Sen. Kane & Rep. Labriola Hail Passage Of Waterbury-Oxford Airport Legislation

Senator Rob Kane (R-32) and Representative David Labriola (R-131) hailed the passage of legislation that will lead to private development and the creation of new jobs at the publicly owned Waterbury-Oxford Airport.

“Passing this legislation to clarify ambiguous language in our state law will result in new jobs at a time when our region, and our state, desperately needs them. This is good news, not only because it allows plans to build a new hangar at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport go forward, but also because passing this legislation could encourage similar private development projects elsewhere in Connecticut,” said Senator Kane.

“This is great news for the people of Oxford and the surrounding region. This law will streamline the approval process for job-producing development projects and save taxpayers money as well. It is truly a win-win result,” said Representative Labriola.

The newly passed Senate Bill 412 clarifies ambiguous language concerning the implementation and payment for Environmental Impact Evaluations. The legislation is intended to permit plans for a hangar construction project at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport to move forward by allowing the state to review and accept an already completed EIE. It clarifies that for any similar future development requiring an EIE, the developer may be required to pay the agency involved and the agency will then hire a consultant to complete the report.

The two legislators noted that, without the newly passed legislation, the state Department of Transportation would be forced to do another environmental impact evaluation at a cost to state taxpayers of $100,000, possibly delaying the project for another year. They noted that the planned hangar construction project at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport represents a $33 million private investment that is expected to lead to the creation of 300 jobs.