Sec. 22a-92. Legislative goals and policies.
Sec. 22a-92. Legislative goals and policies. (a) The following general goals and
policies are established by this chapter:
(1) To insure that the development, preservation or use of the land and water resources of the coastal area proceeds in a manner consistent with the capability of the land
and water resources to support development, preservation or use without significantly
disrupting either the natural environment or sound economic growth;
(2) To preserve and enhance coastal resources in accordance with the policies established by chapters 439, 440, 446i, 446k, 447, 474 and 477;
(3) To give high priority and preference to uses and facilities which are dependent
upon proximity to the water or the shorelands immediately adjacent to marine and tidal
waters;
(4) To resolve conflicts between competing uses on the shorelands adjacent to marine and tidal waters by giving preference to uses that minimize adverse impacts on
natural coastal resources while providing long term and stable economic benefits;
(5) To consider in the planning process the potential impact of coastal flooding and
erosion patterns on coastal development so as to minimize damage to and destruction
of life and property and reduce the necessity of public expenditure to protect future
development from such hazards;
(6) To encourage public access to the waters of Long Island Sound by expansion,
development and effective utilization of state-owned recreational facilities within the
coastal area that are consistent with sound resource conservation procedures and constitutionally protected rights of private property owners;
(7) To conduct, sponsor and assist research in coastal matters to improve the data
base upon which coastal land and water use decisions are made;
(8) To coordinate the activities of public agencies to insure that state expenditures
enhance development while affording maximum protection to natural coastal resources
and processes in a manner consistent with the state plan for conservation and development adopted pursuant to part I of chapter 297;
(9) To coordinate planning and regulatory activities of public agencies at all levels
of government to insure maximum protection of coastal resources while minimizing
conflicts and disruption of economic development; and
(10) To insure that the state and the coastal municipalities provide adequate planning for facilities and resources which are in the national interest as defined in section
22a-93 and to insure that any restrictions or exclusions of such facilities or uses are
reasonable. Reasonable grounds for the restriction or exclusion of a facility or use in
the national interest shall include a finding that such a facility or use: (A) May reasonably
be sited outside the coastal boundary; (B) fails to meet any applicable federal and state
environmental, health or safety standard or (C) unreasonably restricts physical or visual
access to coastal waters. This policy does not exempt any nonfederal facility in use from
any applicable state or local regulatory or permit program nor does it exempt any federal
facility or use from the federal consistency requirements of Section 307 of the federal
Coastal Zone Management Act.
(b) In addition to the policies stated in subsection (a), the following policies are
established for federal, state and municipal agencies in carrying out their responsibilities
under this chapter:
(1) Policies concerning development, facilities and uses within the coastal boundary
are: (A) To manage uses in the coastal boundary through existing municipal planning,
zoning and other local regulatory authorities and through existing state structures, dredging, wetlands, and other state siting and regulatory authorities, giving highest priority
and preference to water-dependent uses and facilities in shorefront areas; (B) to locate
and phase sewer and water lines so as to encourage concentrated development in areas
which are suitable for development; and to disapprove extension of sewer and water
services into developed and undeveloped beaches, barrier beaches and tidal wetlands
except that, when necessary to abate existing sources of pollution, sewers that will
accommodate existing uses with limited excess capacity may be used; (C) to promote,
through existing state and local planning, development, promotional and regulatory
authorities, the development, reuse or redevelopment of existing urban and commercial
fishing ports giving highest priority and preference to water dependent uses, including
but not limited to commercial and recreational fishing and boating uses; to disallow
uses which unreasonably congest navigation channels, or unreasonably preclude boating
support facilities elsewhere in a port or harbor; and to minimize the risk of oil and
chemical spills at port facilities; (D) to require that structures in tidal wetlands and
coastal waters be designed, constructed and maintained to minimize adverse impacts
on coastal resources, circulation and sedimentation patterns, water quality, and flooding
and erosion, to reduce to the maximum extent practicable the use of fill, and to reduce
conflicts with the riparian rights of adjacent landowners; (E) to disallow the siting within
the coastal boundary of new tank farms and other new fuel and chemical storage facilities
which can reasonably be located inland and to require any new storage tanks which
must be located within the coastal boundary to abut existing storage tanks or to be located
in urban industrial areas and to be adequately protected against floods and spills; (F)
to make use of rehabilitation, upgrading and improvement of existing transportation
facilities as the primary means of meeting transportation needs in the coastal area; (G)
to encourage increased recreational boating use of coastal waters, where feasible, by (i)
providing additional berthing space in existing harbors, (ii) limiting non-water-dependent land uses that preclude boating support facilities, (iii) increasing state-owned
launching facilities, and (iv) providing for new boating facilities in natural harbors, new
protected water areas and in areas dredged from dry land; (H) to protect coastal resources
by requiring, where feasible, that such boating uses and facilities (i) minimize disruption
or degradation of natural coastal resources, (ii) utilize existing altered, developed or
redevelopment areas, (iii) are located to assure optimal distribution of state-owned facilities to the state-wide boating public and (iv) utilize ramps and dry storage rather than slips
in environmentally sensitive areas; (I) to protect and where feasible, upgrade facilities
serving the commercial fishing and recreational boating industries; to maintain existing
authorized commercial fishing and recreational boating harbor space unless the demand
for these facilities no longer exists or adequate space has been provided; to design and
locate, where feasible, proposed recreational boating facilities in a manner which does
not interfere with the needs of the commercial fishing industry; and (J) to require reasonable mitigation measures where development would adversely impact historical, archaeological, or paleontological resources that have been designated by the state historic
preservation officer.
