Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Council’s jurisdiction?
The Council has jurisdiction over the siting of energy, telecommunications and hazardous waste facilities, including the following:
- Electric transmission lines of a design capacity of 69 kilovolts or more;
- Fuel transmission lines of a design capacity of more than 200 pounds per square inch gauge or of a design capacity of more than 20% of its specified minimum yield strength;
- Electric generating or storage facilities using
any fuel, but not including:
- an emergency generating device; or
- a facility owned and operated by a private power producer that is determined by the Council to be for the producer’s own use and has a generating capacity of 1 megawatt or less if utilizing renewable energy sources or a generating capacity of 25 megawatts or less if utilizing cogeneration technology.
- Electric substations and switchyards designed to regulate the voltage of electricity at 69-kilovolts or more;
- Community antenna television (CATV) towers and head-end structures;
- Telecommunications towers owned or operated by the state, a public service company, certified telecommunications provider or used in a cellular system; and
- Hazardous waste facilities used for the disposal, treatment, storage or recovery of hazardous waste.
What is the difference between party and intervenor status?
A party means:
- a person whose legal rights, duties and privileges are required by statute to be determined by an agency proceeding and who is named or admitted as a party;
- a person who is required by law to be a party in an agency proceeding; or
- a person who submits a written petition to the agency that states facts demonstrating their legal rights, duties or privileges shall be specifically affected by the agency’s decision.
Examples of persons who may attain party status include, but are not limited to, the applicant, municipalities hosting the site for a jurisdictional facility and abutting property owners.
An intervenor means a person who submits a written petition to the agency that states facts demonstrating their participation is in the interests of justice and will not impair the orderly conduct of the proceedings.
Examples of persons who may attain intervenor status include, but are not limited to, community organizations and interested persons who are not abutting property owners.
Both parties and intervenors are active participants in the evidentiary portion of public hearings with the opportunity to submit pre-filed testimony and exhibits, issue interrogatories and cross examine all other parties and intervenors and with the obligation to respond to interrogatories and be subject to cross examination by all other parties and intervenors.
More information about Public Participation can be found here.
What is a limited appearance?
A limited appearance is a written statement of position/concerns regarding a matter pending with the Council that is submitted to the Council before, during or within 30 days after the public hearing on a jurisdictional matter or an oral statement of position/concerns that is made during the public comment session of the public hearing. Limited appearance statements are not subject to cross examination by the applicant, parties, intervenors or the Council and persons making limited appearance statements may not ask questions of the applicant, parties, intervenors or the Council. These statements are included in the official record of the proceeding as public comments.
Parties and intervenors may not also speak during the public comment session as they are active participants in the evidentiary session that includes the right to submit written testimony and cross examine the applicant.
What happens at a public hearing?
The Council is required by law to hold a public hearing within 30 to 150 days after an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need is submitted. A public hearing notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the proposed facility site in 10 point, bold-faced font, as well as posted with the Secretary of the State’s Office.
The Council’s public hearing process is typically structured in 3 parts:
- Public Field Review – usually held at 2 PM for the Council, participants and public to observe the proposed site that may include a balloon float to simulate the height of the facility (typically, cell towers) and a summary overview of the construction plans.
- Afternoon Evidentiary Session – usually held at 3 PM at a venue in the host municipality when the applicant formally presents and verifies its exhibits and is subject to cross examination on the exhibits by the Council, parties and intervenors.
- Evening Public Comment Session – held after 6:30 PM at a venue in the host municipality for the convenience of the public to make oral limited appearance statements of concern about a proposed project that are not subject to cross examination by the Council, applicant or parties and intervenors. Parties and intervenors may not also participate in the public comment session as they are active participants in the evidentiary session that includes the right to submit written testimony and cross examine the applicant.
If the afternoon evidentiary session does not close on the day of the public hearing, the Council will announce a continuation of the evidentiary session at the Council’s office in New Britain.
Can I present my position/concerns at an energy/telecommunications meeting?
No. Energy/Telecommunications meetings are not public hearings for which the opportunity for public comment is provided. They are regular meetings of the Council at which time the Council deliberates and votes on matters that are on the meeting agenda. The public is welcome to attend and observe the regular meetings, but there is no provision for public comment during a regular meeting.
Interested persons may submit written statements of position/concerns about an agenda item to the Council via regular mail, e-mail or fax prior to the date of the energy/telecommunications meeting.
How can I submit my position/concerns to the Council and to whom should I address them?
Written concerns may be sent to the Connecticut Siting Council via regular mail, e-mail or fax as follows:
Connecticut Siting Council
10 Franklin Square
New Britain, CT 06051
Phone: 860-827-2935
Fax: 860-827-2950
DOCKETS (Applications for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need)
What is an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need?
An application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (Certificate) is a request by a project developer to construct, maintain and operate a facility that is jurisdictional to the Council. The Council’s statutory charge is to balance the public need or benefit of a proposed facility with the effects of the proposed facility on the natural environment of the state at the lowest reasonable cost to consumers.
