(a) The Office of Policy and Management shall constitute a successor department to the Geospatial Information Systems Council in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-38d and 4-39.

(b) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall coordinate geospatial information system capacity for municipalities, regional councils of governments and the state and establish policies for the collection, management and distribution of geospatial information. The secretary shall set standards for the acquisition, management and reporting of geospatial information and the acquisition, creation or use of applications employing such information by any executive branch agency. In establishing such capacity, policies or standards the secretary shall consult with municipalities, regional councils of governments, state agencies and other users of geospatial information system technology. The purpose of any such system shall be to facilitate communication and coordination regarding the use of geospatial information system technology, eliminate duplicative use of such technology and expand the use of geospatial information within the state.

(c) The secretary may apply for federal grants and may accept and expend such grants on behalf of the state.

(d) The secretary shall, within available appropriations, administer a program of technical assistance to municipalities and regional councils of governments to develop geospatial information systems and shall periodically recommend improvements to the geospatial information system provided for in subsection (b) of this section.

(e) On or before January 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the secretary shall submit, in accordance with section 11-4a, a report on activities under this section to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning and development.

(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 84; P.A. 08-19, S. 4; P.A. 10-32, S. 154; P.A. 11-48, S. 271; 11-51, S. 65, 144; 11-80, S. 8; P.A. 13-247, S. 214; 13-299, S. 6; P.A. 14-139, S. 1.)

History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 effective June 30, 2005; P.A. 08-19 amended Subsec. (a) to change meeting requirement from one each month to one each calendar quarter, effective April 29, 2008; P.A. 10-32 made a technical change in Subsec. (a)(12), effective May 10, 2010; P.A. 11-48 amended Subsec. (a) to replace “Chancellor of the Connecticut State University System” with “president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-51 amended Subsec. (a) to replace Commissioner of Public Works with Commissioners of Administrative Services and Construction Services, to replace Commissioners of Public Safety and Emergency Management and Homeland Security with Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, and to delete “Chief Information Officer of the Department of Information Technology”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-80 amended Subsec. (a) by changing “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” and deleting references to Executive Director of the Connecticut Siting Council and chairperson of the Public Utilities Control Authority, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-247 amended Subsec. (a) to delete “Commissioner of Construction Services”, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 13-299 replaced former Subsec. (a) re Geospatial Information Systems Council with new Subsec. (a) re Office of Policy and Management as successor agency to said council, amended Subsec. (b) to delete “within available appropriations” and requirement that capacity be uniform, to replace provisions re duties in former Subdivs. (1) and (2) with provisions re requirements to establish policies and standards re geospatial information, to replace provision re purpose of system as providing guidance or assistance to municipal and state officials with provision re facilitation of communication, coordination and expansion re geospatial information, amended Subsec. (e) to change date of initial report from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2014, and made technical and conforming changes, effective July 1, 2013 (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (a), a reference to “Geospatial Systems Information Council” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Geospatial Information Systems Council” for accuracy); P.A. 14-139 replaced “regional planning agencies” with “regional councils of governments” in Subsecs. (b) and (d), effective January 1, 2015.