(2) Policies concerning coastal land and water resources within the coastal boundary
are: (A) To manage coastal bluffs and escarpments so as to preserve their slope and
toe; to discourage uses which do not permit continued natural rates of erosion and to
disapprove uses that accelerate slope erosion and alter essential patterns and supply of
sediments to the littoral transport system; (B) to manage rocky shorefronts so as to insure
that development proceeds in a manner which does not irreparably reduce the capability
of the system to support a healthy intertidal biological community; to provide feeding
grounds and refuge for shorebirds and finfish, and to dissipate and absorb storm and
wave energies; (C) to preserve the dynamic form and integrity of natural beach systems
in order to provide critical wildlife habitats, a reservoir for sand supply, a buffer for
coastal flooding and erosion, and valuable recreational opportunities; to insure that
coastal uses are compatible with the capabilities of the system and do not unreasonably
interfere with natural processes of erosion and sedimentation, and to encourage the
restoration and enhancement of disturbed or modified beach systems; (D) to manage
intertidal flats so as to preserve their value as a nutrient source and reservoir, a healthy
shellfish habitat and a valuable feeding area for invertebrates, fish and shorebirds; to
encourage the restoration and enhancement of degraded intertidal flats; to allow coastal
uses that minimize change in the natural current flows, depth, slope, sedimentation, and
nutrient storage functions and to disallow uses that substantially accelerate erosion or
lead to significant despoliation of tidal flats; (E) to preserve tidal wetlands and to prevent
the despoliation and destruction thereof in order to maintain their vital natural functions;
to encourage the rehabilitation and restoration of degraded tidal wetlands and where
feasible and environmentally acceptable, to encourage the creation of wetlands for the
purposes of shellfish and finfish management, habitat creation and dredge spoil disposal;
(F) to manage coastal hazard areas so as to insure that development proceeds in such a
manner that hazards to life and property are minimized and to promote nonstructural
solutions to flood and erosion problems except in those instances where structural alternatives prove unavoidable and necessary to protect existing inhabited structures, infrastructural facilities or water dependent uses; (G) to promote, through existing state and
local planning, development, promotional and regulatory programs, the use of existing
developed shorefront areas for marine-related uses, including but not limited to, commercial and recreational fishing, boating and other water-dependent commercial, industrial and recreational uses; (H) to manage undeveloped islands in order to promote their
use as critical habitats for those bird, plant and animal species which are indigenous to
such islands or which are increasingly rare on the mainland; to maintain the value of
undeveloped islands as a major source of recreational open space; and to disallow uses
which will have significant adverse impacts on islands or their resource components;
(I) to regulate shoreland use and development in a manner which minimizes adverse
impacts upon adjacent coastal systems and resources; and (J) to maintain the natural
relationship between eroding and depositional coastal landforms and to minimize the
adverse impacts of erosion and sedimentation on coastal land uses through the promotion
of nonstructural mitigation measures. Structural solutions are permissible when necessary and unavoidable for the protection of infrastructural facilities, water-dependent
uses, or existing inhabited structures, and where there is no feasible, less environmentally
damaging alternative and where all reasonable mitigation measures and techniques have
been provided to minimize adverse environmental impacts.
