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As of March 4, the Release Reporting Regulations, Sections 22a-450-1 through 22a-450-6 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (hereinafter referred to as the Spill Reporting Regulations), are in effect.
As reviewed in a prior alert, the Spill Reporting Regulations define when and how releases of oil or petroleum; chemical liquids; solid, liquid or gaseous products; or hazardous waste (collectively, referred to as reportable materials) must be reported to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and they also define what information must be included in any report. There are three categories of release thresholds that will trigger reporting requirements: (1) releases of 5 gallons or more of oil and petroleum; (2) any quantity of certain high-risk releases (i.e., releases that enter the waters of the state, a wetland or a storm sewer, etc.) and releases of materials of special concern as outlined in Appendix A of the Spill Reporting Regulations; and (3) releases of 1.5 gallons or 10 pounds or more of all other reportable materials not covered by (1) or (2). A flowchart available on DEEP's website illustrates when reporting of a release of reportable materials is required.
The Spill Reporting Regulations were adopted following DEEP's resolution of concerns of the Connecticut General Assembly's Legislative Regulation Review Committee (LRRC) with earlier iterations of the proposed regulations. By way of background, on December 21, 2021, the LRRC rejected DEEP's initial submission of the regulations, based on the concerns set forth in the Legislative Commissioners' Office's (LCO) 2021 Spill Reporting Regulations Memorandum, which listed five substantive concerns and 25 technical corrections. The substantive concerns the LCO identified related to claimed subjective and unclear language. The LCO noted that this language was problematic because the purpose of the proposed Spill Reporting Regulations is to give the regulated community more certainty, with clear thresholds that create a uniform understanding of when and by whom a release is required to be reported. The LCO requested that the language at issue be clarified, defined or not utilized. On January 26, DEEP submitted its response to the 2021 Spill Reporting Regulations Memorandum to the LRRC (the 2022 Spill Reporting Regulations Submittal), addressing the LRRC's directive to remove and/or replace the subjective and unclear language.
On February 22, consistent with the LCO's recommendation, the LRRC approved, with technical corrections, the Spill Reporting Regulations as proposed in the 2022 Spill Reporting Regulations Submittal. DEEP then quickly turned around a final version of the Spill Reporting Regulations and, on February 25, filed this final version with the Office of the Secretary of State. The as-published regulations are available here.
As DEEP implements the Spill Reporting Regulations, the regulated community may benefit from review of DEEP's responses to the comments received during the public comment period. These public comments, along with DEEP's responses, are incorporated into the hearing officer's report. DEEP's responses shed light on how DEEP interprets and will likely implement the regulations. The hearing officer's report provides DEEP's responses to requests for clarification and DEEP's rationale for rejecting certain suggestions raised in the public comments.
DEEP's responses to requests for clarification address the following topics:
Some noteworthy rejected suggestions include those relating to the expansion of reporting time frames, the broadening of the "secondary containment" definition to include building interiors with impervious floors, and the addition of a time frame within which DEEP may request additional information or a follow-up report.
DEEP has announced that it plans to engage in public outreach on the Spill Reporting Regulations over the next several months. Day Pitney will continue to track and report on the implementation of the Spill Reporting Regulations. If you have any questions regarding the Spill Reporting Regulations, please contact any of the attorneys listed in the sidebar.
Day Pitney Advisory
Miami-based Real Estate Partner Sandra M. Ferrera is speaking on the University of Miami School of Law's Hispanic Law Students Association panel, "Legal Series Tournament: Practice Area Battle Royal: Team Litigation vs. Team Transactional."
Day Pitney Alert
On February 23, Partner Craig M. Gianetti spoke at the program, "Land Use Update 2022," about challenges to zoning ordinances and ethical issues in land use matters.
Day Pitney Press Release
Day Pitney Environmental Partner Todd Terhune was featured by Law360 Pulse in a Q&A article discussing his arrival to the firm and his position as Vice Chair of the Environmental practice.
Environmental partner Todd Terhune's arrival to Day Pitney was featured in Real Estate NJ article, "Day Pitney Adds Terhune as Partner, Vice Chair of Environmental Team."
Todd Terhune's arrival to the firm was profiled in the Law360 article titled, "Day Pitney Adds Environmental Group Vice Chair in NJ."
Day Pitney is sponsoring the upcoming New England Energy Conference and Exposition (NEECE), which is being held on May 17-18 at the AC Hotel by Marriott in Worcester, MA.
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This website may use cookies, pixel tags and other passive tracking technologies, including Google Analytics, to improve functionality and performance. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. By using our website, you are consenting to our use of these tracking technologies. You can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse to accept cookies, but if you do so, it is possible that some areas of web sites that use cookies will not function properly when you view them. To learn more about how to delete and manage cookies, refer to the support instructions for each browser (e.g., see AllAboutCookies.org). You may locate Google Analytics' currently available opt-outs for the web here.