(a) There is established an account to be known as the “Healthy Homes Fund” which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account within the General Fund. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account shall be expended by the Department of Housing for the purposes of:
(1) Funding of not more than one million dollars, from remittances transferred pursuant to section 38a-331 for the period beginning January 1, 2019, and ending December 31, 2019, shall be remitted to the Department of Economic and Community Development to be used for grants-in-aid to homeowners with homes located in the immediate vicinity of the West River in the Westville section of New Haven and Woodbridge for structurally damaged homes due to subsidence and to homeowners with homes abutting the Yale Golf Course in the Westville section of New Haven for damage to such homes from water infiltration or structural damage due to subsidence; and
(2) Funding a program, and any related administrative expense, to reduce health and safety hazards in residential dwellings in Connecticut, including, but not limited to, lead, radon and other contaminants or conditions, through removal, remediation, abatement and other appropriate methods. For purposes of this subdivision, “administrative expense” means any administrative or other cost or expense incurred by the Department of Housing in carrying out the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, the hiring of necessary employees and entering into necessary contracts.
(b) The Department of Housing shall notify the Department of Public Health not later than thirty days after the deposit of remittances in the Healthy Homes Fund pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of section 38a-331. Not later than thirty days after the deposit of remittances pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of section 38a-331, the Department of Public Health shall notify each municipal health department in the state annually regarding funds available pursuant to the Healthy Homes Fund established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Not later than January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Housing shall report to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to housing, planning and development and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in accordance with section 11-4a, regarding the status of the Healthy Homes Fund established pursuant to this section and all moneys deposited into and expended by the Department of Housing pursuant to said account. Any such report may be submitted electronically.
(P.A. 18-160, S. 2; P.A. 19-192, S. 4; 19-196, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 18-160 effective June 13, 2018; P.A. 19-192 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding “, from remittances transferred pursuant to section 38a-331 for the period beginning January 1, 2019, and ending December 31, 2019,”, and made conforming changes in Subsec. (b), effective July 8, 2019; P.A. 19-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (a)(2).