(a) There is established a remedial action and redevelopment municipal grant program to be administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development for the purpose of providing grants to municipalities, Connecticut brownfield land banks and economic development agencies for the eligible costs of brownfield remediation projects, brownfield assessment projects and reasonable administrative expenses not to exceed five per cent of any grant awarded. A grant awarded under this section shall not exceed four million dollars.
(b) A grant applicant shall submit an application to the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development on forms provided by the commissioner and with such information the commissioner deems necessary, including, but not limited to: (1) A description of the proposed project; (2) an explanation of the expected benefits of the project in relation to the purposes of this section; (3) information concerning the financial and technical capacity of the applicant to undertake the proposed project; (4) a project budget; and (5) with respect to a brownfield remediation project, a description of the condition of the brownfield, including the results of any environmental assessment of the brownfield in the possession of or available to the applicant.
(c) The commissioner may approve, reject or modify any application properly submitted in accordance with the provisions of this section. In reviewing an application and determining the amount of the grant, if any, to be provided, the commissioner shall consider the following criteria: (1) The availability of funds; (2) the estimated costs of assessing and remediating the brownfield, if known; (3) the relative economic condition of the municipality in which the brownfield is located; (4) the relative need of the project for financial assistance; (5) the degree to which a grant under this section is necessary to induce the applicant to undertake the project; (6) the public health and environmental benefits of the project; (7) the relative benefits of the project to the municipality, the region and the state, including, but not limited to, the extent to which the project will likely result in a contribution to the municipality's tax base, the retention and creation of jobs and the reduction of blight; (8) the time frame in which the contamination occurred; (9) the relationship of the applicant to the person or entity that caused the contamination; (10) the length of time the brownfield has been abandoned; (11) the taxes owed and the projected revenues that may be restored to the community; (12) the relative need for assessment of the brownfield within the municipality or region; (13) whether the brownfield is located in a federally designated opportunity zone; and (14) such other criteria as the commissioner may establish consistent with the purposes of this section.
(d) The commissioner shall award grants on a competitive basis, based on a request for applications occurring on or before October first, annually. The commissioner may increase the frequency of requests for applications and awards depending upon the number of applicants and the availability of funding. On and after July 1, 2019, the commissioner shall give priority to grant applications for brownfields located in federally designated opportunity zones.
(e) If a grant recipient is not subject to section 22a-134a, such recipient shall enter a program for remediation of the property pursuant to either section 22a-133x, 22a-133y, 32-768 or 32-769, as determined by the commissioner, except no such recipient shall be required to enter such a program if the grant funds are used (1) for the abatement of hazardous building materials and such recipient demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Economic and Community Development and Energy and Environmental Protection that such hazardous building materials represent the sole or sole remaining environmental contamination on the property, (2) solely for assessment of the brownfield, or (3) as provided in subsection (g) of this section.
(f) The commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and following the award of a grant to a municipality, Connecticut brownfield land bank or economic development agency pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of this section, may award an additional grant to such municipality, Connecticut brownfield land bank or economic development agency to enable the completion of a brownfield remediation or assessment project, provided such project is identified as a priority by said commissioners and such additional grant funds (1) will be used to address unexpected cost overruns or costs related to remedial activities that will provide a greater environmental benefit than originally proposed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, (2) do not exceed fifty per cent of the original grant, and (3) will not result in more than four million dollars in total grants being awarded for a single brownfield remediation or assessment project.
(g) The commissioner may award grants to any municipality, Connecticut brownfield land bank, economic development agency or regional council of governments organized under sections 4-124i to 4-124p, inclusive, for the eligible costs of developing a comprehensive plan for the remediation and redevelopment of multiple brownfields whenever such plan is consistent with the state plan of conservation and development, adopted pursuant to chapter 297, and the plan of conservation and development, adopted pursuant to section 8-23, for each municipality in which such brownfields are located. For purposes of this subsection, “eligible costs” shall also include expenditures associated with the development of any such plan for remediation and redevelopment.
(h) The provisions of sections 32-5a and 32-701 shall not apply to grants provided pursuant to this section.
