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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 165
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1310
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING DR Y CLEANING ESTABLISH MENT
REMEDIATION GRANTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-263m of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 2
(a) As used in this section: (1) "Eligible dry cleaning establishment" 3
means any place of business engaged in the cleaning of clothing or other 4
fabrics using tetrachlorethylene, Stoddard solvent or other chemicals, 5
(2) "gross receipts at retail" means the total amount accruing from dry 6
cleaning services, valued in money, without any deduction for the cost 7
of the materials used, labor or service cost or any other expense, and (3) 8
"eligible applicant" means (A) a business owner or operator of an 9
eligible dry cleaning establishment, [or] (B) an owner of property that is 10
or that was occupied by an eligible dry cleaning establishment, or (C) a 11
certifying party, as defined in subdivision (6) of section 22a-134, of 12
property that is or that was occupied by an eligible dry cleaning 13
establishment. 14
(b) (1) There shall be paid to the Commissioner of Revenue Services 15 Raised Bill No. 165
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by each dry cleaning establishment a surcharge of one per cent of its 16
gross receipts at retail for any dry cleaning service performed on or after 17
January 1, 1995. Each dry cleaning establishment shall register with the 18
Commissioner of Revenue Services on forms prescribed by the 19
commissioner. Each dry cleaning establishment that is registered with 20
the commissioner shall renew its registration with the commissioner on 21
October 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, in such manner as the 22
commissioner may prescribe. The commissioner shall send a 23
nonrenewal notice by first class mail to each dry cleaning establishment 24
that fails to renew its registration in accordance with the provisions of 25
this subsection. No dry cleaning establishment may engage in or 26
transact business as a dry cleaning establishment unless it is registered 27
with the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this 28
subsection. 29
(2) (A) Any dry cleaning establishment that fails to register with the 30
commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this subsection shall 31
pay a penalty of one thousand dollars, which penalty shall not be subject 32
to waiver. 33
(B) Any dry cleaning establishment that fails to renew its registration 34
within forty-five days after a nonrenewal notice was sent pursuant to 35
subdivision (1) of this subsection shall pay a penalty of two hundred 36
dollars, which the commissioner may waive in the manner set forth in 37
section 12-3a, when it is proven to the commissioner's satisfaction that 38
the failure to register was due to reasonable cause and was not 39
intentional or due to neglect. No penalty may be assessed under this 40
subparagraph more than once during any registration period. 41
(3) Each dry cleaning establishment shall submit a return quarterly to 42
the Commissioner of Revenue Services, applicable with respect to the 43
calendar quarter beginning January 1, 1995, and each calendar quarter 44
thereafter, on or before the last day of the month immediately following 45
the end of each such calendar quarter, on a form prescribed by the 46
commissioner, together with payment of the quarterly surcharge 47
determined and payable in accordance with the provisions of this 48 Raised Bill No. 165
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section. Whenever such surcharge is not paid when due, a penalty of ten 49
per cent of the amount due or fifty dollars, whichever is greater, shall be 50
imposed, and such surcharge shall bear interest at the rate of one per 51
cent per month or fraction thereof until the same is paid. The 52
Commissioner of Revenue Services shall cause copies of a form 53
prescribed for submitting returns as required under this section to be 54
distributed to persons subject to the surcharge. Failure to receive such 55
form shall not be construed to relieve anyone subject to the surcharge 56
under this section from the obligations of submitting a return, together 57
with payment of such surcharge within the time required. The 58
provisions of sections 12-548 to 12-554, inclusive, and sections 12-555a 59
and 12-555b shall apply to the provisions of this section in the same 60
manner and with the same force and effect as if the language of said 61
sections 12-548 to 12-554, inclusive, and sections 12-555a and 12-555b 62
had been incorporated in full into this section and had expressly 63
referred to the surcharge imposed under this section, except to the 64
extent that any such provision is inconsistent with a provision of this 65
section and except that the term "tax" shall be read as "dry cleaning 66
establishment surcharge". 67
(4) Any moneys received by the state pursuant to this section shall be 68
deposited into the account established pursuant to subsection (c) of this 69
section. 70
(c) There is established an account within the General Fund to be 71
known as the "dry cleaning establishment remediation account". Said 72
account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited in the 73
account. Any balance remaining in the account at the end of any fiscal 74
year shall be carried forward in the account for the fiscal year next 75
