Since the last half of 2020, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has been working with a statutorily created working group to develop Release-Based Cleanup regulations, as contemplated by Public Act 20-09. On January 14, 2025, DEEP issued a Notice of Decision to move forward with the revised Release Based Cleanup Regulations and The Legislative Regulations Review Committee approved the Regulations on April 22, 2025. DEEP has set the effective date for the regulations for March 1, 2026. When these Regulations go into effect in March of 2026, no new sites will enter the Connecticut Property Transfer Act, however, existing Transfer Act sites will still need to complete their remediation requirements.
A full copy of the approved regulations can be found at: https://eregulations.ct.gov/eRegsPortal/Search/getDocument?guid={B033D996-0000-CB14-B301-EDF479B936CB}.
The Regulations recognize two primary categories of releases: Emergent Releases and Existing Releases (which are also known as historical releases). The rules for Emergent Releases will remain very similar to existing spill response regulations. Importantly, all Emergent Reportable Releases and some Significant Existing Releases do require immediate action. The immediate action requires identifying the source of the release, removal of the contaminants, prevention of migration, and prevention of human exposure to the release. The term “Immediate” means no more than two hours after the release is reported.
The biggest changes under the Regulations deal with historical releases. Unlike the Transfer Act, a discovery of a historical release -- not the transfer of the property -- triggers owner obligations, the first of which is the duty to report the release to DEEP. The timeline for reporting historical releases varies based on the level of risk a release poses to human health and the environment.
- Within 72 hours of a discovery of a release that constitutes a “significant existing release,” i.e., a release that poses an imminent risk to human health or the environment, the release must be reported.
- For those releases that do not constitute a significant existing release, but which have contaminants in soil or groundwater at a concentration over two times the applicable cleanup standards or, if for oil or petroleum, the volume is over 2 cubic yards, these releases must be reported within 120 days if not remediated by then.
- Those releases with less than two times applicable criteria, must be reported within 365 days of discovery if not remediated to cleanup standards within the year.
If a property is not remediated within the first year, the release must undergo a tiering process. The new program creates a multi-tiered response based upon the nature and extent of the contamination and requires compliance with the Remediation Standard Regulations. The Tier entry requires a fee commensurate with the level of risk the contamination poses, with the highest tier costing $3,000.
- Tier 1A is for the highest risk releases and requires DEEP oversight of the cleanup. These types of releases involve unknown risks to receptors and remediation must be completed within two years of discovery or the release must be re-tiered within those two years.
- Tier 1B allows for Licensed Environmental Professionals (LEPs) to oversee cleanup for those releases with known risks to receptors and owners have three years to complete closure or a re-tier of the response.
- Tier 2 involves LEP oversight for controlled risks with no receptor pathways and gives owners five years to close or re-tier.
- Finally, Tier 3 is the lowest possible level of response and allows for only monitoring oversight, called monitored natural attenuation, which must be done within six years of discovery. LEPs are responsible for determining the Tier required for the release.
Throughout the process of drafting the Regulations, stakeholders and Working Group members expressed their concern about the need to carve out residential homeowners from the program. It was feared that the cost of complying with the program might be financially unsustainable for the average homeowner. As a result, owner occupants of single-family homes will not be required to report or cleanup run-of-the-mill historical releases. The vast majority of new spills on residential properties will result from home heating oil spills, so the updated Regulations create new and less stringent approaches for cleanup of those spills. The Regulations also create a new clean up standard for multifamily properties that aligns requirements with actual risk, therefore expediting development of housing.
Other updates to the cleanup standards include revisions to the existing remediation criteria, such as the addition of two new Direct Exposure Criteria categories.
Another compliance change includes the addition of a regulatory mechanism similar to a general permit that applies to certain eligible parcels. The so-called “Permit by Rule” for historically impacted materials will now allow affidavits of facts by the parcel owner to be recorded on the land records of the municipality in which the property is located, and every five years the owner must certify to DEEP that polluted fill hasn’t been relocated and what the current land use of the parcel is. The owner must also notify DEEP if the land use changes to residential activity and the parcel must be remediated to the residential criteria. This permit is transferable to new parcel owners.
The Permit by Rule also allows for soil located beneath concrete or bituminous concrete to remain in place so long as the affidavit of facts is recorded, the condition of the concrete is inspected every five years and if the concrete is ever removed, additional remediation would be required. The permit-by-rule also eliminates the need to excavate and dispose of lightly polluted soil when the property is used for commercial or industrial use only.
Another notable portion of the new program is the conditional exemption for cleanup obligations for existing releases which have migrated over time if the property owner can demonstrate that (1) they are not the creator of the release and were not in possession of the parcel where the release has migrated from, (2) all new reporting requirements are satisfied, (3) they prepare and submit a remediation closure report, and (4) they provide access to the property to DEEP.
DEEP has also created a carve out for PFAS discovery when concentrations indicate that PFAS presence is not solely from atmospheric deposition or intended use of consumer products, is present due to an off-site source, and where prior industrial or commercial purposes are not known or suspected.
Finally, the new program allows for LEPs to verify compliance with cleanup standards for all releases, and allows a new category of professional, called Permitted Environmental Professionals, to certify compliance for certain Emergent Reportable Releases and for Releases of Home Heating Fuel.
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