(a) Resources from the following sources shall be used by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to effect the purposes of the program: Proceeds from the sale of any bonds authorized for the purposes of sections 23-73 to 23-79, inclusive, and any funds received as contributions from governmental or private sources.

(b) The resources of the program may be applied and expended to: (1) Acquire property or an interest in property; or (2) maintain lands pursuant to a stewardship account authorized under section 23-79. The provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall apply to all costs incurred by the commissioner or a cooperating entity that the commissioner determines are directly related to the acquisition of the property.

(c) Payments from program resources may be made to cooperating entities for program acquisitions provided the commissioner has issued to such entity a letter of intent requesting assistance in an acquisition. A cooperating entity may request a letter of intent for a proposed acquisition. Upon submission of a cooperating entity's expenses for acquisition and related costs to the department pursuant to a contract for such acquisition, the commissioner or his designee shall authorize payment of expenses at reasonable intervals during the acquisition process, as determined by the commissioner.

(P.A. 86-406, S. 5, 6, 15; P.A. 87-448, S. 2, 6; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 93-1, S. 15, 45; P.A. 94-175, S. 20, 32; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-4, S. 80, 85; P.A. 95-160, S. 64, 69; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 87-448 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize municipal contributions to the fund and amended Subsec. (c) to clarify the eligibility for payment from the fund of any cost related to property acquisition; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 93-1 amended section by deleting references to a recreation and natural heritage trust “fund”, substituting references to “program” and deleted former Subsec. (b) which had required that the fund be used for purposes of the program, relettering remaining Subsecs. accordingly, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-175 amended Subsec. (a) to delete provisions requiring that fund be held separate from other moneys, that investment earnings be credited to assets, that year-end balances be carried forward and that payments require commissioner's authorization, effective June 2, 1994; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-4 and P.A. 95-160 revised effective date of P.A. 94-175 but without affecting this section; (Revisor's note: In 1999 a reference to Sec. 23-80 was changed editorially by the Revisors to Sec. 23-79, since Sec. 23-80 was repealed by P.A. 98-157); 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. (a), effective July 1, 2011.