Sec. 22a-36. Inland wetlands and watercourses. Legislative finding.
Sec. 22a-36. Inland wetlands and watercourses. Legislative finding. The inland
wetlands and watercourses of the state of Connecticut are an indispensable and irreplaceable but fragile natural resource with which the citizens of the state have been endowed.
The wetlands and watercourses are an interrelated web of nature essential to an adequate
supply of surface and underground water; to hydrological stability and control of flooding and erosion; to the recharging and purification of groundwater; and to the existence
of many forms of animal, aquatic and plant life. Many inland wetlands and watercourses
have been destroyed or are in danger of destruction because of unregulated use by reason
of the deposition, filling or removal of material, the diversion or obstruction of water
flow, the erection of structures and other uses, all of which have despoiled, polluted
and eliminated wetlands and watercourses. Such unregulated activity has had, and will
continue to have, a significant, adverse impact on the environment and ecology of the
state of Connecticut and has and will continue to imperil the quality of the environment
thus adversely affecting the ecological, scenic, historic and recreational values and benefits of the state for its citizens now and forever more. The preservation and protection of
the wetlands and watercourses from random, unnecessary, undesirable and unregulated
uses, disturbance or destruction is in the public interest and is essential to the health,
welfare and safety of the citizens of the state. It is, therefore, the purpose of sections
22a-36 to 22a-45, inclusive, to protect the citizens of the state by making provisions for
the protection, preservation, maintenance and use of the inland wetlands and watercourses by minimizing their disturbance and pollution; maintaining and improving water
quality in accordance with the highest standards set by federal, state or local authority;
preventing damage from erosion, turbidity or siltation; preventing loss of fish and other
beneficial aquatic organisms, wildlife and vegetation and the destruction of the natural
habitats thereof; deterring and inhibiting the danger of flood and pollution; protecting
the quality of wetlands and watercourses for their conservation, economic, aesthetic,
recreational and other public and private uses and values; and protecting the state's
potable fresh water supplies from the dangers of drought, overdraft, pollution, misuse
and mismanagement by providing an orderly process to balance the need for the economic growth of the state and the use of its land with the need to protect its environment
and ecology in order to forever guarantee to the people of the state, the safety of such
natural resources for their benefit and enjoyment and for the benefit and enjoyment of
generations yet unborn.
(1972, P.A. 155, S. 1.)
Cited. 179 C. 250. Cited. 180 C. 421; Id., 692. "To interpret Sec. 22a-430 as precluding the municipal regulation of
sewerage systems would clearly work to undermine some of the basic purposes of the act" as expressed in the statute. 183
C. 532. The inland wetlands and watercourses act cited. 186 C. 67. Cited. 193 C. 414. Cited. 196 C. 218. Cited. 203 C.
525. Cited. 209 C. 544; Id., 652. Cited. 211 C. 416. Inland wetlands and watercourses act cited. 212 C. 710; Id., 727; 213
C. 604. Cited. 216 C. 320. Inland wetlands and watercourses act (IWWA) Sec. 22a-36 et seq. cited. Id. Inland wetlands
and watercourses act (IWWA) cited. 217 C. 164. Inland wetlands and watercourses act cited. 218 C. 703; 219 C. 404.
Cited. 220 C. 362; Id., 476. Cited. 226 C. 579. Inland wetlands and watercourses act, Secs. 22a-36-22a-45a cited. Id. Cited.
227 C. 71; Id., 175. Inland wetlands and watercourses act, Sec. 22a-36 et seq. cited. 228 C. 95. Cited. 229 C. 247. Inland
wetlands and watercourses act cited. Id. Cited. Id., 627; Id., 654. Cited. 235 C. 448. Inland Wetlands and Watercourses
Act cited. 242 C. 335. Although one of the broad purposes of act is to prevent "loss of fish and other beneficial aquatic
organisms, wildlife and vegetation", when viewed in context of the act as a whole, the intent to protect wildlife is a secondary
effect of protecting the wetlands and watercourses themselves. 266 C. 150. Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act does
not provide inland wetlands agencies with jurisdiction to regulate activities that solely affect the wildlife that uses the
wetlands and watercourses without affecting the wetlands or watercourses themselves. 269 C. 57.
Cited. 4 CA 271. Cited. 5 CA 70. Cited. 6 CA 715. Inland wetlands and watercourses act cited. 12 CA 47. Inland
wetlands and watercourses act cited. 15 CA 336; 18 CA 440. Cited. 19 CA 713. Inland wetlands and watercourses act
cited. 20 CA 309. Cited. 25 CA 446. Inland wetlands and watercourses act cited. 26 CA 564; 27 CA 590. Cited. 28 CA
262; Id., 780. Inland wetlands and watercourses act cited. Id. Inland wetlands and watercourses act, Sec. 22a-36 et seq.
cited. 29 CA 12; Id., 105. Inland wetlands act cited. 30 CA 85. Inland wetlands and watercourses act, Secs. 22a-36-22a-45 cited. 31 CA 105; Id., 599; judgment reversed, see 229 C. 627, see also 36 CA 270. Inland wetlands and watercourses
act cited. 32 CA 799. Inland wetlands and watercourses act, Sec. 22a-36 et seq. cited. 34 CA 385. Cited. 36 CA 270. Inland
Wetlands and Watercourses Act cited. Id. Cited. 37 CA 166. Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act cited. Id.
Cited. 32 CS 104. Under the Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Act, sections 22a-36 through 22a-45, commissioner
of environmental protection is limited to promulgating regulations and appealing from decisions of municipal commissions.
35 CS 145 et seq. Cited. Id. Nothing obligates commissioner to include "balancing computation" in his opinion relative
to economic factors described in this section at risk of nullification of his entire action. This section must yield to section
22a-41 for factors to be considered. 36 CS 1. Cited. 41 CS 444. Cited. 42 CS 57.