(a) No municipality shall be deemed not to comply with the recycling strategy of the state-wide solid waste management plan if noncompliance results from a contract entered into before February 29, 1988, to deliver a minimum amount of solid waste to a waste-to-energy facility and the municipality or the owner or operator of the facility has solicited solid waste at reasonable terms from other municipalities to provide the aggregate tonnage of solid waste required under such contract and no solid waste was available at reasonable terms.

(b) Such municipality shall reduce the amount of solid waste delivered to such facility to the extent it is compensated by a state grant for such reduction or the contract is modified. No grant shall be made because of such reduction unless (1) the municipalities delivering waste to the facility or the owner or operator of the facility solicit solid waste at reasonable terms from other municipalities to provide the aggregate tonnage of solid waste required under such contract if failure to provide such solid waste is caused by compliance of the municipalities with the recycling strategy, and (2) the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection determines that the municipalities or the owner or operator has made a reasonable effort to obtain solid waste to provide the aggregate tonnage of solid waste and that no solid waste was available at reasonable terms.

(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to exempt a municipality from the requirements of sections 22a-241 to 22a-241b, inclusive, 22a-241e and 22a-241g.