LCO No. 1941 1 of 2
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5353
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 1941
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE GAS CYLINDER STEWARDSHIP
PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 22a-905h of the general statutes is amended by 1
adding subsection (v) as follows (Effective from passage): 2
(NEW) (v) (1) A gas cylinder stewardship organization that 3
implements an approved gas cylinder stewardship plan in accordance 4
with the requirements of this section may bring a civil action against a 5
producer for damages when: (A) The plaintiff incurs more than five 6
hundred dollars in actual costs associated with administrative 7
overhead, education, collection, handling, recycling and the approved 8
disposal of the defendant producer's gas cylinders that are supplied, 9
sold or offered for sale in this state; and (B) the defendant producer or 10
the gas cylinder stewardship organization to which such defendant 11
producer belongs is not in compliance with the provisions of this 12
section. 13
(2) The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall 14
not be a necessary party to or be required to provide assistance or 15 Raised Bill No. 5353
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otherwise participate in a civil action authorized pursuant to 16
subdivision (1) of this subsection solely due to the department's 17
regulatory responsibilities pursuant to this section, unless subject to 18
subpoena before a court exercising jurisdiction over such matter. 19
(3) A gas cylinder stewardship organization may file a civil action 20
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection regardless of whether such 21
organization petitioned the department concerning a noncompliant 22
producer or gas cylinder stewardship organization. 23
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, "damages" means: (A) The 24
actual costs a plaintiff gas cylinder stewardship organization incurs in 25
administrative overhead, education, collection, handling, recycling or 26
the approved disposal of gas cylinders that are reasonably identified as 27
originating from another gas cylinder producer or gas cylinder 28
stewardship organization; and (B) the costs and attorney's fees 29
associated with bringing a civil action pursuant to subdivision (1) of this 30
subsection. 31
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 22a-905h(v)
Statement of Purpose:
To provide a gas cylinder stewardship organization with the right to
institute a civil suit against noncompliant producers when certain costs
are incurred by the organization.
[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.]