Sec. 25-68k. Hazard mitigation and floodplain management grant program: Administration by Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
Sec. 25-68k. Hazard mitigation and floodplain management grant program:
Administration by Commissioner of Environmental Protection. (a) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall establish and administer a hazard mitigation
and floodplain management grant program to reimburse eligible applicants for costs
incurred in the reduction or elimination of long-term risks to human life, infrastructure
and property from natural hazards, including, but not limited to, flooding, high winds
and wildfires, and in the retention of present capacity of designated floodplain areas to
store and convey flood waters. Each grant shall be in an amount equal to ninety per cent
of the costs to be incurred for such activities. Application for a grant shall be made in
writing to the commissioner in such form as the commissioner may prescribe and shall
include a description of the purpose, objectives and budget of the activities to be funded
by the grant. If the applicant is a municipality, the chief executive officer of the municipality applying for the grant may designate the town planner, the director of public
works, the police chief, the fire chief or the emergency management director of such
municipality as the agent to make the application.
(b) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall establish, by regulations
adopted in accordance with chapter 54, relative priorities for the approval of grants
under this section. Such priorities may take into account the differing needs of eligible
applicants, the need for consistency and equity in the distribution of grant awards and
the extent to which particular projects may advance the purposes of this section. The
commissioner shall accord highest priority to projects which involve (1) the preparation
or revision of hazard mitigation plans by municipalities, or (2) participation in the community rating system of the National Flood Insurance Program. The commissioner shall
accord secondary priority to projects which involve (A) the execution of hazard mitigation projects by municipalities in accordance with approved hazard mitigation plans;
or (B) administering and providing financial assistance for the hazard mitigation and
floodplain management grant program established under this section. The commissioner
may establish further criteria for the approval of grants under this section. Not later than
February 1, 2005, the commissioner shall develop and disseminate a pamphlet that
describes the evaluation process for grant applications under this section. In awarding
grants under this section, the commissioner shall consult with any person the commissioner deems necessary.
(c) The commissioner shall authorize grant awards under this section on or before
July thirty-first and December thirty-first of each fiscal year in which payment of a grant
is to be made.
(d) The commissioner shall allocate not less than sixty per cent of the moneys in
the hazard mitigation and floodplain management account in any fiscal year for grants
under this section.
(P.A. 04-144, S. 9.)
History: P.A. 04-144 effective July 1, 2004.