DEP Seeks Proposals For Projects To Restore

Natural Resources In The Housatonic River Basin

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will be accepting proposals for projects that restore the natural resources and recreational uses of the Housatonic River that were injured by the release of PCBs from the General Electric (GE) facility in Pittsfield, Mass.

The DEP issued a request for proposals (RFP) this week for projects that can be funded from the approximately $9 million now available for restoration work in Connecticut as the result of a 1999 settlement with GE.

RFP forms and instructions are currently available from the “Business and Grant Opportunities” page of the DEP website (DEP.state.ct.us/business/index.htm), and from the Housatonic Restoration Project website (HousatonicRestoration.org). Additional information, applications and instructions are available by contacting Michael Powers of the DEP Bureau of Natural Resources at Michael.Powers@po.state.ct.us or via telephone at 860-424-4102.

A public workshop on the proposal requirements and project selection process will be held on Tuesday, November 28, at 7 pm, at Kent Town Hall in Kent. At this meeting, state and federal officials and consulting staff will give a brief presentation and will then be available to answer any questions.

Proposals are due back for review on January 19, 2007. A list of eligible projects will be approved by the end of March. Those who submit projects deemed eligible for funding will then be asked to submit supplemental project information, which will be subjected to detailed technical and financial review. It is expected that a restoration plan will be formally adopted in early 2008. Project grants will then be awarded in late 2008, after final documentation and contracts are finalized.

DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy said, “We have reached the first of three important milestones in the effort to restore natural resources in the Housatonic River Basin. The next steps include selecting projects and then issuing grants to implement them. Working with the public and interested organizations, thoughtful criteria have been established for selecting projects that will improve the natural resources and recreational uses of the Housatonic River.”

DEP’s Chief of the Bureau of Natural Resources, Edward Parker said, “The work required to reach this point has been challenging. Everyone involved has made an outstanding effort and we have now succeeded in getting to this watershed event. We are all looking forward to seeing the variety of restoration projects that will undoubtedly come forward in January.”

A consent decree with General Electric was executed in 1999 allotting $7.5 million to undertake the Housatonic River Restoration Project in Connecticut. Interest earned on these funds has pushed the total available to more than $9 million.

The use of these funds is the responsibility of the Connecticut Trustees SubCouncil, which is comprised of the Natural Resource Trustees from the State of Connecticut and the Federal Departments of the Interior (US Fish and Wildlife Service) and Commerce (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). In addition, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection formed the Connecticut Trustee’s Advisory Group (CTAG) to provide the DEP with input from specific regional interest groups including recreational, environmental, planning and governmental organizations.

DEP is releasing the RFP in its capacity as the administrative lead for the Natural Resource Trustee SubCouncil for Connecticut.