Here are just a few of the reasons why.
It helps level the balance of power
Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention.
Your action stays on the record
If a state or federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for holding them legally accountable.
It’s the law
State and federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for —and consider— public comments.
It works
Citizen action and advocacy has a long, proven track record of bringing about meaningful change and upholding protections for the environment.
The rivers can’t speak for themselves
While our rivers speak to us in many other ways, they depend on you to be their voice, speaking up for their needs and protections.
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Tell the Environment Committee: The Time is NOW to Protect Riparian Buffers in Connecticut!
Testify in Support of HB 7174 AN ACT CONCERNING RIPARIAN BUFFERS AND ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROVISIONS
Act Now: Public Hearing was on Monday, March 17th but it’s not too late to submit testimony! You can submit testimony by clicking here.
What Does HB 7174 Do?
Among its key provisions, HB 7174 finally incorporates riparian buffers into Connecticut’s laws—something that is currently missing from our regulatory and statutory framework. In fact, Connecticut is the only state in New England without explicit protections for riparian buffers.
Why Do We Need Riparian Buffers?
Riparian buffers are a proven, cost-effective way to:
- Reduce flooding and protect communities from weather extremes such as the floods that caused devastation in the Naugatuck Valley in August.
- Improve and safeguard water quality by filtering pollutants and stabilizing streambanks.
- Balance environmental protection with property rights by ensuring responsible land use.
Natural buffers are the simplest, most efficient tool we have to achieve goals of protecting landowners and communities from increased flooding, protecting and improving water quality, and while also respecting the rights of property owners. —at little to no cost compared to expensive engineered solutions.
Now is the time to act. Let’s support legislation that establishes and protects riparian buffers in Connecticut.
This bill may need some tweaks and refinements, but there is too much at stake to abandon it altogether. We urge the Environment Committee and legislators to collaborate with stakeholders to address concerns and improve the language where necessary.
The bottom line: This concept is too important to let die. Let’s work together to get it right.
What is a Riparian Buffer?
A riparian is a strip of land alongside a body of water. If managed properly to include stretches of native vegetation, this stretch of land literally “buffers” the vulnerable river banks and the water itself from harmful materials and volume of stormwater runoff flowing across the land after a rainfall or snow melt.
As proposed in HB 7174, Riparian Buffer is defined as a regulated area with minor changes to regulated activity help to protect that stretch of native vegetation so it can protect us.
Sections 1-12 pertain to Riparian Buffers. Here is a summary of what these sections do:
- Incorporates riparian buffers into our statutory framework as a regulated area.
- Provides a definition of Riparian Buffer.
- Establishes specific, limited prohibited activities within a defined, limited distance from a wetland and/or watercourse boundaries based on three resource categories.
- Excludes cutting of native vegetation from “as of right” activities for residential use and some agricultural use.
- Adds chemical and thermal characteristics to impacts
- Directs the DEEP Commissioner to designate at least 5% of Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund to establish nature-based solution account.
Sections 13 & 14 also help protect our waters. Here is what these sections do:
- Section 13 – Protects fish and aquatic habitat by requiring DEEP to adopt regulations to ensure safe, timely, and effective fish passage and protect aquatic habitat on dams that are not subject to FERC jurisdiction.
- Section 14 – Establishes a fund that would aid in:
- Disseminating flood risk data to communities
- Establishing a public awareness efforts in communities at high risk of flooding
- Providing grants to communities to construct and install climate resilient infrastructure to mitigate high risk such as flooding.
The funds for this account would come from a 5% surcharge on insurance policy renewals for fossil fuel infrastructure that facilitates or expands oil, methane gas or coal (does not include home delivery vehicles.)
To learn more, check out our Side by Side comparison of the proposal compared to the current bill with an infographic!