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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1404
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5403
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING CONFORMING ADJUSTMENTS TO SUPPORT
THE TRANSITION TO A RELEASED-BASED CLEANUP PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 22a-134rr of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(a) Any person who creates or maintains a release to the land and 4
waters of the state on or after the date when regulations are [first 5
adopted] effective after adoption pursuant to section 22a-134tt shall, 6
upon discovery of such release: (1) Report the release, if such a report is 7
required by the regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt, and 8
(2) remediate any release to the standards identified in regulations 9
adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt. If any person fails to comply with 10
the provisions of this section and section 22a-134tt, such person shall be 11
liable for any costs incurred by the commissioner in accordance with 12
section 22a-451, or costs incurred by any other person who contains or 13
removes or otherwise mitigates the effects of such release in accordance 14
with section 22a-452. 15
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Sec. 2. Subdivision (1) of section 22a-134 of the general statutes is 16
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 17
passage): 18
(1) "Transfer of establishment" means any transaction or proceeding, 19
on or before the effective date of regulations [are] adopted pursuant to 20
section 22a-134tt, through which an establishment undergoes a change 21
in ownership, but does not mean: 22
(A) Conveyance or extinguishment of an easement; 23
(B) Conveyance of an establishment through (i) a foreclosure, as 24
defined in subsection (b) of section 22a-452f, (ii) foreclosure of a 25
municipal tax lien pursuant to section 12-181, (iii) a tax warrant sale 26
pursuant to section 12-157, (iv) a transfer of title to a municipality by 27
deed in lieu of foreclosure, (v) an exercise of eminent domain by a 28
municipality or pursuant to section 8-128, 8-169e or 8-193 or by 29
condemnation pursuant to section 32-224 or purchase pursuant to a 30
resolution by the legislative body of a municipality authorizing the 31
acquisition through eminent domain for establishments that also meet 32
the definition of a brownfield, as defined in section 32-760, or (vi) a 33
subsequent transfer by such municipality that has acquired the property 34
pursuant to any mechanism described in subparagraphs (B)(i) to (B)(iii), 35
inclusive, of this subdivision or pursuant to the remedial action and 36
redevelopment municipal grant program established in section 32-763, 37
provided (I) the party acquiring the property from the municipality did 38
not establish, create or contribute to the contamination at the 39
establishment and is not affiliated with any person who established, 40
created or contributed to such contamination or with any person who is 41
or was an owner or certifying party for the establishment, and (II) on or 42
before the date the party acquires the property from the municipality, 43
such party or municipality enters and subsequently remains in the 44
voluntary remediation program administered by the commissioner 45
pursuant to section 22a-133x and remains in compliance with schedules 46
and approvals issued by the commissioner. For purposes of this 47
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subparagraph, subsequent transfer by a municipality includes any 48
transfer to, from or between a municipality, municipal economic 49
development agency or entity created or operating under chapter 130 or 50
132, a nonprofit economic development corporation formed to promote 51
the common good, general welfare and economic development of a 52
municipality that is funded, either directly or through in-kind services, 53
in part by a municipality, a nonstock corporation or limited liability 54
company controlled or established by a municipality, municipal 55
economic development agency or entity created or operating under 56
chapter 130 or 132, or a Connecticut brownfield land bank; 57
(C) Conveyance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure to a lender, as defined 58
in and that qualifies for the secured lender exemption pursuant to 59
subsection (b) of section 22a-452f; 60
(D) Conveyance of a security interest, as defined in subdivision (7) of 61
subsection (b) of section 22a-452f; 62
(E) Termination of a lease and conveyance, assignment or execution 63
of a lease for a period less than ninety-nine years including conveyance, 64
assignment or execution of a lease with options or similar terms that will 65
extend the period of the leasehold to ninety-nine years, or from the 66
commencement of the leasehold, ninety-nine years, including 67
conveyance, assignment or execution of a lease with options or similar 68
terms that will extend the period of the leasehold to ninety-nine years, 69
or from the commencement of the leasehold; 70
(F) Any change in ownership approved by the Probate Court; 71
(G) Devolution of title to a surviving joint tenant, or to a trustee, 72
