HB -6008 received a favorable vote from the Planning and Development Committee in the state legislature and will hopefully move on to consideration in the House of Representatives later this session. See: www.senatedems.ct.gov/bye-news/473-bye-170324#sthash.kaaH8WOR.vdIQkaC0.dpbs

The Metropolitan District Commission, which provides drinking water to 8 Hartford area municipalities, came under intense fire this past year.  First, with its decision to offer water and clean water project charge discounts to multi-national  California water bottler Niagara.  Secondly, with its last minute demand for contingency funds from municipalities to avoid a damaged bond rating should the city of Hartford default on its ad valorem sewer payments.

The 29 member MDC board, comprised of both legislative appointees and commissioners appointed by its member towns, was criticized for its lack of communication with member town councils, and its lack of transparency with the public.

The consumer advocate, funded with $50,000/yr by the MDC, would be an attorney with experience in utility law and public advocacy.  The position would provide a set of "eyes and ears" to the public on maters of consequence to the general public, both in member towns and in non-voting towns served by the MDC.

Sen. Beth Bye, Rep. Derek Slap, and Rep. David Baram all worked to forward the legislation out of committee. Save Our Water CT considers this a good first step in restoring public trust to the agency.

Thanks to Jon Lender, the secrecy surrounding water utility water supply plans is once again in the news. See;  www.courant.com/politics/hc-lender-secret-water-20170313-column.html  
published in Sunday March 19th in the Hartford Courant.

Water utilities are required to file supply plans every 8-10 years with the Department of Public Health, documenting what they estimate is their "safe yield" for water projected far into the future. The plans contain numerous details about where our water comes from and goes, drought triggers, and projections for future use.  They also contain critical security information on their contingency plans, control systems, chemical storage locations, and other details that no one in the environmental community wishes disclosed.  But the fears of terrorism involving the water supply system are now being used to withhold ALL details of water utility plans from the public or water planners. Analysis of our critical natural water resources, which may be increasingly under threat from climate change, is being removed from the pubic domain.

Negotiations have been ongoing since 2003 to develop a methodology for the water utilities, the Department of Public Health, and environmental water advocates to share this information in a way that both preserves critical infrastructure information and allows public access to planning information.  One idea is to submit these plans in 2 forms:  one closed to the public and another with agreed-upon public information. But each year talks have broken down leaving the plans essentially under lock and key.

HB 7221 in this year's legislature seeks to enact clear guidelines as to what water utility information IS actually critically secure and deserving of protection.  That would allow the vast majority of the plan to be open to environmental planners and the public, without the lengthy fights that currently occur.

Val Rossetti of Save Our Water CT still has yet to see a single word of the MDC 2008 plan, requested back on March 1st of 2016. We're not yet holding our breath.

ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING (10:30 am/Room 2B):

• SUPPORT HB 5618 Concerning an increase in the handling fee for bottle redemption centers. Email to: ENVtestimony@cga.ct.gov.
• OPPOSE SB 996 To eliminate the Bottle Deposit Bill and replace it with a less effective program.

PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING (10:30 am/Room 1D):

• SUPPORT HB 7221 Access to water planning information. Email to:PHtestimony@cga.ct.gov.

GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTION COMMITTEE (10 AM/Room 2A):

• OPPOSE HB 7051 Section 31 Implementing the governor's budget recommendations, which calls for the defunding and complete elimination of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), our state’s only environmental watchdog. Email to: GAEtestimony@cga.ct.gov.
  
  

You can submit your comments by email directly to the committees as indicated above, ideally before 3 pm this Friday. Your comments will still be accepted (and are just as important) after the hearing as part of the public record to help inform legislators when it comes time to cast their votes on these bills at a later date.
Be sure to include your name and town in your testimony, and to clearly state that you SUPPORT or OPPOSE __bill # name___.

Submit written testimony or call your legislators. Come to the hearings if you can to make a show of concern with SAVE OUR WATER CT and other environmental activists. Wear your SAVE button. Note: The first hour or two is generally made up of elected officials speaking so late arrival is fine.

(Thanks to Lori Brown, CT League of Conservation Voters, for much of this information.)

