(a) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may, in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, require any person engaged in agriculture on land located within an aquifer protection area and whose annual gross sales from agricultural products during the preceding calendar year were two thousand five hundred dollars or more to submit a farm resources management plan.

(b) The soil and water conservation district where the aquifer protection area is located shall establish and coordinate a technical team to develop each plan. Such team shall include a representative of the municipality in which the land is located and a representative of any affected water company upon request of such municipality or water company. For the purposes of developing the plan required pursuant to this section, if a farm is located in two or more soil and water conservation districts, the district in which the greater part of such farm is located shall be deemed to be the district in which the entire farm is located. In developing a plan, a district shall consult with the Commissioners of Energy and Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at The University of Connecticut, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the Soil Conservation Service, the state Agricultural and Conservation Committee and any other person or agency the district deems appropriate.

(c) The plan shall include a schedule for implementation and shall be periodically updated as required by the commissioner. In developing a schedule for implementation, the technical team shall consider technical and economic factors including, but not limited to, the availability of state and federal funds. Any person engaged in agriculture in substantial compliance with a plan approved under this section shall be exempt from regulations adopted under section 22a-354o by a municipality in which the land is located. No plan shall be required to be submitted to the commissioner before July 1, 1992, or six months after completion of level B mapping where the farm is located, whichever is later.

(d) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Agriculture, the United States Soil Conservation Service, the Cooperative Extension Service at The University of Connecticut and the Council for Soil and Water Conservation may publish notice of intent to adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 for farm resources management plans. Such regulations may include, but not be limited to, a priority system and procedures for determining if a farm management plan is required and the priority that is assigned to the preparation of such a plan, best management practices, restrictions and prohibitions for manure management, storage and handling of pesticides, reduced use of pesticides through pest management practices, integrated pest management, fertilizer management and underground and above-ground storage tanks and criteria and procedures for submission and review of farm resources management plans and amendments of such plans. In adopting such best management practices, restrictions and prohibitions, the commissioner shall consider existing state and federal guidelines or regulations affecting aquifers and agricultural resources management.

(P.A. 89-305, S. 6, 32; P.A. 90-275, S. 3, 9; P.A. 98-209, S. 10; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(e); P.A. 04-189, S. 1; P.A. 11-80, S. 65; P.A. 13-209, S. 5.)

History: P.A. 90-275 increased the annual gross sales requirement from $1,000 to $2,500, provided if a farm is located in two or more districts that the district in which the greater part of the farm is located shall be deemed to be the district in which the entire farm is located, extended the earliest time in which a plan is required to July 1, 1992, provided that the commissioner shall publish notice of intent to adopt regulations concerning farm resources management plans on or before July 1, 1991, and required the regulations to include best management practices, restrictions and prohibitions for designated items; P.A. 98-209 amended Subsec. (a) to make submittal of farm resources management plans discretionary on the part of the commissioner, and amended Subsec. (d) to extend the date for notice of intent to adopt regulations under this section and to authorize certain priorities within such regulations; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner of Agriculture with Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 11-80 changed “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-209 amended Subsec. (d) by deleting “On or before July 1, 1999,” and making provision to adopt regulations discretionary rather than mandatory.

See Sec. 22-6c re reimbursement by commissioner for costs of comprehensive farm nutrient management plan or farm resources management plan.