The Policy Committee, which was formed to advise Governor Lamont before, during, and after the gubernatorial transition, shared its environmental recommendations for the State, including ensuring sufficient resources for environmental protection, regional leadership on climate change and carbon pricing, increasing funding for land conservation, reducing waste and improving recycling, curbing nitrogen pollution in Long Island Sound, increasing coastal resilience, improving the efficiency of environmental permitting, and approval of the State Water Plan.

DEEP staff shared some recent accomplishments achieved in the first 100 days of the Lamont Administration, including the release of the draft Long Island Sound Blue Plan, and outlined the department’s support for a range of legislation, from expanding the bottle bill, to open-space acquisition, to the procurement of offshore wind energy.

Commissioner Katie Dykes said: “There is a lot of energy, effort, and opportunity around ensuring DEEP is acting as a steward of the state’s natural resources and focusing that work in ways that align with what you are doing as advocates. We should not let this moment pass.”

Environment Policy Committee Co-Chair, Eric Hammerling, Executive Director of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association, said committee members had two overarching priorities: “We need to address climate change as the leading challenge of our generation, and we must ensure that DEEP has the people it needs to do its work, including protecting our state’s land, air, and water. For people to want to live here, work here, and visit our state, we need to make it easier for them to connect with the outdoors.”

The Lamont/Bysiewicz Transition Environment Policy Committee’s report is available on the Governor’s website.