Sec.16-50j-2a. Definitions

As used in Sections 16-50j-1 to 16-50z-4, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, except as otherwise required by the context:

(1) “Associated equipment” includes, but is not limited to:

(A) any building, structure, fuel tank, backup generator, antenna, satellite dish, or technological equipment, including equipment intended for sending or receiving radio frequency signals that is a necessary component for the operation of a community antenna television tower or telecommunications tower; or

(B) any building, structure, fuel tank, backup generator, transformer, circuit breaker, disconnect switch, control house, cooling tower, pole, line, cable, conductor or emissions equipment that is a necessary component for the operation of an electric transmission line facility, fuel transmission facility, electric generating or storage facility, or electric substation or switchyard.

(2) “Attorney” means an attorney at law, duly admitted to practice before the Superior Court of the state of Connecticut. Any other person who appears before the Council in any contested case or petition for a declaratory ruling shall be deemed to appear as the agent or representative of a person, firm, corporation, or association upon filing with the Council a written notification of appearance and the written authorization of the person, firm, corporation, or association being represented.

(3) “Blade length” means the distance between the blade tip and the center of the hub of a wind turbine.

(4) “Certificate” means a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need as defined under Section 16-50k of the Connecticut General Statutes or a Certificate of Public Safety and Necessity as defined under Section 22a-117 of the Connecticut General Statutes to be issued, denied, conditioned, limited, modified, or amended, in accordance with the disposition of applications authorized by law to be submitted to the Council.

(5) “Chairperson” means the public member of the Council appointed pursuant to the provisions of Section 16-50j(d) of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(6) “Collocation” means the mounting or installation of antennas and associated equipment on an existing tower or other structure for the purpose of transmitting or receiving radio frequency signals for communications purposes that is unlikely to have a significant adverse environmental effect and does not increase the tower height.

(7) “Component” means a part of a mechanical or electrical system.

(8) “Contested case” means a proceeding in the Council’s disposition of matters delegated to its jurisdiction by law in which the legal rights, duties, or privileges of a party are determined by the Council after an opportunity for hearing in accordance with Section 4-166(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(9) “Council” means the members of the Connecticut Siting Council appointed under section 16-50j(b) and section 16-50j(c) of the Connecticut General Statutes and referred to in Section 16-50j(d) and section 22a-115 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(10) “Customer-side distributed resources project” means a project designed to utilize “customer-side distributed resources,” as defined in Section 16-1 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(11) "Facility" means A facility as defined in Section 16-50i(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(12) “Fuel” means a fuel as defined in Section 16a-17 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(13) “Grid-side distributed resources project” means a project designed to utilize “grid-side distributed resources,” as defined in Section 16-1 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(14) “Hazardous waste facility” means land and appurtenances thereon or structures used for the disposal, treatment, management, storage or recovery of hazardous waste as these terms are defined in Section 22a-115 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(15) “Hearing” means a proceeding whereby witnesses may be examined, and oral or documentary evidence may be received.

(16) “Hub” means the central part of a wind turbine that supports the turbine blades on the outside and connects to the rotor shaft inside the nacelle.

(17) “Intervenor” means a person other than a party, granted status as an intervenor by the Council in accordance with Section 16-50n of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(18) “Limited appearance” means the type of participation in a contested case, and the rights prescribed therefor in accordance with the provisions of Sections 22a-120(b) and 16-50n(f) of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(19) "Modification" means a significant change or alteration in the general physical characteristics of a facility, including, but not limited to, design, capacity, process or operation that the Council deems significant, except where a modification involves a temporary facility as determined by the Council.