succeeding. The account shall be used by the Department of Economic 76
and Community Development for grants made to (1) owners or 77
operators of eligible dry cleaning establishments, [or] (2) owners of 78
property on which an eligible dry cleaning establishment has been in 79
operation for at least a year prior to the [approval] submission of the 80
application or was previously operated for at least a year prior to such 81
[approval] submission, or (3) certifying parties of property on which an 82 Raised Bill No. 165
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eligible dry cleaning establishment has been in operation for at least a 83
year prior to the submission of the application or was previously 84
operated for at least a year prior to such submission. 85
(d) The state, acting through the Commissioner of Economic and 86
Community Development, shall use the dry cleaning establishment 87
remediation account to provide grants to eligible applicants for the 88
purposes of the containment and removal or mitigation of 89
environmental pollution resulting from the discharge, spillage, 90
uncontrolled loss, seepage or filtration of chemical liquids or solid, 91
liquid or gaseous products or hazardous wastes on or at the site of an 92
eligible dry cleaning establishment, environmental site assessments 93
relating to such pollution or for measures undertaken to prevent such 94
pollution which are approved by the Commissioner of Energy and 95
Environmental Protection. In order to qualify for a grant under the 96
provisions of this section an eligible applicant [must] shall demonstrate 97
to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Economic and Community 98
Development that (1) the eligible dry cleaning establishment is using or 99
previously used, tetrachlorethylene or Stoddard solvent or other 100
chemicals for the purpose of cleaning clothes or other fabrics, (2) the 101
eligible dry cleaning establishment has been doing business or did 102
business at the site for a period of at least one year prior to the 103
submission date or approval date of the application for assistance under 104
this section, (3) the eligible dry cleaning establishment or owner of 105
property is not in arrears with regard to any tax levied by the state or 106
any political subdivision of the state and the dry cleaning surcharge 107
imposed by subsection (b) of this section, and (4) the eligible applicant 108
is not in arrears with regard to any tax levied by the state or any political 109
subdivision of the state. Any funds disbursed as a grant under this 110
section shall not be subject to attachment in the satisfaction of any 111
judgment against the recipient of such grant in any civil action. 112
(e) Notwithstanding the terms of any grant made under this section, 113
an eligible applicant shall bear all the costs of such pollution that are less 114
than ten thousand dollars. Each eligible applicant that submits an 115
application on or after October 1, 2020, shall demonstrate to the 116 Raised Bill No. 165
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satisfaction of the Commissioner of Economic and Community 117
Development that such applicant can match any grant provided by said 118
commissioner up to ten thousand dollars before such applicant receives 119
any grant. The Commissioner of Economic and Community 120
Development may provide a grant of up to three hundred thousand 121
dollars to the eligible applicant where the eligible applicant has 122
provided said commissioner with documentation satisfactory to said 123
commissioner that the services for which payment is sought have been 124
[or will be] completed. No eligible applicant shall receive more than 125
three hundred thousand dollars per eligible dry cleaning establishment. 126
In addition, the account may be used (1) to provide grants to the 127
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for expenditures 128
made investigating dry cleaning establishments, (2) to provide potable 129
water whenever necessary, [and] (3) to conduct environmental site 130
assessments, and (4) for legal services relating to the disbursement of 131
funds from the account. 132
(f) Requests for grants shall be made to the Commissioner of 133
Economic and Community Development when the commissioner 134
announces a request for applications. The frequency of requests for 135
applications shall be at the discretion of the Commissioner of Economic 136
and Community Development. Any eligible applicant seeking a grant 137
shall provide documentation supporting the need for the grant. 138
(g) Any dry cleaning establishment which unlawfully or intentionally 139
discharges or spills any chemical liquids or solid, liquid or gaseous 140
products or hazardous wastes shall not be eligible for a grant from the 141
account. 142
(h) The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development 143
shall establish procedures for distribution of the grants and shall adopt 144
criteria to carry out the provisions of this section. Such criteria shall 145
specify (1) who may apply for grants; (2) how establishments, whether 146
owned or leased, will be determined to be eligible for grants; (3) the costs 147
for which grants may be made; and (4) a method for ensuring timely 148
payment of funds to grant recipients. 149 Raised Bill No. 165
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 12-263m
Statement of Purpose:
To make various revisions to the eligibility requirements and
application procedures for dry cleaning establishment remediation
grants.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]