executor or administrator under the terms of a testamentary trust or 73
will, or by intestate succession; 74
(H) Corporate reorganization not substantially affecting the 75
ownership of the establishment; 76
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(I) The issuance of stock or other securities of an entity which owns 77
or operates an establishment; 78
(J) The transfer of stock, securities or other ownership interests 79
representing fifty per cent or less of the ownership of the entity that 80
owns or operates the establishment; 81
(K) Any conveyance of an interest in an establishment where the 82
transferor is the sibling, spouse, child, parent, grandparent, child of a 83
sibling or sibling of a parent of the transferee; 84
(L) Conveyance of an interest in an establishment to a trustee of an 85
inter vivos trust created by the transferor solely for the benefit of one or 86
more siblings, spouses, children, parents, grandchildren, children of a 87
sibling or siblings of a parent of the transferor; 88
(M) Any conveyance of a portion of a parcel upon which portion no 89
establishment is or has been located and upon which there has not 90
occurred a discharge, spillage, uncontrolled loss, seepage or filtration of 91
hazardous waste, provided either the area of such portion is not greater 92
than fifty per cent of the area of such parcel or written notice of such 93
proposed conveyance and an environmental condition assessment form 94
for such parcel is provided to the commissioner sixty days prior to such 95
conveyance; 96
(N) Conveyance of a service station, as defined in subdivision (5) of 97
this section; 98
(O) Any conveyance of an establishment which, prior to July 1, 1997, 99
had been developed solely for residential use and such use has not 100
changed; 101
(P) Any conveyance of an establishment to any entity created or 102
operating under chapter 130 or 132, or to an urban rehabilitation agency, 103
as defined in section 8-292, or to a municipality under section 32-224, or 104
to Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated or any subsidiary of the 105
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corporation; 106
(Q) Any conveyance of a parcel in connection with the acquisition of 107
properties to effectuate the development of the overall project, as 108
defined in section 32-651; 109
(R) The conversion of a general or limited partnership to a limited 110
liability company; 111
(S) The transfer of general partnership property held in the names of 112
all of its general partners to a general partnership which includes as 113
general partners immediately after the transfer all of the same persons 114
as were general partners immediately prior to the transfer; 115
(T) The transfer of general partnership property held in the names of 116
all of its general partners to a limited liability company which includes 117
as members immediately after the transfer all of the same persons as 118
were general partners immediately prior to the transfer; 119
(U) Acquisition of an establishment by any governmental or quasi-120
governmental condemning authority; 121
(V) Conveyance of a unit in a residential common interest 122
community; 123
(W) Acquisition and all subsequent transfers of an establishment (i) 124
that is in the abandoned brownfield cleanup program established 125
pursuant to section 32-768 or the brownfield remediation and 126
revitalization program established pursuant to section 32-769, provided 127
such establishment is in compliance with any applicable provisions of 128
the general statutes, or (ii) by a Connecticut brownfield land bank, 129
provided such establishment was entered into a remediation or liability 130
relief program under section 22a-133x, 22a-133y, as amended by this act, 131
32-768 or 32-769 and the transferor of such establishment is in 132
compliance with such program at the time of transfer of such 133
establishment or has completed the requirements of such program; 134
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(X) Any transfer of title from a municipality to a nonprofit 135
organization or from any entity to a nonprofit organization, as ordered 136
or approved by a bankruptcy court; 137
(Y) Conveyance from the Department of Transportation to the 138
Connecticut Airport Authority of any properties comprising (i) Bradley 139
International Airport and all related improvements and facilities now in 140
existence and as hereafter acquired, added, extended, improved and 141
equipped, including any property or facilities purchased with funds of, 142
or revenues derived from, Bradley International Airport, and any other 143
property or facilities allocated by the state, the Connecticut Airport 144
Authority or otherwise to Bradley International Airport, (ii) the state-145
owned and operated general aviation airports, including Danielson 146
Airport, Groton/New London Airport, Hartford Brainard Airport, 147
Waterbury-Oxford Airport and Windham Airport and any such other 148
airport as may be owned, operated or managed by the Connecticut 149
Airport Authority and designated as general aviation airports, (iii) any 150
other airport as may be owned, operated or managed by the Connecticut 151
