(a) There is established a Connecticut Emergency Response Commission which shall be within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The commission shall consist of eighteen members as follows: The Commissioners of Energy and Environmental Protection, Emergency Services and Public Protection, Public Health and Transportation, the Labor Commissioner, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, the Adjutant General of the Military Department, the State Fire Marshal, and the State Fire Administrator, or their designees or a designee, and nine members appointed by the Governor, four of whom shall represent the public, three of whom shall represent owners or operators of facilities, one of whom shall be the fire chief of a municipal fire department whose employees are compensated for their services and one of whom shall be the fire chief of a volunteer fire department. Members of the commission appointed by the Governor shall serve for two years. The Governor shall fill any vacancy in the office of an appointed member for the unexpired portion of the term. Members of the commission shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The chairperson of the commission shall be appointed by the Governor and shall serve at his pleasure.

(b) The commission shall implement the provisions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and shall designate local planning districts. The commission shall establish a local emergency planning committee for each local planning district. Each committee shall include, at a minimum, representatives from each of the following categories: State and local elected officials; law enforcement, fire-fighting, civil defense, public health, local environmental, hospital and transportation personnel; members of the broadcast and print media; members of community groups; and owners and operators of facilities subject to the requirements of section 22a-607. The members of each committee shall be appointed by the commission, provided each municipality located within a committee's local planning district shall be represented by at least one member of the committee. The boundaries of the districts and membership may be revised by the commission as it deems necessary.

(P.A. 88-246, S. 5; P.A. 89-212, S. 2; P.A. 91-172, S. 1; P.A. 92-72, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 99-190, S. 6, 9; P.A. 04-219, S. 9; P.A. 11-51, S. 160; 11-80, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 89-212 amended Subsec. (a) by making technical change substituting office of emergency management for office of civil preparedness and amended Subsec. (b) to require establishment of local emergency planning committees membership requirements; P.A. 91-172 expanded the membership of the commission, adding the commissioner of labor and increasing the number of gubernatorial appointments from seven to nine, adding fire chiefs of a municipal and volunteer department; P.A. 92-72 amended Subsec. (a) to change the designation of the commission within the department of environmental protection by deleting “for administrative purposes only”; P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995 (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (a) reference to “Commissioners of the Departments of Environmental Protection, Public Safety ... Labor and Transportation” was replaced editorially by the Revisors with “Commissioners of Environmental Protection, Public Safety, Public Health and Transportation, the Labor Commissioner,” for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 99-190 amended Subsec. (a) by adding the Adjutant General of the Military Department as member of the commission, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 04-219 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute Commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for director of the Office of Emergency Management, effective January 1, 2005; P.A. 11-51 amended Subsec. (a) by reducing commission members from 19 to 18, by replacing Commissioners of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and Public Safety with Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, by adding “or a designee” and by making a technical change, effective July 1, 2011; 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, in Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 2011.