Connecticut SB 144: AN ACT AUTHORIZING GROCERY STORE WINE SALES.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 144
February Session, 2026 LCO No. 829

Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT

Introduced by:
(ENV)

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR LOCAL REPRESENTATION ON THE
CONNECTICUT SITING COUNCIL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 16-50j of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes 1
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2026): 3
(a) There is established the Connecticut Siting Council, hereinafter 4
referred to in this chapter as the "council", which shall be within the 5
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for administrative 6
purposes only. 7
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the council 8
shall consist of: (1) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 9
Protection, or the commissioner's designee; (2) the chairperson of the 10
Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or the chairperson's designee; (3) 11
one designee of the speaker of the House and one designee of the 12
president pro tempore of the Senate; and (4) five public members, to be 13
appointed by the Governor, at least two of whom shall be experienced 14
in the field of ecology, and all five of whom shall, consistent with the 15

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provisions of section 4-9a, have no substantial financial interest in, not 16
be employed in or by, and not be professionally affiliated with any (A) 17
utility, (B) facility, (C) hazardous waste facility, as defined in section 18
22a-115, or (D) ash residue disposal area, and shall have had no 19
professional affiliation with any such utility, facility, hazardous waste 20
facility or ash residue disposal area for three years preceding such 21
public member's appointment to the council. 22
(c) For proceedings under chapter 445, the council shall consist of (1) 23
the Commissioners of Public Health and Emergency Services and Public 24
Protection or their designated representatives; (2) the designees of the 25
speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore 26
of the Senate as provided in subsection (b) of this section; (3) the five 27
public members as provided in subsection (b) of this section; and (4) four 28
ad hoc members, appointed by the chief elected official of the 29
municipality each such member represents, three of whom shall be 30
electors from the municipality in which the proposed facility is to be 31
located and one of whom shall be an elector from a neighboring 32
municipality likely to be most affected by the proposed facility. 33
(d) For any proceeding that occurs on or after the effective date of this 34
section, in addition to the membership provided for in subsection (b) or 35
(c) of this section, as applicable, the council shall consist of one elector 36
from the municipality in which such facility is proposed to be located, 37
as appointed by the chief elected official of such municipality. In the 38
event that such facility will be located in two or more municipalities, 39
one such elector shall be appointed by the applicable regional council of 40
governments for the affected municipalities. Each such member shall 41
serve as a nonvoting member for purposes of such proceeding and shall 42
abide by all applicable rules of confidentiality concerning such 43
proceeding. 44
[(d)] (e) For the appointment of ad hoc members in accordance with 45
subsection (c) of this section, the municipality most affected by the 46
proposed facility shall be determined by the permanent members of the 47
council. If any one of the five public members or of the designees of the 48

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speaker of the House of Representatives or the president pro tempore of 49
the Senate resides (1) in the municipality in which a hazardous waste 50
facility is proposed to be located for a proceeding concerning a 51
hazardous waste facility or in which a low-level radioactive waste 52
facility is proposed to be located for a proceeding concerning a low-level 53
radioactive waste facility, or (2) in the neighboring municipality likely 54
to be most affected by the proposed facility, the appointing authority 55
shall appoint a substitute member for the proceedings on such proposal. 56
If any appointee is unable to perform such appointee's duties on the 57
council due to illness, or has a substantial financial or employment 58
interest which is in conflict with the proper discharge of the appointee's 59
duties under this chapter, the appointing authority shall appoint a 60
substitute member for proceedings on such proposal. An appointee 61
shall report any substantial financial or employment interest which 62
might conflict with the proper discharge of the appointee's duties under 63
this chapter to the appointing authority who shall determine if such 64
conflict exists. If any state agency is the applicant, an appointee shall not 65
be deemed to have a substantia