(a) No individual, partnership, corporation or association, or state or local government or political subdivision or instrumentality thereof shall bury any nuclear radioactive waste within this state unless the General Assembly finds that the burial of such waste will not have a significant adverse effect upon the public health, safety and welfare of the state and approves, by special act, the burial of such waste. An application to bury such waste shall be submitted to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate and shall be referred by them to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment.

(b) Upon receipt of an application to bury nuclear radioactive waste, the committee shall notify the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Commissioner of Public Health and said commissioners shall submit to said committee, within forty-five days, an evaluation of the impact of the proposed burial upon the state.

(c) Within sixty days of receipt of an application the committee shall hold a public hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be published for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which the proposed burial site is to be located, the last publication to be at least two weeks prior to the date of the hearing. Not less than thirty days prior to such public hearing, the committee shall give notice of such hearing by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the legislative body and the regional council of governments for the municipality in which the proposed burial site is to be located and for each contiguous municipality.

(d) The committee shall report to the General Assembly its recommendation for approval or disapproval of the proposed burial and burial site. A recommendation for approval of the proposed burial and burial site shall include findings that such burial and burial site: (1) Will not have a significant adverse effect upon the health, safety, air or water quality, or the economy of the affected region and (2) will not significantly interfere with the orderly development of such region with due consideration having been given to any recommendations of the regional councils of governments and the municipal legislative bodies.

(e) No state officer, agency or department shall approve or license any proposed burial or burial site or obtain any such approval or license from any state or federal agency or board unless such proposed burial and burial site have been approved by special act of the General Assembly.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in accordance with the provisions of sections 22a-161 to 22a-162a, inclusive.

(P.A. 79-488, S. 1–3; P.A. 91-337, S. 3, 15; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 06-76, S. 10; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 13-247, S. 312.)

History: P.A. 91-337 replaced existing Subsec. (f) re burial of certain waste with provisions re burial of low-level radioactive waste in accordance with the provisions of Secs. 22a-161 to 22a-165f, inclusive; P.A. 93-381 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of public health and addiction services for commissioner and department of health 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; P.A. 06-76 amended Subsec. (f) to replace reference to Sec. 22a-165f with reference to Sec. 22a-162a; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” in Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 13-247, “regional planning agency” and “regional planning agencies” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “regional council of governments” and “regional councils of governments”, respectively, effective January 1, 2015.