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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1031
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4475
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E USE OF SODIUM CHLO RIDE TO
MITIGATE ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) The Commissioners of 1
Energy and Environmental Protection and Transportation shall jointly 2
work with The University of Connecticut's Tech Transfer Center to 3
conduct a training program for state, municipal and private roadside 4
applicators that relies on the Connecticut Best Management Practices 5
"Green Snow Pro: Sustainable Winter Operations" guide for 6
municipalities. Such training program shall include, but not be limited 7
to, instruction on each topic contained in such guide and the provision 8
of additional information resources for each topic. Such training shall be 9
provided by personnel of the Departments of Energy and 10
Environmental Protection and Transportation or The University of 11
Connecticut's Tech Transfer Center and shall consist of not less than one 12
training session conducted in each county of the state. Information 13
concerning such training shall be provided by said agencies to each 14
regional council of governments. Not later than one year following the 15
implementation of such training program and pursuant to section 11-4a 16 Raised Bill No. 1031
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of the general statutes, said commissioners shall jointly submit a report 17
to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 18
cognizance of matters relating to the environment and transportation on 19
how many state, municipal and private applicators have received 20
training pursuant to such program, any goals for the future of such 21
program and any recommendations concerning proposed legislation to 22
reduce the effects of sodium chloride on private wells and public 23
drinking water supplies. 24
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For the purposes of this 25
section and section 3 of this act: 26
(1) "Apply salt" means to apply salt or a salt alternative to roadways, 27
parking lots or sidewalks for the purpose of winter maintenance; 28
(2) "Commercial applicator" means any individual who applies or 29
supervises other persons who apply salt, except any municipal or state 30
employee; 31
(3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and 32
Environmental Protection; 33
(4) "Department" means the Department of Energy and 34
Environmental Protection; 35
(5) "Salt" means sodium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium 36
chloride or any other substance containing chloride; and 37
(6) "Salt alternative" means any substance not containing chloride 38
that is used for the purpose of de-icing or anti-icing. 39
(b) Any commercial applicator may apply to be annually certified by 40
the department. Applicator certificates shall be issued by the 41
department provided any business that employs multiple commercial 42
applicators may obtain a master certificate for the owner or chief 43
supervisor, and commercial applicators employed by the business may 44
obtain certificates to qualify under such master certificate. Any business 45
that holds a master certificate shall ensure that all commercial 46 Raised Bill No. 1031
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applicators operating under such master certificate receive the required 47
training and shall provide the required recordkeeping on behalf of all 48
commercial applicators. Any annual fee established by the 49
commissioner for certificates obtained under a master certificate shall be 50
significantly less than the fee for a master certificate. 51
(c) Application for such certification shall be on a form prescribed by 52
the commissioner and shall include the following: (1) The full name and 53
address of the person applying for the certification; (2) the name and 54
address of a person whose domicile is in the state, and who is authorized 55
to receive and accept service of summons and legal notices of all kinds 56
for the applicant; (3) the type of apparatus used to apply salt or salt 57
alternative whether liquid or dry; and (4) any other information deemed 58
necessary by the commissioner. 59
(d) The commissioner shall administer and enforce the provisions of 60
this section within available resources. 61
(e) The commissioner may issue an order to any person who is in 62
violation of any provision of this section and any regulation adopted 63
pursuant to this section, including, but not limited to, an order to cease 64
and desist from any act in violation of such provision or regulation. Any 65
order issued by the commissioner pursuant to this subsection shall be 66
effective immediately. The commissioner, after notice and hearing, 67
pursuant to chapter 54 of the general statutes, may revoke the 68
certification of any person who violates any such provision or 69
regulation. 70
(f) There is established a separate, nonlapsing salt application 71
account. Such account shall contain any moneys required by law to be 72
deposited into said account. Such account shall be used by the 73
commissioner to administer the salt applicator certification program 74
established under this section. Certification fees collected by the 75
commissioner pursuant to this section shall be deposited with the state 76
Treasurer and be credited to such account and may be invested as 77
provided by law. Interest received on any such investment shall also be 78 Raised Bill No. 1031
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credited to such account. No funds from the General Fund shall be used 79
to cover the cost of the salt applicator certification program. 80
(g) The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the 81
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the 82
provisions of this section. Such regulations shall include, but are not 83
limited to, provisions to: (1) Establish policies and goals for applying 84
salt; (2) receive and allocate federal grants and other funds or gifts for 85
the purpose of carrying out any provision of this section; (3) provide for 86
the types and frequency of training programs required for certification; 87
(4) establish procedures for commercial applicators to obtain 88
certification; (5) recordkeeping required for commercial applicators to 89
maintain certification; and (6) provide for the establishment and 90
collection of fees to cover the cost of such program implementation. 91
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) No commercial applicator, as 92
defined in section 2 of this act, who is certified in accordance with 93
section 2 of this act, and no owner, occupant or lessee of any land that is 94
maintained by a commercial applicator certified in accordance with 95
section 2 of this act, shall be liable for damages arising from 96
insufficiencies or hazards on any premises owned, occupied, 97
maintained or operated by such commercial applicator or owner, 98
occupant or lessee, even if such commercial applicator or owner, 99
occupant or lessee had actual notice of such insufficiency or hazard, 100
when such insufficiency or hazard is caused solely by snow or ice, and 101
the commercial applicator's, owner's, occupant's or lessee's failure or 102
delay in removing or mitigating such insufficiency or hazard is the 103
result of such commercial applicator's, owner's, occupant's or lessee's 104
implementation of best management practices for winter road, parking 105
lot and sidewalk maintenance adopted and published by the 106
Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Department of 107
Energy and Environmental Protection, except in the case of gross 108
negligence or reckless disregard of such insufficiency or hazard by such 109
commercial applicator, owner, occupant or lessee. Any commercial 110
applicator, owner, occupant or lessee who adopts such best 111
management practices shall be presumed to be acting pursuant to the 112 Raised Bill No. 1031
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best management practices in the absence of proof to the contrary. 113
(b) In order to receive the liability protection provided in subsection 114
(a) of this section, such commercial applicator, owner, occupant or lessee 115
shall keep a written record describing such commercial operator's, 116
owner's, occupant's or lessee's winter road, parking lot and property 117
maintenance practices. Any such written record shall include the type 118
and rate of application of de-icing materials used, the dates of treatment 119
and the weather conditions for each event requiring de-icing. Such 120
records shall be kept for a period of three years. 121
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than January 1, 2022, 122
each local health district shall establish an electronic reporting system 123
for the owner of any home or well that is damaged as the direct result 124
of sodium chloride run-off to register such damage with the local health 125
department. Not later than January 1, 2023, and each year thereafter, 126
each local health department shall submit any report received pursuant 127
to this section during the previous calendar year to the Office of Policy 128
and Management. The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management 129
may identify any available state or federal financial resources to assist 130
such owners with the costs of remediation, mitigation or repair of such 131
homes or wells and establish any criteria and procedures for the 132
issuance of any such financial assistance to such owners. 133
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Whenever any water company 134
undertakes an evaluation of any possible sodium chloride effect on the 135
drinking water of any customer, such water company shall conduct 136
testing that includes, but is not limited to, sodium chloride testing, prior 137
to making any recommendation to such customer for the installation of 138
any automatic water softener or tank. 139
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section Raised Bill No. 1031
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Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To provide a means and incentive for commercial applicators of sodium
chloride to responsibly utilize such product to mitigate ice and snow
accumulations.
[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.]