The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection is authorized to prepare, maintain and keep up-to-date a comprehensive plan for the development of the outdoor recreation resources and other natural resources of the state and to cooperate and enter into agreements with the federal government, and other state agencies, municipalities of the state and regional authorities relating thereto. The plan shall coordinate the activities and represent the interests of the component agencies of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and may coordinate its activities with and represent the interests of all agencies of the state, and of municipal and other governmental units and nongovernmental persons and organizations having interests in the planning, development and maintenance of outdoor recreation and natural resources and facilities within or adjacent to the state. The plan shall be presented to the Governor and to the General Assembly in November of the even-numbered years. In order to achieve coordination of activities and objectives, the plan shall so far as possible be prepared, maintained and updated in cooperation and in conjunction with planning activities of all other appropriate agencies of the state, municipal and other governmental units and nongovernmental persons and organizations.

(February, 1965, P.A. 329, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 634, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 628, S. 15; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 394; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

History: 1967 act authorized commissioner of agriculture and natural resources to enter in agreements with municipalities and regional authorities, changed date for initial submission of plan from 1966 to 1968 and required biennial rather than annual submissions thereafter; 1969 act changed date for initial submission of plan to 1970 and deleted provision allowing commissioner's continued participation in Connecticut interregional planning program; 1971 act replaced commissioner and department of agriculture and natural resources with commissioner and department of environmental protection and specified that plan be submitted in even-numbered years; Sec. 22-7a transferred to Sec. 22a-21 in 1972; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” and “Department of Environmental Protection” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” and “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011.