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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 456
February Session, 2022
AN ACT CONCERNING CLEAN AND SAFE WELL WATER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 22a-471 of the 1
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 3
(a) (1) If the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection 4
determines that pollution of the groundwaters has occurred or can 5
reasonably be expected to occur and the Commissioner of Public Health 6
determines that the extent of pollution creates or can reasonably be 7
expected to create an unacceptable risk of injury to the health or safety 8
of persons using such groundwaters as a public or private source of 9
water for drinking or other personal or domestic uses, the 10
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may issue an 11
order to the person or municipality responsible for such pollution 12
requiring that potable drinking water be provided to all persons affected 13
by such pollution, including, but not limited to, through the repair or 14
replacement of a private well contaminated by such pollution, as 15
deemed necessary by the commissioner. In determining if pollution 16
creates an unacceptable risk of injury, the Commissioner of Public 17
Health shall balance all relevant and substantive facts and inferences 18
and shall not be limited to a consideration of available statistical analysis 19 Substitute Bill No. 456
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but shall consider all of the evidence presented and any factor related to 20
human health risks. If the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 21
Protection finds that more than one person or municipality is 22
responsible for such pollution, the commissioner shall attempt to 23
apportion responsibility if the commissioner determines that 24
apportionment is appropriate. If the commissioner does not apportion 25
responsibility, all persons and municipalities responsible for the 26
pollution of the groundwaters shall be jointly and severally responsible 27
for the providing of potable drinking water to persons affected by such 28
pollution. If the commissioner determines that the state or an agency or 29
department of the state is responsible in whole or in part for the 30
pollution of the groundwaters, such agency or department shall prepare 31
or arrange for the preparation of an engineering report and [shall] 32
provide or arrange for the provision of a long-term potable drinking 33
water supply. If the commissioner is unable to determine the person or 34
municipality responsible or if the commissioner determines that the 35
responsible persons have no assets other than land, buildings, business 36
machinery or livestock and are unable to secure a loan at a reasonable 37
rate of interest to provide potable drinking water, the commissioner 38
may prepare or arrange for the preparation of an engineering report and 39
provide or arrange for the provision of a long-term potable drinking 40
water supply or the commissioner may issue an order to the 41
municipality wherein groundwaters unusable for potable drinking 42
water are located requiring that short-term provision of potable 43
drinking water be made to those existing residential buildings and 44
elementary and secondary schools affected by such pollution and that 45
long-term provision of potable drinking water be made to all persons 46
affected by such pollution. For purposes of this section, "residential 47
building" means any house, apartment, trailer, mobile manufactured 48
home or other structure occupied by individuals as a dwelling, except a 49
non-owner-occupied hotel or motel or a correctional institution. 50
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Substitute Bill No. 456
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Section 1 October 1, 2022 22a-471(a)(1)
PH Joint Favorable Subst.