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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7247
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING SEWAGE DISPOSAL REQUIREMENTS AND
THEIR IMPACT ON HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND
THE ENVIRONMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) The majority leaders' roundtable 1
group on affordable housing, established pursuant to section 36 of 2
public act 23-207, shall convene a working group to assess and provide 3
recommendations regarding (1) regulatory requirements concerning 4
sewage disposal, including, but not limited to, nitrogen discharge limits 5
and their impact on the development of housing, public health and the 6
environment, and (2) balancing the costs associated with the 7
development of housing and a risk-based approach to protecting public 8
health and the environment. The working group shall include, but need 9
not be limited to, the Commissioners of Public Health, Energy and 10
Environmental Protection and Housing, or said commissioners' 11
designees, and subject matter experts, including, but not limited to, one 12
representative each from (A) a residential construction trade association 13
in the state, (B) an association representing municipal planners in the 14
state, (C) an association representing municipal directors of health in the 15
state, (D) an association representing septic system installers in the state, 16
and (E) an association representing professional engineers and soil 17
scientists in the state. Not later than February 1, 2026, the working group 18 Substitute Bill No. 7247
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shall submit a report to the Commissioner of Public Health and the joint 19
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 20
matters relating to public health, the environment and housing 21
regarding such assessment and recommendations. 22
Sec. 2. Subsection (g) of section 22a-430 of the general statutes is 23
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 24
passage): 25
(g) The commissioner shall, by regulation adopted prior to October 1, 26
1977, establish and define categories of discharges that constitute 27
household and small commercial subsurface sewage disposal systems 28
for which the commissioner shall delegate to the Commissioner of 29
Public Health the authority to issue permits or approvals and to hold 30
public hearings in accordance with this section, on and after said date. 31
Not later than July 1, [2025] 2026, but only after consultation with the 32
working group convened pursuant to section 1 of this act and 33
consideration of the recommendations provided by such working group 34
pursuant to said section, the commissioner shall post a notice of intent 35
to amend such regulations on the eRegulations System to establish and 36
define categories of discharges that constitute small community 37
sewerage systems and household and small commercial subsurface 38
sewage disposal systems. The Commissioner of Public Health shall, 39
pursuant to section 19a-36, establish minimum requirements for small 40
community sewerage systems and household and small commercial 41
subsurface sewage disposal systems and procedures for the issuance of 42
such permits or approvals by the local director of health or an 43
environmental health specialist registered pursuant to chapter 395. As 44
used in this subsection, small community sewerage systems and 45
household and small commercial disposal systems shall include those 46
subsurface sewage disposal systems with a capacity of ten thousand 47
gallons per day or less. Notwithstanding any provision of the general 48
statutes (1) the regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to 49
this subsection that are in effect as of July 1, 2017, shall apply to 50
household and small commercial subsurface sewage disposal systems 51
with a capacity of seven thousand five hundred gallons per day or less, 52 Substitute Bill No. 7247
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and (2) the regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this 53
subsection that are in effect [as of] on or after July 1, [2025] 2026, shall 54
apply to small community sewerage systems, household systems and 55
small commercial subsurface sewerage disposal systems with a capacity 56
of ten thousand gallons per day or less. Any permit denied by the 57
Commissioner of Public Health, or a director of health or registered 58
environmental health specialist shall be subject to hearing and appeal in 59
the manner provided in section 19a-229. Any permit granted by the 60
Commissioner of Public Health, or a director of health or registered 61
environmental health specialist on or after October 1, 1977, shall be 62
deemed equivalent to a permit issued under subsection (b) of this 63
section. 64
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage 22a-430(g)
PH Joint Favorable Subst.