(P.A. 07-233, S. 3-6; P.A. 08-174, S. 5; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; 11-141, S. 7; P.A. 12-183, S. 1-4; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 152; P.A. 13-123, S. 10; 13-308, S. 4; P.A. 15-193, S. 1; P.A. 17-214, S. 12; P.A. 18-85, S. 5; P.A. 19-54, S. 11.)
History: P.A. 07-233 effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 08-174 amended Subsec. (a)(7) to redefine “eligible brownfield project” to include foreclosure and investigation, added Subsec. (a)(11) to define “eligible grant recipients”, amended Subsec. (b) to include reference to Subsecs. (e) and (f), amended Subsec. (d) to include a contribution to municipality's tax base in Subdiv. (7), to insert new Subdivs. (10) re length of abandonment, (11) re taxes owed and (12) re type of financial assistance requested and to renumber existing Subdiv. (10) re other criteria as new Subdiv. (13), added new Subsec. (e) re remedial action and redevelopment municipal grant program, added new Subsec. (f) re targeted brownfield development loan program, redesignated existing Subsecs. (e) to (m) as new Subsecs. (g) to (o) and made technical changes, effective July 1, 2008; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” and “Department of Environmental Protection” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” and “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-141 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by redefining “brownfield” to include sites where expansion has not occurred and that require investigation or remediation, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 12-183 amended Subsec. (a) by redefining “eligible applicant” in Subdiv. (4), redefining “eligible grant recipients” in Subdiv. (11) and adding Subdiv. (12) defining “economic development agency”, amended Subsec. (f) by replacing provision re loans for developing housing to serve needs of first-time home buyers with provision re loans for developing affordable housing units, suitable for first-time home buyers, incentive housing zones, workforce housing and other residential purposes in Subdiv. (2), adding “or provide a specified number of affordable housing units” in Subdiv. (4), adding “residential” re use or reuse of property, changing “housing needs” to “affordable housing needs” and adding “for workforce housing” in Subdiv. (7), and adding Subdiv. (10) re availability of loan program to municipalities, amended Subsec. (j) by adding provision re use of funds for staffing, marketing, web site development and administration of Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development, and amended Subsec. (l)(4) by adding reference to Subsec. (k), effective July 1, 2012; pursuant to June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, “Connecticut Development Authority” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated”, effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 13-123 made technical changes in Subsec. (a)(4), effective June 18, 2013; P.A. 13-308 made substantial revisions to section, deleted former Subsecs. (a) to (d), (e)(3) to (5), (e)(7) and (8) and (f) to (o), redesignated existing Subsec. (e)(1) as Subsec. (a), existing Subsec. (e)(2) as Subsec. (d) and existing Subsec. (e)(6) as Subsec. (e), amended redesignated Subsec. (a) by redefining purpose of grant program and limiting any grant to no more than four million dollars, added new Subsec. (b) re grant applications, added new Subsec. (c) re approval of grant applications, amended redesignated Subsec. (d) by changing annual date of request for applications from June 1 to October 1, annually, added Subsec. (f) re remediation programs for recipients of loans from grant recipients, added Subsec. (g) re applicability of Secs. 32-5a and 32-701, and made technical and conforming changes, effective July 1, 2013; Sec. 32-9kk transferred to Sec. 32-763 in 2014; P.A. 15-193 replaced former Subsecs. (e) and (f) re low-interest loans to brownfield redeveloper with new Subsecs. (e) and (f) re additional grants to municipalities and economic development agencies for brownfield remediation and assessment projects and grants to municipalities, economic development agencies and regional councils of governments for brownfield remediation and redevelopment plans, effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 17-214 amended Subsecs. (a), (e) and (f) by adding references to Connecticut brownfield land bank, effective July 1, 2017; P.A. 18-85 added new Subsec. (e) re requirements for certain grant recipients to enter certain property remediation programs, and redesignated existing Subsecs. (e) to (g) as Subsecs. (f) to (h); P.A. 19-54 amended Subsec. (c) to add new Subdiv. (13) re brownfield located in federally designated opportunity zone, and redesignated existing Subdiv. (13) as Subdiv. (14), and amended Subsec. (d) to add provision re commissioner to give priority to grant applications for brownfields located in federally designated opportunity zones, effective July 1, 2019.