The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut - CLCC 2008 Legislative Agenda

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2008 Legislative Wrap Up

The Connecticut Land Conservation Council and its member organizations are advocating for the following issues at the Connecticut General Assembly this year. As always, other issues will arise during the legislative session, and the CLCC will be monitoring those as well.

Land Preservation:

The Face of Connecticut campaign

This alliance, which includes the CLCC, the Working Lands Alliance, the Trust for Historic Preservation, the Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, The Connecticut Farm Bureau, the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions, Audubon Connecticut and others, is requesting $100 million annually over 10 years for open space, farmland, and historic preservation and stewardship, brownfields remediation, and enhanced capacity for community planning. Bill 5873 would authorize this funding and establish a Face of Connecticut Steering Committee to better coordinate state investments in these resources. For more information: faceofconnecticut.com.

Conservation Tax Credit

In 1998, the CLCC helped establish a state tax credit for corporations who donate, or sell for below market, open space or easements to the DEP, towns or land trusts. The CLCC is working with the American Farmland Trust to pass Bill 5137, which would extend this credit to individual taxpayers.

Long Island Sound Stewardship Fund:

CLCC and others are working to secure $5 million in funding for conservation and stewardship of important open space, habitat and/or recreational sites along the Connecticut coastline that will serve as a match for federal funding through the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006.

Conveyance Tax/Green Fund

Proposed enabling legislation to allow local municipalities to enact a real estate conveyance tax to fund land conservation and other related activities has died for this session. The Sierra Club intends to introduce it next year.

Stewardship:

ATVs

The Environment Committee raised and passed Bill 5602, which would require the DEP to open at least four 5-mile trails on state land for ATV’s, and impose a 1% fee on ATV purchases to fund trail maintenance and design. The CLCC opposed the bill in the committee for various reasons, including the fact that it did not include a requirement for registration of all ATV’s. That requirement was amended on to the bill, and the Council will wait to assess the exact language of the proposal before determining whether to support it.

Invasive Plants

Last year, the legislature appropriated $500,000 for DEP to establish an Invasive Plants program to provide public education, rapid response, inter-agency coordination, and a grant program for municipalities and land trusts. Bill 5147 would grant the Department of Agriculture and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station authority to inspect retail outlets for the sale of banned plants, and make other changes to the invasive plants statutes.

Emerging Issues:

Property Tax Exemption

In response to a recent court case, the CLCC is working to pass a provision in Bill 655, which would prevent towns from requiring land trusts to actively promote public use of their properties each year in order to qualify for a property tax exemption. The Superior Court recently sided with the City of Bridgeport in denying a tax exemption to the Aspetuck Land Trust for an island it owns that is comprised entirely of spartina marsh, and is almost fully submerged at high tide. The judge cited the fact that the trust did not host any walks on or near the island or feature it on its website for the tax year in question. The proposed legislation would stipulate that protection of wildlife habitat or scenic resources would suffice for an exemption.