(a) There is established the Face of Connecticut Steering Committee, which shall be within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for administrative purposes only. Such committee shall direct the expenditure of any funds deposited in the Face of Connecticut account created under § 22a-27t. The committee shall consist of the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, or the commissioner‘s designee, the Commissioner of Agriculture, a member of the Connecticut Tourism Council, appointed by its chairperson, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and ten members as follows: (1) A representative of a local organization involved in historic preservation, appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; (2) a representative of a nonprofit organization involved in farmland preservation, appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; (3) a representative of a local or regional nonprofit organization involved in the preservation of open space, appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives; (4) a representative of a water company actively involved in land preservation, appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; (5) a representative of the agricultural industry, appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; (6) a representative of a state-wide nonprofit involved in the preservation of open space, appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; (7) a representative of a state-wide nonprofit organization involved in historic preservation, appointed by the Governor; (8) a representative of an organization involved with community redevelopment, appointed by the Governor; (9) a representative of the legislative Brownfields Task Force, appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; and (10) a representative of the environmental law section of the Connecticut Bar Association who is involved with brownfields remediation, appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate.

(b) All initial appointments to the committee shall be made not later than September 1, 2008. The term of each appointed member of the steering committee shall be coterminous with the term of the appointing authority or until a successor is chosen, whichever is later. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall serve as the chairperson of the committee for the two years following the appointment of the committee, followed first by the Commissioner of Agriculture for two years and subsequently by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development or said commissioner’s designee for two years. Such rotation shall repeat every two years thereafter in the order specified in this subsection, except that if there is a vacancy in one of said positions, one of the other commissioners may serve as chairperson until the vacancy is filled.

(c) The committee shall meet quarterly.