner does not recommend revisions, then the proponent may elect to execute the originally proposed agreement.

Payment Option.

The bill allows state funding recipients to elect to pay mitigation costs of 15% of the state funding or $750,000, whichever is less.

The recipient may elect to do so at any time while SHPO is making a determination or developing a mitigation plan.

SHPO must memorialize the election in a mitigation agreement executed by SHPO sHB5433 / File No.

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459 and the recipient.

Executing the agreement constitutes a determination by SHPO that it is satisfied the environmental effect will be mitigated.

Public Scoping if Agreement not Executed.

The bill allows a sponsoring agency to conduct an early public scoping under CEPA if no mitigation agreement is executed.

Generally, public scoping is when the sponsoringagencysolicitscommentsfromotheragenciesandthepublic about the proposed action’s environmental effects and whether an environmental impact evaluation (EIE) is required (CGS § 22a-1b(b)).

BACKGROUND CEPA Overview Generally, CEPA provides a declaration of state policy and establishes a process by which state agencies must identify and review their proposed actions that may significantly affect the environment (CGS § 22a-1a et seq.).

CEPA reviews have three primary stages:

1.

an initial assessment by a sponsoring agency (i.e., the agency administering or funding the project) to determine whether public scoping is required;

2.

a public scoping process to determine whether an EIE is required (CGS § 22a-1b(b));

and 3.

an EIE, which is the most extensive level of review under CEPA (CGS § 22a-1b(c)).

SHPO’s reviews generally occur at the first stage of the process (i.e., before public scoping).

During this stage, agencies consult an environmental classification document, which lists examples of agency actions that typically require (or do not require) public scoping.

If the sponsoring agency determines that itsactiondoes not have the potential tosignificantlyaffecttheenvironment,thenitdoesnotproceedtopublic scoping.

SHPO SHPO is located within DECD and has responsibilities under both sHB5433 / File No.

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459 federal and state law, including the following:

1.

historic designations to the National and State Registers of Historic Places;

2.

regulatory review and compliance related to the National Historic Preservation Act (i.e., Section 106 reviews) and CEPA;

3.

local historic preservation programs;

4.

federal and state tax credit programs;

and 5.

state museums.

The term “SHPO” is often used interchangeably to refer to either the “State Historic Preservation Office” or the “State Historic Preservation Officer.” In practice, the responsibilities of the designated officer are fulfilled by the office as a whole.

COMMITTEE ACTION Commerce Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 22 Nay 2 (03/26/2024) sHB5433 / File No.

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