(a) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall establish and administer a hazard mitigation and floodplain management grant program to reimburse eligible applicants for costs incurred in the reduction or elimination of long-term risks to human life, infrastructure and property from natural hazards, including, but not limited to, flooding, high winds and wildfires, and in the retention of present capacity of designated floodplain areas to store and convey flood waters. Each grant shall be in an amount equal to ninety per cent of the costs to be incurred for such activities. Application for a grant shall be made in writing to the commissioner in such form as the commissioner may prescribe and shall include a description of the purpose, objectives and budget of the activities to be funded by the grant. If the applicant is a municipality, the chief executive officer of the municipality applying for the grant may designate the town planner, the director of public works, the police chief, the fire chief or the emergency management director of such municipality as the agent to make the application.

(b) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall establish, by regulations adopted in accordance with chapter 54, relative priorities for the approval of grants under this section. Such priorities may take into account the differing needs of eligible applicants, the need for consistency and equity in the distribution of grant awards and the extent to which particular projects may advance the purposes of this section. The commissioner shall accord highest priority to projects which involve (1) the preparation or revision of hazard mitigation plans by municipalities, or (2) participation in the community rating system of the National Flood Insurance Program. The commissioner shall accord secondary priority to projects which involve (A) the execution of hazard mitigation projects by municipalities in accordance with approved hazard mitigation plans; or (B) administering and providing financial assistance for the hazard mitigation and floodplain management grant program established under this section. The commissioner may establish further criteria for the approval of grants under this section. Not later than February 1, 2005, the commissioner shall develop and disseminate a pamphlet that describes the evaluation process for grant applications under this section. In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner shall consult with any person the commissioner deems necessary.

(c) The commissioner shall authorize grant awards under this section on or before July thirty-first and December thirty-first of each fiscal year in which payment of a grant is to be made.

(d) The commissioner shall allocate not less than sixty per cent of the moneys in the hazard mitigation and floodplain management account in any fiscal year for grants under this section.

(P.A. 04-144, S. 9; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 04-144 effective July 1, 2004; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 1, 2011.