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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1031
January Session, 2021
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
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 Substitute Bill No. 1031
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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 or employee of a political subdivision of the state; 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
applicators operating under such master certificate receive the required 47
training and shall provide the required recordkeeping on behalf of all 48 Substitute Bill No. 1031
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commercial applicators. Any fees established by the commissioner 49
pursuant to this section for such certificates shall be sufficient to cover 50
all costs incurred from the provision of such training program. Any 51
annual fee established by the commissioner for certificates obtained 52
under a master certificate shall be significantly less than the fee for a 53
master certificate. 54
(c) Application for such certification shall be on a form prescribed by 55
the commissioner and shall include the following: (1) The full name and 56
address of the person applying for the certification; (2) the name and 57
address of a person whose domicile is in the state, and who is authorized 58
to receive and accept service of summons and legal notices of all kinds 59
for the applicant; (3) the type of apparatus used to apply salt or salt 60
alternative whether liquid or dry; and (4) any other information deemed 61
necessary by the commissioner. 62
(d) The commissioner shall administer and enforce the provisions of 63
this section within available resources. 64
(e) The commissioner may issue an order to any person who is in 65
violation of any provision of this section and any regulation adopted 66
pursuant to this section, including, but not limited to, an order to cease 67
and desist from any act in violation of such provision or regulation. Any 68
order issued by the commissioner pursuant to this subsection shall be 69
effective immediately. The commissioner, after notice and hearing, 70
pursuant to chapter 54 of the general statutes, may revoke the 71
certification of any person who violates any such provision or 72
regulation. 73
(f) There is established a separate, nonlapsing salt application 74
account. Such account shall contain any moneys required by law to be 75
deposited into said account. Such account shall be used by the 76
commissioner to administer the salt applicator certification program 77
established under this section. Certification fees collected by the 78
commissioner pursuant to this section shall be deposited with the state 79
Treasurer and be credited to such account and may be invested as 80 Substitute Bill No. 1031
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provided by law. Interest received on any such investment shall also be 81
credited to such account. No funds from the General Fund shall be used 82
to cover the cost of the salt applicator certification program. 83
(g) The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the 84
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the 85
provisions of this section. Such regulations shall include, but are not 86
limited to, provisions to: (1) Establish policies and goals for applying 87
salt; (2) receive and allocate federal grants and other funds or gifts for 88
the purpose of carrying out any provision of this section; (3) provide for 89
the types and frequency of training programs required for certification; 90
(4) establish procedures for commercial applicators to obtain 91
certification; (5) recordkeeping required for commercial applicators to 92
maintain certification; and (6) provide for the establishment and 93
collection of fees to cover the cost of such program implementation. 94
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) No commercial applicator, as 95
defined in section 2 of this act, who is certified in accordance with 96
section 2 of this act, and no owner, occupant or lessee of any land that is 97
maintained by a commercial applicator certified in accordance with 98
section 2 of this act, shall be liable for damages arising from 99
insufficiencies or hazards on any premises owned, occupied, 100
maintained or operated by such commercial applicator or owner, 101
occupant or lessee, even if such commercial applicator or owner, 102
occupant or lessee had actual notice of such insufficiency or hazard, 103
when such insufficiency or hazard is caused solely by snow or ice, and 104
the commercial applicator's, owner's, occupant's or lessee's failure or 105
delay in removing or mitigating such insufficiency or hazard is the 106
result of such commercial applicator's, owner's, occupant's or lessee's 107
implementation of best management practices for winter road, parking 108
lot and sidewalk maintenance adopted and published by the 109
Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Department of 110
Energy and Environmental Protection, except in the case of gross 111
negligence or reckless disregard of such insufficiency or hazard by such 112
commercial applicator, owner, occupant or lessee. Any commercial 113 Substitute Bill No. 1031
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applicator, owner, occupant or lessee who adopts such best 114
management practices shall be presumed to be acting pursuant to the 115
best management practices in the absence of proof to the contrary. 116
(b) In order to receive the liability protection provided in subsection 117
(a) of this section, such commercial applicator, owner, occupant or lessee 118
shall keep a written record describing such commercial operator's, 119
owner's, occupant's or lessee's winter road, parking lot and property 120
maintenance practices. Any such written record shall include the type 121
and rate of application of de-icing materials used, the dates of treatment 122
and the weather conditions for each event requiring de-icing. Such 123
records shall be kept for a period of three years. 124
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Not later than January 1, 2022, 125
each local health district shall establish an electronic reporting system 126
for the owner of any home or well that is damaged as the direct result 127
of sodium chloride run-off to register such damage with the local health 128
department. Not later than January 1, 2023, and each year thereafter, 129
each local health department shall submit any report received pursuant 130
to this section during the previous calendar year to the Office of Policy 131
and Management. The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management 132
may identify any available state or federal financial resources to assist 133
such owners with the costs of remediation, mitigation or repair of such 134
homes or wells and establish any criteria and procedures for the 135
issuance of any such financial assistance to such owners. 136
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Any person, as defined in section 137
1-1 of the general statutes, who installs residential water treatment 138
systems, including, but not limited to, automatic water softeners or 139
tanks, shall test a customer's drinking water for the presence of sodium 140
and chloride prior to making any recommendation to such customer or 141
potential customer regarding the installation of an automatic water 142
softener or tank. Such testing shall be performed by an environmental 143
laboratory registered pursuant to section 19a-29a of the general statutes. 144 Substitute Bill No. 1031
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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
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 from passage New section
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.