General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 6654
January Session, 2013		LCO No. 4647
		*04647_______ENV*
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)

AN ACT CONCERNING SPORTSMEN RELATED REVISIONS TO THE GENERAL STATUTES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (Effective from passage) Not later than February 1, 2014, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, on the establishment of a bear hunting season by lottery program. Such program shall provide for the purchase of a lottery permit, at a fee of ten dollars, that allows the permittee to participate in a lottery for the opportunity to receive a license, at a fee of two hundred dollars, to hunt bear in a location and during a season designated by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection. Such program shall provide for the designation of authorized bear hunting locations that coincide with the department's deer management zones. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, a discussion of the intended season for such bear hunting season and a listing of the methods of take authorized pursuant to such program.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may, upon application and payment of a fee of fifty dollars for in-state guides and one hundred dollars for out-of-state guides, issue to any person a license to conduct hunting or fishing guide services. Application forms for such licenses shall be furnished by the commissioner. Each such license shall be nontransferable and shall expire on the last day of December next after issuance. The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54 of the general statutes, concerning the administration of and requirements for such guide services.

Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 10-303 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) The authority in charge of any building or property owned, operated or leased by the state or any municipality therein shall grant to the Department of Rehabilitation Services a permit to operate in such building or on such property a food service facility, a vending machine or a stand for the vending of newspapers, periodicals, confections, tobacco products, food and such other articles as such authority approves when, in the opinion of such authority, such facility, machine or stand is desirable in such location. Any person operating such a stand in any such location on October 1, 1945, shall be permitted to continue such operation, but upon such person's ceasing such operation such authority shall grant a permit for continued operation to the Department of Rehabilitation Services. The department may establish a training facility at any such location. The requirements of this subsection shall not apply to any state park or forest under the custody and control of the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall issue a request for proposals for the operation of the food service facilities located in the state parks and forests under the custody and control of the commissioner. In awarding any contract for the operation of such food service facilities, the commissioner shall award such contract to the highest responsible bidder. Nothing in this section or section 10-303 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall be construed to prohibit the Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind from bidding on any contract authorized pursuant to this section.

Sec. 5. Section Subsection (a) of section 26-27 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), (c), (e), (f), (g) or (h) of this section and other provisions of this chapter providing specific license exemption, no person shall take, hunt or trap, or shall attempt to take, hunt or trap, or assist in taking, hunting or trapping, any wild bird or mammal and no person [more than] sixteen years of age or older shall take, attempt to take, or assist in taking any fish or bait species in the inland waters or marine district by any method or land marine fish and bait species in the state, regardless of where such marine fish or bait species are taken, without first having obtained a license as provided in this chapter. No person under sixteen years of age shall hunt or trap, except as provided in section 26-38.

Sec. 6. Section 26-28 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), [and] (c) and (d) of this section, the fees for firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping and sport fishing licenses or for the combination thereof shall be as follows: (1) Resident firearms hunting license, nineteen dollars; (2) resident fishing license, twenty-eight dollars; (3) resident marine waters fishing license, ten dollars; (4) one-day resident marine waters fishing license, five dollars; (5) resident all-waters fishing license, thirty-two dollars; (6) resident combination license to fish in inland waters and firearms hunt, thirty-eight dollars; (7) resident combination license to fish in marine waters and firearms hunt, twenty-five dollars; (8) resident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, [thirty-eight] forty dollars; (9) resident combination license to fish in all waters and bow and arrow permit to hunt deer and small game issued pursuant to section 26-86c, sixty-five dollars; (10) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun or rifle deer permit issued pursuant to section 26-86a, and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private land issued pursuant to section 26-48a, [eighty] seventy dollars; (11) resident archery super sport license to fish in all waters, bow and arrow permit to hunt deer and small game issued pursuant to section 26-86c and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private land issued pursuant to section 26-48a, eighty-two dollars; (12) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun or rifle deer permit, muzzleloader private land deer permit, pursuant to section 26-86 and private land permit to hunt wild turkey during spring season pursuant to section 26-48a, eighty-four dollars; (13) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, migratory bird conservation stamp, and migratory bird harvest permit (HIP), [sixty] fifty dollars; (14) resident trapping license, thirty-four dollars; (15) resident junior trapping license for persons under sixteen years of age, eleven dollars; (16) junior firearms hunting license, eleven dollars; (17) nonresident firearms hunting license, ninety-one dollars; (18) nonresident inland waters fishing license, fifty-five dollars; (19) nonresident inland waters fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, twenty-two dollars; (20) nonresident marine waters fishing license, fifteen dollars; (21) nonresident marine waters fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, eight dollars; (22) nonresident all-waters fishing license, sixty-three dollars; (23) nonresident combination license to firearms hunt and inland waters fish, one hundred ten dollars; (24) nonresident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, one hundred twenty dollars; (25) nonresident combination license to fish in marine waters and firearms hunt, ninety-four dollars; and (26) nonresident trapping license, two hundred fifty dollars. Persons sixty-five years of age and over who have been residents of this state for not less than one year and who meet the requirements of subsection (b) of section 26-31 may be issued an annual license to firearms hunt or to fish or combination license to fish and firearms hunt or a license to trap without fee. The issuing agency shall indicate on a combination license the specific purpose for which such license is issued. The town clerk shall retain a recording fee of one dollar for each license issued by him or her.

(b) Any nonresident residing in one of the New England states or the state of New York may procure a license to hunt or to fish or to hunt and fish for the same fee or fees as a resident of this state if he or she is a resident of a state the laws of which allow the same privilege to residents of this state.

(c) The fee for a group fishing license, as described in subsection (h) of section 26-30, shall be two hundred fifty dollars.

(d) For the period beginning on January 1, 2014, and ending on December 31, 2014, the fee charged for any firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping or sport fishing license that is issued to any Connecticut resident who is sixteen or seventeen years of age shall be equal to fifty per cent of the fee provided for such license in subsection (a) of this section rounded to the next highest dollar.

Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective from passage) For the period beginning on January 1, 2014, and ending on December 31, 2014, the fee charged pursuant to section 26-27b, 26-48a, 26-86a or 26-86c of the general statutes for any firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping or sport fishing permit, tag or stamp that is issued to any Connecticut resident who is less than twenty-one years of age shall be fifty per cent of the fee provided under said sections rounded to the next highest dollar.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	from passage	New section
Sec. 2	from passage	New section
Sec. 3	from passage	10-303(a)
Sec. 4	from passage	New section
Sec. 5	from passage	26-27(a)
Sec. 6	from passage	26-28
Sec. 7	from passage	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To authorize the establishment of a bear hunting season by lottery, require the licensure of hunting and fishing guides, authorize the award of food vending services in state parks and forests to the highest responsible bidder and reduce hunting, trapping and fishing fees for youths and persons under the age of twenty-one.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]