(a) To initiate a certification proceeding, an applicant for a certificate shall file with the council an application, in such form as the council may prescribe, accompanied by a filing fee of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, which fee shall be established in accordance with section 16-50t, and a municipal participation fee of twenty-five thousand dollars to be deposited in the account established pursuant to section 16-50bb, except that an application for a facility described in subdivision (5) or (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i shall not pay such municipal participation fee. An application shall contain such information as the applicant may consider relevant and the council or any department or agency of the state exercising environmental controls may by regulation require, including the following information:

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(1) In the case of facilities described in subdivisions (1), (2) and (4) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i: (A) A description, including estimated costs, of the proposed transmission line, substation or switchyard, covering, where applicable underground cable sizes and specifications, overhead tower design and appearance and heights, if any, conductor sizes, and initial and ultimate voltages and capacities; (B) a statement and full explanation of why the proposed transmission line, substation or switchyard is necessary and how the facility conforms to a long-range plan for expansion of the electric power grid serving the state and interconnected utility systems, that will serve the public need for adequate, reliable and economic service; (C) a map of suitable scale of the proposed routing or site, showing details of the rights-of-way or site in the vicinity of settled areas, parks, recreational areas and scenic areas, residential areas, private or public schools, child care centers, as described in section 19a-77, group child care homes, as described in section 19a-77, family child care homes, as described in section 19a-77, licensed youth camps, and public playgrounds and showing existing transmission lines within one mile of the proposed route or site; (D) a justification for adoption of the route or site selected, including comparison with alternative routes or sites which are environmentally, technically and economically practical; (E) a description of the effect of the proposed transmission line, substation or switchyard on the environment, ecology, and scenic, historic and recreational values; (F) a justification for overhead portions, if any, including life-cycle cost studies comparing overhead alternatives with underground alternatives, and effects described in subparagraph (E) of this subdivision of undergrounding; (G) a schedule of dates showing the proposed program of right-of-way or property acquisition, construction, completion and operation; (H) an identification of each federal, state, regional, district and municipal agency with which proposed route or site reviews have been undertaken, including a copy of each written agency position on such route or site; and (I) an assessment of the impact of any electromagnetic fields to be produced by the proposed transmission line; and

(2) In the case of facilities described in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i: (A) A description of the proposed electric generating or storage facility; (B) a statement and full explanation of why the proposed facility is necessary; (C) a statement of loads and resources as described in section 16-50r; (D) safety and reliability information, including planned provisions for emergency operations and shutdowns; (E) estimated cost information, including plant costs, fuel costs, plant service life and capacity factor, and total generating cost per kilowatt-hour, both at the plant and related transmission, and comparative costs of alternatives considered; (F) a schedule showing the program for design, material acquisition, construction and testing, and operating dates; (G) available site information, including maps and description and present and proposed development, and geological, scenic, ecological, seismic, biological, water supply, population and load center data; (H) justification for adoption of the site selected, including comparison with alternative sites; (I) design information, including a description of facilities, plant efficiencies, electrical connections to the system, and control systems; (J) a description of provisions, including devices and operations, for mitigation of the effect of the operation of the facility on air and water quality, for waste disposal, and for noise abatement, and information on other environmental aspects; and (K) a listing of federal, state, regional, district and municipal agencies from which approvals either have been obtained or will be sought covering the proposed facility, copies of approvals received and the planned schedule for obtaining those approvals not yet received.

(b) Each application shall be accompanied by proof of service of a copy of such application on: (1) Each municipality in which any portion of such facility is to be located, both as primarily proposed and in the alternative locations listed, and any adjoining municipality having a boundary not more than two thousand five hundred feet from such facility, which copy shall be served on the chief executive officer of each such municipality and shall include notice of the date on or about which the application is to be filed, and the zoning commissions, planning commissions, planning and zoning commissions, conservation commissions and inland wetlands agencies of each such municipality, and the regional councils of governments which encompass each such municipality; (2) the Attorney General; (3) each member of the legislature in whose assembly or senate district the facility or any alternative location listed in the application is to be located; (4) any agency, department or instrumentality of the federal government that has jurisdiction, whether concurrent with the state or otherwise, over any matter that would be affected by such facility; (5) each state department, agency and commission named in subsection (g) of section 16-50j; and (6) such other state and municipal bodies as the council may by regulation designate. A notice of such application shall be given to the general public, in municipalities entitled to receive notice under subdivision (1) of this subsection, by the publication of a summary of such application and the date on or about which it will be filed. Such notice shall be published under the regulations to be promulgated by the council, in such form and in such newspapers as will serve substantially to inform the public of such application and to afford interested persons sufficient time to prepare for and to be heard at the hearing prescribed in section 16-50m. Such notice shall be published in not less than ten-point type. A notice of such an application for a certificate for a facility described in subdivision (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i shall also be sent, by certified or registered mail, to each person appearing of record as an owner of property which abuts the proposed primary or alternative sites on which the facility would be located. Such notice shall be sent at the same time that notice of such application is given to the general public. Notice of an application for a certificate for a facility described in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i shall also be provided to each electric distribution company customer in the municipality where the facility is proposed to be placed. Such notice shall (A) be provided on a separate enclosure with each customer’s monthly bill for one or more months, (B) be provided by the electric distribution company not earlier than sixty days prior to filing the application with the council, but not later than the date that the application is filed with the council, and (C) include: A brief description of the project, including its location relative to the affected municipality and adjacent streets; a brief technical description of the project including its proposed length, voltage, and type and range of heights of support structures or underground configuration; the reason for the project; the address and a toll-free telephone number of the applicant by which additional information about the project can be obtained; and a statement in print no smaller than twenty-four-point type size stating “NOTICE OF PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF A HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINE”.