(A) As defined pertaining to a hazardous waste facility “modification” means:

(i) any change or alteration in the design, capacity, process or operation of an existing hazardous waste facility requiring a new permit from the Commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pursuant to chapter 445, 446d, or 446k of the Connecticut General Statutes, that the Council deems significant, or

(ii) any change or alteration in the approved design, capacity, process or operation of a hazardous waste facility constructed or operating pursuant to chapter 445 of the Connecticut General Statutes that the Council deems significant. Such change or alteration may include, but is not limited to, a change or alteration in the volume or composition of hazardous waste managed at such facility. The routine maintenance, repair, or replacement of the individual components at a hazardous waste facility that is necessary for normal operation or a change or alteration at a hazardous waste facility ordered by a state official in the exercise of his or her statutory authority shall not be deemed to be a modification.

(B) As defined pertaining to a low-level radioactive waste management facility, “modification” means any change or alteration in the approved design, capacity, process or operation of a low-level radioactive management facility constructed or operating pursuant to the provisions of the Northeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact, Sections 22a-161, et seq. of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(20) “Municipality” means a city, town or borough of the state, and “municipal” has a correlative meaning.

(21) “Nacelle” means the structure at the top of a wind turbine tower behind or in front of the wind turbine blades that houses the key operational components of the wind turbine including, but not limited to, the rotor shaft, gearbox, controller, brake and generator.

(22) “Party” means each person entitled to be a party in a contested case pursuant to the provisions of Section 16-50n(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes, or in the event of a hazardous waste facility proceeding, pursuant to the provisions of Section 22a-120(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(23) "Person'' means any person as defined in Section 16-50i of the Connecticut General Statutes except for proceedings under Chapter 445. For proceedings under Chapter 445, “person” means any person as defined in Section 22a-115 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(24) “Presiding Officer” means the Chairperson of the Connecticut Siting Council, or the Chairperson’s designee.

(25) “Regional Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Facility” or “Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Facility” means a facility to be located in Connecticut, including the land, buildings, equipment, and improvements authorized by the Northeast Interstate Low-level Radioactive Waste Commission to be used or developed for the receipt, treatment, storage, management or disposal of the low-level radioactive wastes generated within the party states to the Northeast Interstate Low-level Radioactive Waste Management Compact as these terms are defined in Section 22a-161 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(26) “Renewable Energy Sources” include, but are not limited to, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, ocean thermal, wave or tidal, geothermal, landfill gas, hydropower or biomass.

(27) “Rotor” means the part of a wind turbine that consists of the blades and the hub.

(28) “Shadow flicker” means the intermittent shadows created by the wind turbine blades passing through the light of the sun.

(29) “Site” means a contiguous parcel of property with specified boundaries, including, but not limited to, the leased area, right-of-way, access and easements on which a facility and associated equipment is located, shall be located, or is proposed to be located.

(30) “Tower” means a structure, whether free standing or attached to a building or another structure, that has a height greater than its diameter and that is high relative to its surroundings, or that is used to support antennas for sending or receiving radio frequency signals, or for sending or receiving signals to or from satellites, or any of these, which is or is to be:

(A) used principally to support one or more antennas for receiving or sending radio frequency signals, or for sending or receiving signals to or from satellites, or any of these, and

(B) owned or operated by the state, a public service company as defined in Section 16-1 of the Connecticut General Statutes, or a certified telecommunications provider, or used in a cellular system, as defined in Section 16-50i(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(31) “Tower Base” means the top of the foundation or equivalent surface that shall bear the vertical load of a tower.

(32) "Tower Height'' means the measurement from ground level to the highest point on the tower;

(33) “Tower Share” means collocation on a facility in accordance with Section 16-50aa of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(34) “Wind turbine” means a device that converts wind energy to electricity.

(35) “Wind turbine height” means the measurement from ground level to the tip of the blade of a wind turbine in the vertical position.

(36) “Wind turbine tower” means the base structure that supports a wind turbine rotor and nacelle.

(37) “Wind turbine tower base” means the top of the foundation or equivalent surface that shall bear the load of a wind turbine tower.

(38) “Wind turbine tower height” means the measurement from ground level to the top of the hub.

(Effective March 7, 1989; Amended September 7, 2012; Amended May 9, 2014)