Population: 3,282,031
Counties: 8
Governor John G. Rowland

Click here for the amount of protected land in Connecticut, and click here to review Connecticut's federal transportation spending.
Source:  Pew Center on the States & Changing Direction:  Federal Transportation Spending in the 1990s. Surface Transportation Policy Project

For an overview of Connecticut's planning and zoning statutes, see the excellent summary provided by the American Planning Association. 

Click here to read any of these bills in their entirety.
KEY LAWS
H.B. 5107 (2000)
SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOUSING. 'An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Blue Ribbon Commission To Study Affordable Housing Regarding The Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure', to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission to Study Affordable Housing. AKA Public Act 00-206-

H.B. No. 5175 (2000) 
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. 'An Act Concerning Fair Market Value Of Brownfields', Public Act 00-89 - This bill will allow local redevelopment agencies to deduct the cost of environmental remediation from the fair market value of a property when taking it by eminent domain. This will result in an indeterminate savings to these agencies as it essentially passes the cost of the environmental remediation back to the original property owner. Local redevelopment agencies include housing authorities, local and regional school districts, and other community development agencies.  House "A" requires the consideration of the property's environmental condition as well as the cost of environmental remediation. 

H.B. No. 5883 'An Act Concerning The Open Space Trust Fund' Public Act No. 00-203 -(2000)
ENVIRONMENT. This the major Open Space Bill coming out of this session and includes elements of H.B. No. 5173 'An Act Concerning Connecticut's Working Lands', to provide funds for the purchase of development rights of Connecticut's agricultural working lands. . 

For a brief history of Farmland Preservation bills in the Connecticut Legislature since 1997, see http://www.cga.state.ct.us/ps99/rpt/olr/99-r-0821.doc 

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS
Connecticut’s Environmental Plan - Environment/2000
A long range plan which identifies priority issues, sets the agenda for the state’s environmental programs and is revised every five years with citizen’s input.  Increasingly, it has dealth with issues of land-use and sprawl.

Wetlands, Inland Wetlands, and Watercourses (22a-28 et seq)
To protect the state's wetlands, the commissioner of environmental protection may adopt regulations consistent with the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act and federal regulations pertaining to tidal wetlands.  No regulated activity shall be conducted upon any wetland without a permit from the department of environmental protection. 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS