Connecticut § 22-26j - Agricultural enhancement matching grant program. Eligibility. Purposes.

§ 22-26j. Agricultural enhancement matching grant program. Eligibility. Purposes.

Sec. 22-26j. Agricultural enhancement matching grant program. Eligibility. Purposes. The Department of Agriculture shall establish and administer an agricultural enhancement matching grant program to any agricultural not-for-profit organization, municipality, group of municipalities, regional council of governments organized under the provisions of sections 4-124i to 4-124p, inclusive, or group of municipalities that have established a regional interlocal agreement pursuant to sections 7-339a to 7-339l, inclusive, to further agricultural enhancement. Such grants may be used for the following purposes: (1) Local capital projects that foster collective resources for agricultural viability, including, but not limited to, processing facilities and farmers' markets; (2) the development and implementation of agriculturally friendly land use regulations and local farmland protection strategies that sustain and promote local agriculture; (3) the development of new marketing programs and venues through or in which a majority of products sold are grown in the state; (4) the development and implementation of programs and services that promote farm and farmland access and transfer of such farms; and (5) the development of urban and nontraditional farming practices.

(P.A. 05-228, S. 2; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 113; P.A. 08-13, S. 3; P.A. 09-229, S. 32; P.A. 13-247, S. 294; P.A. 16-107, S. 1; P.A. 21-155, S. 10; P.A. 23-184, S. 4.)

History: P.A. 05-228 effective July 1, 2005; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 changed effective date of P.A. 05-228 to October 1, 2005, effective June 30, 2005; P.A. 08-13 added “farm viability matching grant” and deleted “of matching grants” re program and added eligible entities, effective April 29, 2008; P.A. 09-229 added “agricultural not-for-profit organization” to list of eligible entities and added Subdiv. (3) re development of new marketing programs and venues, effective July 1, 2009; P.A. 13-247 deleted references to regional planning agency and regional council of elected officials and made a technical change, effective January 1, 2015; P.A. 16-107 added Subdiv. (4) re use of grants to develop and implement programs and services that promote farm and farmland access and transfer of farms, effective June 2, 2016; P.A. 21-155 added Subdiv. (5) re development of urban and nontraditional farming practices, effective July 12, 2021; P.A. 23-184 changed name from farm viability matching grant program to agricultural enhancement matching grant program and amended Subdiv. (1) to add reference to the fostering of collective resources for agricultural viability, effective June 28, 2023.