(c) In addition to the policies stated in subsections (a) and (b), the following policies
are established for federal and state agencies in carrying out their responsibilities under
this chapter:
(1) Policies concerning development, facilities and uses within the coastal boundary
are: (A) To minimize the risk of spillage of petroleum products and hazardous substances, to provide effective containment and cleanup facilities for accidental spills and
to disallow offshore oil receiving systems that have the potential to cause catastrophic
oil spills in the Long Island Sound estuary; (B) to disallow any filling of tidal wetlands
and nearshore, offshore and intertidal waters for the purpose of creating new land from
existing wetlands and coastal waters which would otherwise be undevelopable, unless
it is found that the adverse impacts on coastal resources are minimal; (C) to initiate in
cooperation with the federal government and the continuing legislative committee on
state planning and development a long-range planning program for the continued maintenance and enhancement of federally-maintained navigation facilities in order to effectively and efficiently plan and provide for environmentally sound dredging and disposal
of dredged materials; to encourage, through the state permitting program for dredging
activities, the maintenance and enhancement of existing federally-maintained navigation channels, basins and anchorages and to discourage the dredging of new federally-maintained navigation channels, basins and anchorages; (D) to reduce the need for future
dredging by requiring that new or expanded navigation channels, basins and anchorages
take advantage of existing or authorized water depths, circulation and siltation patterns
and the best available technologies for reducing controllable sedimentation; (E) to disallow new dredging in tidal wetlands except where no feasible alternative exists and where
adverse impacts to coastal resources are minimal; (F) to require that new or improved
shoreline rail corridors be designed and constructed so as (i) to prevent tidal and circulation restrictions and, when practicable, to eliminate any such existing restrictions, (ii)
to improve or have a negligible adverse effect on coastal access and recreation and (iii)
to enhance or not unreasonably impair the visual quality of the shoreline; (G) to require
that coastal highways and highway improvements, including bridges, be designed and
constructed so as to minimize adverse impacts on coastal resources; to require that
coastal highway and highway improvements give full consideration to mass transportation alternatives and to require that coastal highways and highway improvements where
possible enhance, but in no case decrease coastal access and recreational opportunities;
(H) to disallow the construction of major new airports and to discourage the substantial
expansion of existing airports within the coastal boundary; to require that any expansion
or improvement of existing airports minimize adverse impacts on coastal resources,
recreation or access; (I) to manage the state's fisheries in order to promote the economic
benefits of commercial and recreational fishing, enhance recreational fishing opportunities, optimize the yield of all species, prevent the depletion or extinction of indigenous
species, maintain and enhance the productivity of natural estuarine resources and preserve healthy fisheries resources for future generations; (J) to make effective use of state-owned coastal recreational facilities in order to expand coastal recreational opportunities
including the development or redevelopment of existing state-owned facilities where
feasible; (K) to require as a condition in permitting new coastal structures, including
but not limited to, groins, jetties or breakwaters, that access to, or along, the public beach
below mean high water must not be unreasonably impaired by such structures and to
encourage the removal of illegal structures below mean high water which unreasonably
obstruct passage along the public beach; and (L) to promote the revitalization of inner
city urban harbors and waterfronts by encouraging appropriate reuse of historically
developed shorefronts, which may include minimized alteration of an existing shorefront in order to achieve a significant net public benefit, provided (i) such shorefront
site is permanently devoted to a water dependent use or a water dependent public use
such as public access or recreation for the general public and the ownership of any filled
lands remain with the state or an instrumentality thereof in order to secure public use and
benefit in perpetuity, (ii) landward development of the site is constrained by highways,
railroads or other significant infrastructure facilities, (iii) no other feasible, less environmentally damaging alternatives exist, (iv) the adverse impacts to coastal resources of
any shorefront alteration are minimized and compensation in the form of resource restoration is provided to mitigate any remaining adverse impacts, and (v) such reuse is
consistent with the appropriate municipal coastal program or municipal plan of development.
(2) Policies concerning coastal land and other resources within the coastal boundary
are: (A) To manage estuarine embayments so as to insure that coastal uses proceed in
a manner that assures sustained biological productivity, the maintenance of healthy
marine populations and the maintenance of essential patterns of circulation, drainage
and basin configuration; to protect, enhance and allow natural restoration of eelgrass
flats except in special limited cases, notably shellfish management, where the benefits
accrued through alteration of the flat may outweigh the long-term benefits to marine
biota, waterfowl, and commercial and recreational finfisheries and (B) to maintain,
enhance, or, where feasible, restore natural patterns of water circulation and fresh and
saltwater exchange in the placement or replacement of culverts, tide gates or other drainage or flood control structures.
(d) In addition to the policies in this section, the policies of the state plan of conservation and development adopted pursuant to part I of chapter 297 shall be applied to the
area within the coastal boundary in accordance with the requirements of section 16a-31.
(P.A. 78-152, S. 3, 11; P.A 79-535, S. 2, 25; P.A. 90-230, S. 33, 101; P.A. 00-152, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 78-152 effective July 1, 1979; P.A. 79-535 added reference to chapter 474a in Subsec. (a)(3), rephrased
Subsec. (a)(6), referred to "state" rather than "public expenditures" in Subsec. (a)(8) and added reference to actions consistent with state plan for conservation and development, added Subdiv. (10) re insuring that use is in national interest and
that restrictions or exclusions of uses and facilities are reasonable, and added Subsecs. (b) to (d) establishing policies for
federal, state and municipal agencies in carrying out their responsibilities; P.A. 90-230 corrected internal references in
Subsec. (a)(2); P.A. 00-152 added Subsec. (c)(1)(L) re revitalization of urban harbors and waterfronts.
Cited. 43 CS 386.
Subsec. (a):
Subdiv. (6) cited. 182 C. 611.