Bill Text: CT SB00085 | 2012 | General Assembly | Chaptered
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Campground Reservations At Certain State Parks.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2012-06-08 - Signed by the Governor [SB00085 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2012-SB00085-Chaptered.html
AN ACT CONCERNING CAMPGROUND RESERVATIONS AT CERTAIN STATE PARKS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 23-16a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
[The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall phase out the leases of camping sites at shore parks which the State Park and Forest Commission determined were, in the 1970 season, leased for more than three weeks in the aggregate to the same family by reducing their number equally each year, for the next five years. ]
(a) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall not lease camping sites at shore parks to the same camping party for more than three weeks during the camping season. The commissioner shall (1) lease camping sites to the same camping party for additional periods of up to three weeks, provided such camping party vacates the shore park for a minimum of five days between leases, or (2) lease any vacant camping sites on a first come, first served basis. The commissioner may adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 to establish limits on the length of camping site leases. The lease length limitation in this subsection shall be effective until June 30, 2013, or until such regulations are adopted, whichever is later.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall establish a pilot program for the 2013 camping season, allowing five per cent of camping sites in shore parks to be leased by the same camping party without a limitation on the number of days leased. Notwithstanding the schedule of fees established pursuant to section 23-16, the commissioner may charge a nightly fee for such camping sites equal to one hundred fifty per cent of the applicable fee charged during the 2012 camping season.
(2) On or before February 1, 2014, said commissioner shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment and finance, revenue and bonding regarding the pilot program established pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, a description of the implementation of the pilot program, its impact upon the availability of camping sites, the reaction of families using the camping sites and recommendations for changes, if any, in the pilot program.