§ 113-226. Administrative authority of Department; administration of funds; delegation of powers.
§ 113‑226. Administrative authority of Department; administration of funds; delegation ofpowers.
(a) In the overall best interests of the conservation of marineand estuarine resources, the Department may lease or purchase lands, equipment,and other property; accept gifts and grants on behalf of the State; establishboating and fishing access areas; establish fisheries, fishery processing orstorage plants, planted seafood beds, fish farms, and other enterprises relatedto the conservation of marine and estuarine resources as research ordemonstration projects either alone or in cooperation with some individual oragency; sell the catch or processed fish or other marine and estuarineresources resulting from research fishing operations or demonstration projects;provide matching funds for entering into projects with some other governmentalagency or with some scientific, educational, or charitable foundation orinstitution; condemn lands in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 40A ofthe General Statutes and other governing provisions of law; and sell, lease, orgive away property acquired by it. Provided, that any private person selectedto receive gifts or benefits by the Department be selected:
(1) With regard to the overall public interest that may result,and
(2) From a defined class upon such a rational basis open to allwithin the class as to prevent constitutional infirmity with respect torequirements of equal protection of the laws or prohibitions against grantingexclusive privileges or emoluments.
(b) All money credited to, held by, or to be received by theDepartment in respect of the conservation of marine and estuarine resourcesmust be deposited with the Department. In administering such funds andrecommending expenditures, the Department must give attention to the sources ofthe revenues received so as to encourage disbursements to be made on anequitable basis; nevertheless, except as provided in this section, separatefunds may not be established and particular projects and programs deemed to beof sufficient importance in the conservation of marine and estuarine resourcesmay receive proportional shares of Department expenditures that are greaterthan the proportional shares of license and other revenues produced by suchprojects or programs for the Department.
(c) If as a precondition of receiving funds under anycooperative program there must be a separation of license revenues receivedfrom certain classes of licensees and utilization of such revenues for limitedpurposes, the Department is directed to make such arrangements for separateaccounting or for separate funding as may be necessary to insure the use of therevenues for the required purposes and eligibility for the cooperative funds.In such instance, if required, such revenues may be retained by the Departmentuntil expended upon the limited purposes in question. This subsection applieswhether the cooperative program is with a public or private agency and whetherthe Department acts alone on behalf of the State or in conjunction with theWildlife Resources Commission or some other State agency.
(d) Repealed by Session Laws 1973, c. 1262, s. 28. (1965, c. 957, s. 2; 1973, c. 1262, s. 28; 1987, c.827, s. 103; 1989, c. 727, s. 106.)