(a) Once a complete
application has been received, the Commissioner shall review the proposed
action in accordance with the performance criteria set forth herein in order to
determine whether the proposed action may have a significant adverse impact
upon the present and future purity and adequacy of the public drinking
supply.
(b) The Commissioner shall
not grant a permit for the sale, lease or assignment of Class I land.
(c) The Commissioner shall not grant a permit
for a change in use of Class I land unless the applicant demonstrates that such
change will not have a significant adverse impact upon the present and future
purity and adequacy of the public drinking water supply.
(1) The performance criteria which shall be
applied in determining whether the proposed change in use of Class I land may
have a significant adverse impact upon the present and future purity and
adequacy of the public drinking water supply are as follows. The Commissioner
shall give due consideration to whether or not the proposed change in use will:
(A) Create an intentional or unintentional
point or non-point source of contamination;
(B) disturb ground vegetation on surface
public drinking supply watersheds except as required for water supply
maintenance and improvement;
(C)
create subsurface sewage disposal systems;
(D) create wheeled, tracked or hoofed
transport of any kind on surface public drinking supply watersheds except as
required to manage the watershed or that which is under water utility control,
and except as specifically allowed under section
25-43c(a)
of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(d) The Commissioner shall not grant a permit
for the sale, lease, assignment or change in use of any land in Class II unless
the applicant demonstrates that the proposed sale, lease, assignment or change
in use will not have a significant adverse impact upon the purity and adequacy
of the public drinking supply, and that any use restrictions which the
Commissioner requires as a condition of granting a permit can be enforced
against subsequent owners, lessees and assignees.
(1) The performance criteria which shall be
applied in determining whether the proposed action within the various
categories of Class II lands may have a significant adverse impact upon the
present and future purity and adequacy of the public drinking water supply are
as follows. The Commissioner shall give due consideration to whether or not the
proposed change in use will:
(A) Category 1.
(i) Create an intentional or unintentional
point or non-point source of contamination. Adequate man-made interception and
control safeguards as approved by the Department of Public Health may be
considered;
(ii) prevent
maintenance of ground vegetation for more than one growing season on surface
public drinking water supply watersheds except as required for water supply
maintenance and improvement or as associated with access to or underlying a
habitable structure whose use meets the requirements of (i) above;
(iii) significantly decrease the adequacy of
water supply through: loss of aquifer recharge area for infiltration due to
impervious land cover; reduction of hydraulic connection between stream and
aquifer due to siltation; decrease in stream flow available for induction due
to increased surface water run-off rates;
(iv) allow subsurface sewage disposal systems
in areas with shallow to bedrock soils, twenty (20) inches or less, poorly
drained, and very poorly drained soils. Where subsurface sewage disposal
systems are proposed, the design and installation of such systems will be in
accord with Department of Public Health regulations and shall use seepage rates
that do not exceed that of the existing soils on the site. Seepage rates in
fill sections will not be used in the system design.
(B) Category 2.
(i) Create an intentional or unintentional
point or non-point source of contamination. Adequate man-made interception and
control safeguards approved by the Department of Public Health may be
considered;
(ii) permanently
disturb ground vegetation in areas with present slopes greater than five
percent (5%) except that required for water supply maintenance and improvement,
or that associated with access to or underlying a habitable structure whose use
meets the requirements of (i) above.
(C) Category 3.
(i) Create an intentional or unintentional
point or non-point source of contamination. Adequate man-made interception and
control safeguards approved by the Department of Public Health may be
considered.
(D) Category
4.
(i) Create interstate, state, or town
roadways or mainline railroads except to provide access for allowable
uses;
(ii) encourage uncontrolled
access by the general public.
(e) In determining the conditions and
restrictions in use necessary to maintain the adequacy and purity of the public
drinking water supply due consideration must be given to:
(1) the creation of point or non-point
sources of contamination;
(2) the
disturbance of ground vegetation;
(3) the creation of subsurface sewage
disposal systems;
(4) the degree of
water treatment provided;
(5) any
other significant potential source of contamination of the public drinking
water supply;
(6) the decrease in
both surface and groundwater supplies resulting from or caused by the increased
run-off due to proposed changes in land use;
(7) the legal adequacy of the deed control
mechanisms enforceable against subsequent owners, lessees and assignees,
together with any other land use control mechanisms available and suitable for
such purposes;
(8) the available
dilution and the natural purification process of the receiving stream and the
residence time and natural purification processes in the receiving reservoir;
and
(9) the distance between the
proposed change and the beneficial effect of all intervening
wetlands.