(c) An application for a certificate shall contain information on the extent to which the proposed facility has been identified in, and is consistent with, the annual forecast reports and life-cycle cost analysis required by section 16-50r and other advance planning that has been carried out, and shall include an explanation for any failure of the facility to conform with such information.

(d) An amendment proceeding may be initiated by an application for amendment of a certificate filed with the council by the holder of the certificate or by a resolution of the council. An amendment application by a certificate holder shall be in such form and contain such information as the council shall prescribe. A resolution for amendment by the council shall identify the design, location or route of the portion of a certificated facility described in subdivisions (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i which is subject to modification on the basis of stated conditions or events which could not reasonably have been known or foreseen prior to the issuance of the certificate. No such resolution for amendment of a certificate shall be adopted after the commencement of site preparation or construction of the certificated facility or, in the case of a facility for which approval by the council of a right-of-way development and management plan or other detailed construction plan is a condition of the certificate, after approval of that part of the plan which includes the portion of the facility proposed for modification. A copy and notice of each amendment application shall be given by the holder of the certificate in the manner set forth in subsection (b) of this section. A copy and notice of each resolution for amendment shall be given by the council in the manner set forth in subsection (b) of this section. The council shall also provide the certificate holder with a copy of such resolution. The certificate holder and the council shall not be required to give such copy and notice to municipalities and the commissions and agencies of such municipalities other than those in which the modified portion of the facility would be located.

(e) At least sixty days prior to the filing of an application with the council, the applicant shall consult with the municipality in which the facility may be located and with any other municipality required to be served with a copy of the application under subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section concerning the proposed and alternative sites of the facility. Such consultation with the municipality shall include, but not be limited to good faith efforts to meet with the chief elected official of the municipality. At the time of the consultation, the applicant shall provide the chief elected official with any technical reports concerning the public need, the site selection process and the environmental effects of the proposed facility. The municipality may conduct public hearings and meetings as it deems necessary for it to advise the applicant of its recommendations concerning the proposed facility. Within sixty days of the initial consultation, the municipality shall issue its recommendations to the applicant. No later than fifteen days after submitting an application to the council, the applicant shall provide to the council all materials provided to the municipality and a summary of the consultations with the municipality including all recommendations issued by the municipality.

(f) (1) For a facility described in subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, at least ninety days before filing an application with the council, the applicant shall consult with the municipality in which the facility is proposed to be located and with any other municipality required to be served with a copy of the application under subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section. Consultation with such municipality shall include, but not be limited to, good-faith efforts to meet with the chief elected official of the municipality or such official’s designee. At the time of the consultation, the applicant shall provide the municipality with any technical reports concerning the need for the facility, including a map indicating the area of need, the location of existing surrounding facilities, a detailed description of the proposed and any alternate sites under consideration, a listing of other sites or areas considered and rejected, the location of all schools near the proposed facility, an analysis of the potential aesthetic impacts of the facility on said schools, as well as a discussion of efforts or measures to be taken to mitigate such aesthetic impacts, a description of the site selection process undertaken by the prospective applicant and the potential environmental effects of the proposed facility. The applicant shall also provide copies of such technical reports to such municipality’s planning commission, zoning commission or combined planning and zoning commission and inland wetland agency.

(2) Not later than sixty days after the initial municipal consultation meeting, the municipality, in cooperation with the applicant, may hold a public information meeting. If the municipality decides to hold a public information meeting, the applicant shall be responsible for sending notice of such meeting to each person appearing of record as an owner of property which abuts the proposed or alternate facility locations and for publishing notice of such meeting in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality at least fifteen days before the date of the public information meeting. Such applicant shall pay all administrative expenses associated with such public information meeting.

(3) The municipality shall present the applicant with proposed alternative sites, which may include municipal parcels, for its consideration not later than thirty days after the initial consultation meeting. The applicant shall evaluate these alternate sites presented as part of the municipal consultation process and include the results of its evaluations in its application to the council. The applicant may present any such alternatives to the council in its application for formal consideration.