Connecticut wetlands board members must finish state training by January 2027; denial standards unchanged
New training duties for local wetlands boards do not change the evidence a denial requires, so the record built at the hearing remains the basis of review on appeal.
Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 22a-42(d), added by Public Act 25-73, each member of and staff person to a municipal inland wetlands agency must, on and after January 1, 2026, complete the comprehensive training program developed by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, and those serving on January 1, 2026 must complete it by January 1, 2027. Public Act 26-61 (Substitute House Bill 5334), approved May 20, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, directs funding for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection ("DEEP") to hire an employee in fiscal year 2027 to train inland wetlands commissions. Neither act changes the standards for a denial, and § 22a-42(d) provides that failure to complete the training does not affect the validity of any agency action. For applicants, the grounds for a denial, and the record on which it is reviewed, remain those set by the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act (the "Act") and the decisions construing it.
Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 22a-41, 22a-42(d), 22a-42a, 22a-43; P.A. 25-73; P.A. 26-61