It's an all too painful recent memory: Bloomfield residents stunned to learn that wetlands and zoning permit applications submitted under the name of a local engineer were in reality designed for Niagara Bottling's multi-million dollar factory. With no legal requirement for the end-developer to reveal its name or intentions, "competitive business advantage" trumped the right of the ordinary citizen to know what was to be built in their neighborhood. Then came the further revelation that unprecedented volume rate discounts on water and clean water project charges--designed specifically to attract Niagara--had been quietly passed in the board rooms of the Metropolitan District Commission. And with it, an $8M rate-payer financed bond to extend a water main to the Niagara's area. Let's not let decisions like these-devoid of real public input-happen again!

Testimony on three bills of interest to SAVE activists will be heard this Friday, March 3rd beginning at 11 AM in Room 2D of the Legislative Office Building 300 Capitol Ave. in Hartford. Come and testify, submit written testimony, or sit at the hearing wearing your blue SAVE button.

1.HB 6004 AN ACT CONCERNING LAND USE, ZONING, WETLANDS AND TAX ABATEMENT APPLICATION TRANSPARENCY: Submitted by Rep. Baram, Rep. Slap, and Sen. Bye.  (www.cga.ct.gov/2017/TOB/h/2017HB-06004-R00-HB.htm) An updated variation of Rep. David Baram’s “Transparency” bill that failed to pass last year. It would require mandatory disclosures of the developer as to the true use of a property on municipal applications for land use, zoning, wetlands approval, and tax abatements. SAVE strongly supports this bill:

• It will help prevent another “Niagara” situation where a business negotiating with a town or utility deliberately avoids the public eye because of concern about citizen reaction or regulatory review.

• It will facilitate a consistent approach to disclosure across the state, helping to level the playing field for all businesses and municipalities. A developer's desire for secrecy to protect its perceived competitive advantages should not circumvent a citizen's right to know.

• It allows good deals to withstand public scrutiny, questions, and suggestions.
  

Additionally there are two "concept" bills concerning the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and public water projects, whose ideas SAVE generally supports:

2. HB 6008 AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COMMISSION TO ADD A CONSUMER ADVOCATE BOARD MEMBER:   Submitted by Rep. Slap, Rep. Baram, and Sen. Bye. (www.cga.ct.gov/2017/TOB/h/2017HB-06008-R00-HB.htm) The advocate, appointed by the Office of Consumer Counsel, would function as a non-voting board member to keep MDC member-town officials and residents well informed about MDC matters impacting their towns.

• As water becomes an ever more important resource, there should be a mechanism to keep member town officials and residents advised and regularly updated on the policies, ordinances, and operations of the MDC.
  

3. SB 241 AN ACT CONCERNING PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: Submitted by Sen. Bye and rep. Slap. (www.cga.ct.gov/2017/TOB/s/2017SB-00241-R00-SB.htm) This bill would require all public water projects transporting above a designated threshold of water (gallons/day) to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the member-towns’ legislative bodies. The objective is to increase public oversight of public water systems by elected officials.

• Large public water projects should at least be subject to a vote of member-towns’ legislative bodies before construction begins.
  

Details on attending the hearing or submitting testimony follow below.

Save Our Water CT is continuing to work through the legislative process on bills concerning drought protection, permitting of large water bottlers, and unfair large volume discounts on water rates. Thanks to YOUR activism, legislators are taking interest and momentum is building to address the protection of our most valuable public trust resource- water. We couldn't do it without you!

Here are some general tips for submitting testimony to the Planning and Development Committee on Friday:

• Email written testimony in Word or PDF format to PDtestimony@cga.ct.gov. Clearly state your name and the bill number and title in your testimony. Also put the bill number and title in the subject line of your e-mail.
• If you wish to attend the public hearing:
  
  
  • Submit at least 2 copies of your written testimony to the Committee staff in Room 2100 of the LOB between 9:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. Testimony received after the designated time may not be uploaded until after the hearing.
  • If you speak, you will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement (see above) and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement.
  • Sign up to speak Friday AM in Room 2100 between 9 and 10 AM.
  • You can speak on all of these bills, but you will only have a total of 3 minutes. You might simply mention your support on two of them and focus your comments on the one that is most important to you.