Bill Text: CT HB05370 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut House Bill 5370 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Program Review And Investigations Committee Concerning Certain Fiscal And Resource-related Matters Pertaining To State Parks.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-08 - Referred by House to Committee on Appropriations [HB05370 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05370-Comm_Sub.html

General Assembly		*Substitute Bill No. 5370*
*February Session, 2014*		_____HB05370PRI___031414____

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE CONCERNING CERTAIN FISCAL AND RESOURCE-RELATED MATTERS PERTAINING TO STATE PARKS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 23-10b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may provide outdoor recreation-related services to the public at state park and forest recreation areas. Such services may include rentals of bicycles, boats, cabins and tents, sale of firewood and operation of camp stores supplying camping necessaries. Fees for such services shall be set by the commissioner, according to market value. Revenue from such services shall be deposited in the Conservation Fund and credited to an enterprise program account for use in the state park and forest facilities, except the commissioner shall allocate a portion of such revenue from the rental of any cabin for deposit in the maintenance, repair and improvement subaccount for the state park, as established pursuant to section 23-15b, as amended by this act, in which such cabin is located. Such services and fees shall not affect admission, parking, camping and related existing fees. No services shall compete with a concessionaire under contract with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection at the time such service is offered.

Sec. 2. Section 23-15b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

(a) There is established a separate, nonlapsing account within the General Fund, known as the maintenance, repair and improvement account. All funds collected from rent paid by any person for the use of state park property for any special event of limited duration, including, but not limited to, weddings and receptions, shall be deposited into the account unless the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection enters into a written agreement, signs an instrument or issues a license which specifically states otherwise. Said account may also receive funds from private or public sources, including the federal government or a municipal government.

(b) Fifty per cent of all revenues from the operation of each state park, except revenues from rents that are otherwise fully deposited in the maintenance, repair and improvement account in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, shall be deposited into the maintenance, repair and improvement account.

[(b)] (c) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, any funds received by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pursuant to [subsection] subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be deposited in the General Fund and credited to the maintenance, repair and improvement account. Within said account there shall be a subaccount for each state park from which funds are collected pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and for each state park in which any cabin is located, which subaccounts shall be held separate and apart from each other. The commissioner shall deposit into the applicable subaccount any revenue from the rental of cabins that the commissioner allocates pursuant to section 23-10b, as amended by this act. Each subaccount shall be available to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection for maintaining, making improvements to, erecting structures on or repairing the property, including houses and other buildings, of the state park for which such subaccount was established, provided any revenues in such subaccounts from the rental of cabins shall be used for the purpose of maintaining any cabin that is located in the park for which such subaccount was established. Any funds deposited in the maintenance, repair and improvement account pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall be available to the commissioner for expenses associated with the operation of all state parks. Nothing in this section shall prevent the commissioner from obtaining or using funds from sources other than the maintenance, repair and improvement account for the purposes described in this subsection. Funds in the maintenance, repair and improvement account shall be used to supplement state funds appropriated for the general operation of state parks and shall not replace such appropriated funds for purposes of such general operation.

[(c)] (d) On or before October 1, 2010, and semiannually thereafter, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall report to the Office of Fiscal Analysis on the state parks for which funds have been collected pursuant to [subsection] subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such report shall include (1) the amount of funds received into the maintenance, repair and improvement account, itemized by subaccount for funds received pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and by revenue type and location for funds received pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, (2) the amount of funds the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has expended from the account for each park, and (3) the projects for which such funds have been expended. Said commissioner shall post the same information on the department's Internet web site.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than December 31, 2014, and annually thereafter, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, shall develop a results-based accountability report card in accordance with guidelines established by the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies. Such report card shall identify any challenges or areas for improvement regarding the state parks and include measures regarding: (1) Park use, including, but not limited to, attendance, safety and patron satisfaction, and (2) park operations, including, but not limited to, planning, facilities and personnel. Any such report card shall be submitted to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall post any such report card on the department's Internet web site.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2014) Not later than February 1, 2020, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall conduct a review of each state park. Such review shall include, but not be limited to: (1) An assessment of the condition of such park, (2) an inventory of the facilities located in such park, (3) an assessment of the potential revenue generation and historic significance of such facilities, and (4) an examination of the staffing needs for such park. Not later than five years following the completion of a review for a state park, and every five years thereafter, said bureau shall update such review for such park.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2014	23-10b
Sec. 2	July 1, 2014	23-15b
Sec. 3	from passage	New section
Sec. 4	July 1, 2014	New section