An application for a Certificate is assigned a docket number for processing purposes.
How long does it take to render a decision on a docket?
For an electric transmission line facility, the Council has one year from the date an application is submitted to render a decision.
For all other facilities, the Council has 180 days from the date an application is submitted to render a decision that may be extended with the consent of the applicant by no more than an additional 180 days.
A proposed schedule for the public hearing process, including, but not limited to, a pre-hearing conference, submission of interrogatories, responses to interrogatories, submission of exhibits and pre-filed testimony, and the public hearing is posted to the webpage for the pending matter. Dates are tentative and subject to change in the event that additional evidentiary sessions are required. The Council will announce the additional evidentiary session dates that will be posted to the webpage for the pending matter, as well as to the Council’s calendar.
How much is the filing fee and how many copies should be submitted to the Council?
The filing fee is typically $1,250 for an application for a Certificate. One original and 15 copies are to be submitted to the Council, as well as an electronic version of the application to be posted on the Council’s website. Substation and electric transmission line applications require submission of $25,000 for a Municipal Participation Fee under Connecticut General Statutes §16-50bb to defray expenses incurred by the municipalities entitled to receive a copy of the application that actively participate in the public hearing process as a party or intervenor.
Filing fees are determined by the following schedule:
Estimated construction cost Fee
Up to $5,000,000 .05% or $1,250.00,
whichever is greater.
Above $5,000,000 .1% or $25,250.00,
whichever is less.
Charges incurred beyond the filing fee amount to process the application will be invoiced to the applicant. Any unused portion of the filing fee will be refunded to the applicant.
PETITIONS FOR DECLARATORY RULINGS
What is a petition for a declaratory ruling?
A petition for a declaratory ruling is a request for a determination from the Council that no Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need is required for an action related to a jurisdictional facility that will not have a substantial adverse environmental effect, including, but not limited to, increasing the height of an existing cell tower, expanding the footprint of an existing electric substation or rebuilding/reconductoring an existing electric transmission line.
The Council is also required by statute to review and approve certain new jurisdictional facilities by a petition for a declaratory ruling, including, but not limited to, fuel cells, electric generating facilities to be constructed at a site where a past electric generating facility operated prior to July 1, 2004 and electric generating facilities using renewable energy sources with a generating capacity of not more than 65 megawatts that comply with air and water quality standards of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
How long does it take to render a decision on a petition for a declaratory ruling?
The Council has 180 days from the date of receipt to render a decision on a petition; however, within 60 days of receipt of a petition, the Council, in writing, must:
- Issue a declaratory ruling;
- Order the matter set for public hearing;
- Agree to issue a declaratory ruling by a specified date;
- Initiate regulation-making proceedings; or
- Decide not to issue a declaratory ruling.
The Council may extend the 180 day decision deadline on a petition within a longer period as may be agreed by the parties.
How much is the filing fee and how many copies should be submitted to the Council?
The filing fee for a petition for a declaratory ruling is $625. An original and 15 copies should be submitted to the Council, as well as an electronic version of the petition to be posted on the Council’s website.
Charges incurred beyond the filing fee amount to process the petition will be invoiced to the petitioner. Any unused portion of the filing fee will be refunded to the petitioner.
TOWER SHARE REQUESTS
What is a tower share request?
A tower share request is made by an entity seeking to collocate antennas for transmitting or receiving signals on an existing tower. The state of Connecticut finds that the sharing of towers when technically, legally, environmentally and economically feasible and meets public safety concerns will avoid the unnecessary proliferation of towers and is in the public interest.
How long does it take to render a decision on a tower share request?
Tower share requests are to be processed within 60 days of receipt of a complete request per the Federal Communications Commission Wireless Infrastructure Report and Order, dated October 21, 2014.
How much is the filing fee and how many copies should be submitted to the Council?
The filing fee for a tower share request is $625. An original and 15 copies should be submitted to the Council, as well as an electronic version of the tower share request to be posted on the Council’s website.
EXEMPT MODIFICATIONS
What is an exempt modification?
An exempt modification is a request to modify an existing jurisdictional energy or telecommunications facility that does not increase the facility height, extend the site boundaries by any dimension, increase noise levels, cause a significant alteration in the physical or environmental characteristics of the site or impair the structural integrity of the facility.
How long does it take to render a decision on an exempt modification?
Requests for telecommunications exempt modifications are to be processed within 60 days of receipt of a complete request per the Federal Communications Commission Wireless Infrastructure Report and Order dated, October 21, 2014.
Requests for energy exempt modifications do not have a deadline, but are typically processed within 45-60 days.
How much is the filing fee and how many copies should be submitted to the Council?
The filing fee for an exempt modification is $625. An original and 2 copies should be submitted to the Council, as well as an electronic version of the exempt modification request to be posted on the Council’s website.