Within two years after June 26, 1977, the commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 for the review of permit applications. Such procedure shall include a standard application form, a public hearing and enforcement provisions. A permit application shall be deemed complete if the commissioner does not request additional information within forty-five days after the date on which the application was submitted or, in the event that additional information has been requested, upon the submission of such information. The commissioner may request further information after the application has been deemed complete if the need for such information was not apparent within forty-five days after submission of the application. If, in the judgment of the commissioner, the proposed sale, lease, assignment or change in use of class II land may have a significant adverse impact upon the applicant's water supply, said commissioner may, within thirty days of his receipt of a complete permit application, refer such application for detailed review to a consultant chosen by the commissioner, with skills in the fields of water supply, hydrology, aquatic biology, forestry, geology, planning or other related fields. The commissioner shall notify the applicant of such referral. The fee for such consultant shall be paid by the applicant. If the commissioner does not refer the application to a consultant pursuant to the provisions of this section, the commissioner shall refer such application to a professional review team appointed by said commissioner, consisting of a professional from the staff of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection with expertise in one of the following areas: Water supply, hydrology, aquatic biology, forestry, geology or other related fields; a professional planner recommended by the chief executive officer of the town or towns in which the land proposed for disposition is located; a professional planner from the staff of the Office of Policy and Management; an appointee from the staff of the Department of Public Health and up to three other experts in the public health field, provided nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the commissioner from referring such application to both a consultant and a professional review team. No appointee or consultant shall serve at the time of his appointment in the employ of the applicant. Such team or consultant shall evaluate the impact of the proposed sale, lease, assignment or change in use of land upon the purity and adequacy of the water supply under the most severe climatic conditions and its ability to meet current drinking water standards adopted by the Department of Public Health.

(P.A. 77-606, S. 5, 10; 77-614, S. 19, 323, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 84-342, S. 7, 13; P.A. 90-292, S. 1; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-211, S. 2; 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 11-80 S. 1, 80.)

History: P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 replaced department of planning and energy policy with office of policy and management and, effective January 1, 1979, replaced department of health with department of health services; P.A. 84-342 replaced public utilities control authority with department of public utility control; P.A. 90-292 added provisions authorizing referral of application to a consultant requiring notification of such referral to the applicant, requiring the payment of the fee by the applicant and clarifying that an application may be referred to both a consultant and a review team; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-211 required applications to be deemed complete if there is no request for more information within 45 days; 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. 11-80 deleted provision re inclusion of professional water supply engineer from the staff of Department of Public Utility Control on review team and changed “Department of Environmental Protection” to “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 1, 2011.

Cited. 3 CA 53.