(a) There is established the protected open space and watershed land acquisition grant program. The program shall provide grants to municipalities and nonprofit land conservation organizations to acquire land or permanent interests in land for open space and watershed protection and to water companies, as defined in § 25-32a, to acquire and protect land which is eligible to be classified as class I or class II land, as defined in § 25-37c, after acquisition. All lands or interests in land acquired under this program shall be preserved in perpetuity predominantly in their natural scenic and open condition for the protection of natural resources while allowing for recreation consistent with such protection and, for lands acquired by water companies, allowing for the improvements necessary for the protection or provision of potable water.

(b) Grants may be made under the protected open space and watershed land acquisition grant program established under subsection (a) of this section or under the Charter Oak open space grant program established under § 7-131t to match funds for the purchase of land or permanent interests in land which purchase meets one of the following criteria: (1) Protects land identified as being especially valuable for recreation, forestry, fishing, conservation of wildlife or natural resources; (2) protects land which includes or contributes to a prime natural feature of the state’s landscape, including, but not limited to, a shoreline, a river, its tributaries and watershed, an aquifer, mountainous territory, ridgelines, an inland or coastal wetland, a significant littoral or estuarine or aquatic site or other important geological feature; (3) protects habitat for native plant or animal species listed as threatened or endangered or of special concern, as defined in § 26-304; (4) protects a relatively undisturbed outstanding example of a native ecological community which is now uncommon; (5) enhances and conserves water quality of the state’s lakes, rivers and coastal water; (6) preserves local agricultural heritage; or (7) in the case of grants to water companies, protects land which is eligible to be classified as class I land or class II land after acquisition. The commissioner may make a grant under the protected open space and watershed land acquisition grant program to a distressed municipality or a targeted investment community, as defined in § 32-9p, for restoration or protection of natural features or habitats on open space already owned by the municipality, including, but not limited to, wetland or wildlife or plant habitat restoration or restoration of other sites to a more natural condition, or replacement of vegetation, provided the total amount of grants to such municipalities for such purposes may not exceed twenty per cent of the total amount of grants made in any fiscal year.

(c) No grant may be made under the protected open space and watershed land acquisition grant program established under subsection (a) of this section or under the Charter Oak open space grant program established under § 7-131t for: (1) Land to be used for commercial purposes or for recreational purposes requiring intensive development, including, but not limited to, golf courses, driving ranges, tennis courts, ballfields, swimming pools and uses by motorized vehicles other than vehicles needed by water companies to carry out their purposes, provided trails or pathways for pedestrians, motorized wheelchairs or nonmotorized vehicles shall not be considered intensive development; (2) land with environmental contamination over a significant portion of the property provided grants for land requiring remediation of environmental contamination may be made if remediation will be completed before acquisition of the land or any interest in the land and an environmental assessment approved by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection has been completed and no environmental use restriction applies to the land; (3) land which has already been committed for public use; (4) development costs, including, but not limited to, construction of ballfields, tennis courts, parking lots or roadways; (5) land to be acquired by eminent domain; or (6) reimbursement of in-kind services or incidental expenses associated with the acquisition of land. This subsection shall not prohibit the continuation of agricultural activity, the activities of a water company for public water supply purposes or the selling of timber incidental to management of the land which management is in accordance with approved forest management practices provided any proceeds of such timber sales shall be used for management of the land. In the case of land acquired under this section which is designated as a state park, any fees charged by the state for use of such land shall be used by the state in accordance with the provisions of title 23.

(d) Any municipality or group of contiguous municipalities may apply to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection for a grant-in-aid of a program established to preserve or restrict to conservation or recreation purposes the use of open space land. Such grant shall be used for the acquisition of land, or easements, interests or rights therein, or for the development of such land, or easements, interests or rights therein, for purposes set forth in this section, or both, in accordance with a plan of development adopted by the municipal planning commission of the municipality within which the land is located. Any application for a grant-in-aid relating to land located beyond the territorial limits of the applying municipality shall be subject to approval of the legislative body of the municipality within whose territorial limits the land is located. A municipality applying for aid under this section, may designate its conservation commission as its agent to make such application.

(e) At closing, a permanent conservation easement, as defined in § 47-42, shall be executed for any property purchased with grant funds, which conservation easement shall provide that the property shall remain forever predominantly in its natural and open condition for the specific conservation, open space or water supply purposes for which it was acquired provided any improvements or changes to the property shall be supportive of such condition or purposes. The permanent conservation easement shall be in favor of the state acting through the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or his designee, which may be a municipality or a land conservation organization. In the case of land acquired for water supply protection, a water company may hold an easement in conjunction with the state or a nonprofit entity to protect the water supply. Such permanent conservation easement shall also include a requirement that the property be made available to the general public for appropriate recreational purposes, the maintenance of which recreational access shall be the responsibility of the grantee provided such access shall not be required for land which will be classified as class I or class II land by a water company if such access is inconsistent with the provision of pure drinking water to the public. An exception to the provision of public recreational access may be made at the discretion of the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection when provision for public access would be unreasonably detrimental to the wildlife or plant habitat or other natural features of the property or, for land where development rights have been purchased, would be disruptive of agricultural activity occurring on the land. Any instrument conveying an interest in land less than fee which interest is purchased under this section shall provide for the permanent preservation of the land and public access consistent with the land’s use or protection and with any restrictions prescribed by the Department of Public Health in order to protect a public drinking water source.