House Bill No. 5353
Public Act No. 24-133
AN ACT CONCERNING THE GAS CYLINDER STEWARDSHIP
PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (e) of section 22a-905h of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
passage):
(e) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall
approve a plan for the establishment of a gas cylinder stewardship
program, provided such plan meets the requirements of this section.
Not later than ninety days after submission of the plan, the
commissioner shall make a determination on whether to approve the
plan. Prior to making such determination, the commissioner shall post
the plan on the department's Internet web site and solicit public
comments on the plan. Such solicitation shall not be conducted pursuant
to chapter 54. In the event that the commissioner disapproves the plan
because it does not meet the requirements of this section, the
commissioner shall describe the reasons for the disapproval in a notice
of determination that the commissioner shall provide to the producer or
producer's designee that submitted the gas cylinder stewardship plan.
Such producer or producer's designee shall revise and resubmit the plan
to the commissioner not later than forty-five days after receipt of the House Bill No. 5353
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commissioner's notice of disapproval. Not later than forty-five days
after receipt of the revised plan, the commissioner shall review and
approve or disapprove the revised plan, and provide a notice of
determination to the producer or producer's designee that submitted the
revised gas cylinder plan. Such producer or producer's designee may
resubmit a revised plan to the commissioner for approval on not more
than two occasions. If the producer or producer's designee fails to
submit a plan that is acceptable to the commissioner because it does not
meet the requirements of this section, the commissioner shall modify a
submitted plan to make it conform to the requirements of this section
and approve it. Not later than October 1, [2025] 2024, each producer
shall be part of an approved [and implemented] gas cylinder
stewardship program. Each gas cylinder stewardship program shall be
implemented not later than October 1, 2025.
Sec. 2. Subsections (p) to (u), inclusive, of section 22a-905h of the
general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof (Effective from passage):
(p) Whenever, in the judgment of the Commissioner of Energy and
Environmental Protection, any person has engaged in or is about to
engage in any act, practice or omission that constitutes, or will
constitute, a violation of any provision of this section, the Attorney
General may, at the request of the commissioner, bring an action in the
superior court for the judicial district of New Britain for an order
enjoining such act, practice or omission. Such order may require
remedial measures and direct compliance with the provisions of this
section. Upon a showing by the commissioner that such person has
engaged in or is about to engage in any such act, practice or omission,
the court may issue a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining
order or other order, as appropriate. Upon a finding that any producer
violated the provisions of this section, the court may impose a civil
penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars for each such House Bill No. 5353
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offense. Each such violation shall be a separate and distinct offense.
(q) Any action brought by the Attorney General pursuant to this
section shall have precedence in the order of trial, as provided in section
52-191.
(r) In the event that another state implements a gas cylinder recycling
program, a producer or producer's designee with an approved gas
cylinder stewardship plan may collaborate with such state to conserve
efforts and resources used in carrying out the applicable gas cylinder
stewardship program, provided such collaboration is consistent with
the requirements of this section.
(s) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may
assess a reasonable fee to each producer or producer's designee with an
approved gas cylinder stewardship plan for administration of the
applicable gas cylinder stewardship program. The Commissioner of
Energy and Environmental Protection shall determine the share to be
paid by each producer or producer's designee based on the share of the
gas cylinder market represented by the producer or producer's
designee. The total annual fees assessed on each producer with an
approved gas cylinder stewardship plan shall not exceed a rate of two
thousand dollars. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental
Protection shall annually publish documentation on the department's
use of such fees.
(t) Any producer who fails to participate in an approved gas cylinder
stewardship plan shall not supply, sell or offer for sale gas cylinders in
this state.
(u) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, upon
identification of any producer who is not participating in an approved
gas cylinder stewardship program, the Commissioner of Energy and
Environmental Protection shall issue a notice of noncompliance to such House Bill No. 5353
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producer. Not later than January first of each year following
implementation of such program, the Commissioner of Energy and
Environmental Protection shall issue a report to the joint standing
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters
relating to the environment on steps taken by the commissioner to
address noncompliance with the provisions of this section and shall
include in such report a list of [noncompliant] compliant producers that
[received a notice of noncompliance pursuant to this subsection and that
are not in compliance as of the date of such report] is based on
information provided by any such gas cylinder stewardship
organization. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental
Protection shall publish [a] such list of the names of producers that are
compliant with the provisions of this section on the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection's Internet web site.
Sec. 3. Section 22a-905h of the general statutes is amended by adding
subsection (v) as follows (Effective from passage):
(NEW) (v) (1) Any gas cylinder stewardship organization that
implements an approved gas cylinder stewardship plan in accordance
with the requirements of this section may bring a civil action against a
producer for damages when: (A) Such stewardship organization incurs
more than five hundred dollars in actual costs associated with
administrative overhead, education, collection, handling, recycling and
the approved disposal of the defendant producer's gas cylinders that are
supplied, sold or offered for sale in this state; and (B) the defendant
producer or the gas cylinder stewardship organization to which such
noncompliant producer belongs is not in compliance with the
provisions of this section.
(2) Any gas cylinder stewardship organization may file a civil action
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection regardless of whether such
organization notified the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental
Protection concerning such noncompliant producer or gas cylinder House Bill No. 5353
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stewardship organization.
(3) For the purposes of this subsection, "damages" means: (A) The
actual costs a plaintiff gas cylinder stewardship organization incurs in
administrative overhead, education, collection, handling, recycling or
the approved disposal of gas cylinders that are reasonably identified as
originating from another gas cylinder producer or gas cylinder
stewardship organization; and (B) the costs and reasonable attorney's
fees associated with bringing a civil action pursuant to subdivision (1)
of this subsection.