(a) When the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection deems that it would be in the interest of the state, he may rent to any person, or assign departmental employees to occupy, houses, other buildings or property in the custody or control of said commissioner. If he rents property to persons who are not employees of the department, he shall first obtain the approval of the State Properties Review Board and any such rent shall at least be equal to the fair market rental value of such property as determined by the commissioner, notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or of any regulations of any state agency. Rentals to persons other than departmental employees may be for commercial, residential or any other purpose that the commissioner deems to be in the interest of the state. If he assigns departmental employees to occupy such property, he may impose whatever conditions he deems necessary upon such assignment. He may also rent any such property to a departmental employee, and if, in his judgment, a rental fee should be charged to such employee, he shall determine such rental fee, notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or of any regulations of any state agency. The commissioner may, in the name of the state, execute leases, contracts or other documents to carry out the purposes of this section.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or of any regulations of any state agency, if the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection determines that it would be in the interest of the state, he may, subject to the approval of the State Properties Review Board and the Governor, sell, exchange or otherwise transfer the state's interests in houses or buildings in the custody and control of said commissioner and land accompanying any such house or building, provided no house, building or accompanying land shall be sold, exchanged or any interest therein transferred for less than its fair market value as determined by the commissioner. Said commissioner may, in the name of the state, execute deeds, contracts or other documents for such purposes. The commissioner shall ensure that any land sold under this section shall be subject to a deed restriction preventing further subdivision. The commissioner may require further conservation restrictions as part of such sale to prevent or limit other activities including, but not limited to, tree cutting or construction of additional structures. All moneys from any such sale, exchange or transfer of any interest pursuant to this section shall be used by the commissioner to carry out the purposes of the recreation and natural heritage trust program established under chapter 453.

(c) The commissioner shall grant a right of first refusal regarding the purchase of any land offered for sale under subsection (b) of this section to any person who has provided notice of interest in such right to the commissioner under this subsection and who provides evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that (1) such person is the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild of (A) a person who held title to the land in fee immediately prior to the state's taking title provided the state acquired such title on or after January 1, 1969, and prior to January 1, 1975, and (B) a person who owns land contiguous to the land being offered for sale, or (2) such person (A) is the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild of a person who held title to the land immediately prior to the state's taking title provided the state acquired such title on or after January 1, 1969, and prior to January 1, 1975, and (B) owns land contiguous to the land being offered for sale. Notice of interest in such right shall be in writing and shall provide an address to which notice of an offer for sale may be sent and shall further provide any information the commissioner deems relevant to any determination required of him under this subsection. If he finds that such notice is complete, the commissioner shall send notice to such person, by certified mail, prior to offering such land for sale to any other person under subsection (b) of this section. Such right shall be exercised not later than thirty days after the date that notice of an offer for sale is received. In the event that more than one notice of interest is filed with the commissioner, the person who provided the first notice deemed complete by the commissioner shall be given the right of first refusal.

(P.A. 96-143, S. 3, 4; P.A. 97-71, S. 3, 4; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 471; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 96-143 effective July 1, 1996 (Revisor's note: In codifying this section in Subsec. (b) the word “any” was added editorially by the Revisors in the phrase “... and land accompanying any such house or building provided no ...”); P.A. 97-71 added new Subsec. (c) re right of first refusal for certain persons related to former owners of land offered for sale under Subsec. (b), effective May 27, 1997; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision requiring moneys from rental of certain property to be deposited into maintenance, repair and improvement account; 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.