Airport Authority, and (iv) any airport site or any part thereof, 152
including, but not limited to, any restricted landing areas and any air 153
navigation facilities; or 154
(Z) The change in the name of a limited liability company as an 155
amendment to such company's certificate of organization, pursuant to 156
section 34-247a. 157
Sec. 3. Section 22a-6u of the general statutes is amended by adding 158
subsection (p) as follows (Effective October 1, 2025): 159
(NEW) (p) On and after the effective date of regulations adopted 160
pursuant to section 22a-134tt, the requirements of this section shall 161
apply only to releases that, pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of section 162
22a-134rr, are not subject to the requirements of sections 22a-134qq to 163
22a-134xx, inclusive, and any hazard required to be reported by a 164
municipality or Connecticut brownfield land bank pursuant to 165
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subsection (b) of section 22a-133dd. 166
Sec. 4. Section 22a-133y of the general statutes is repealed and the 167
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 168
(a) [On and after January 1, 1996] Before the effective date of 169
regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt, any licensed 170
environmental professional licensed by the State Board of Examiners of 171
Environmental Professionals pursuant to section 22a-133v may, 172
pursuant to a voluntary site remediation conducted in accordance with 173
subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, of this section, conduct a Phase II 174
environmental site assessment or a Phase III investigation, prepare a 175
Phase III remedial action plan, supervise remediation or submit a final 176
remedial action report to the Commissioner of Energy and 177
Environmental Protection in accordance with the standards provided 178
for remediation in the regulations adopted by the commissioner under 179
section 22a-133k for any real property which has been subject to a spill 180
and which meets the following criteria: (1) Such property is located in 181
an area classified as GB or GC under the standards adopted by the 182
commissioner for classification of groundwater contamination; and (2) 183
such property is not the subject of any order issued by the commissioner 184
regarding such spill, consent order or stipulated judgment regarding 185
such spill. Any such professional employed by a municipality may 186
enter, without liability, upon any property within such municipality for 187
the purpose of performing an environmental site assessment or 188
investigation if the owner of such property is unknown or such property 189
is encumbered by a lien for taxes due to such municipality. Nothing in 190
this subsection shall affect the ability of any person, firm or corporation 191
to provide any of the services enumerated in this subsection in 192
connection with the remediation of contaminated real property other 193
than as provided for a voluntary site remediation conducted pursuant 194
to this section. 195
(b) Following any Phase II environmental site assessment or a Phase 196
III investigation for any such property, any Phase III remedial action 197
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plan prepared for purposes of a voluntary site remediation under 198
subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, of this section shall be prepared by a 199
licensed environmental professional in accordance with the standards 200
for such property adopted by the commissioner under section 22a-133k. 201
Prior to commencement of remedial action taken pursuant to such plan, 202
the owner of the property shall submit such plan to the commissioner 203
and shall: (1) Publish notice of the remedial action in a newspaper 204
having a substantial circulation in the town where the property is 205
located; (2) notify the director of health of the municipality where the 206
parcel is located; and (3) either (A) erect and maintain for at least thirty 207
days in a legible condition a sign not less than six feet by four feet on the 208
property, which sign shall be clearly visible from the public highway, 209
and shall include the words "ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN -UP IN 210
PROGRESS AT THIS SITE. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 211
CONTACT:" and include a telephone number for an office from which 212
any interested person may obtain additional information about the 213
remedial action; or (B) mail notice of the remedial action to each owner 214
of record of property which abuts such property, at the address on the 215
last-completed grand list of the relevant town. The commissioner may 216
review such plan and may advise such owner as to the adequacy of such 217
plan. The remedial action shall be conducted under the supervision of a 218
licensed environmental professional. The commissioner shall expedite 219
the process for issuing any permits required under this title for such 220
action. The final remedial action report shall be submitted by a licensed 221
environmental professional. In preparing such report, the licensed 222
environmental professional shall render an opinion, in accordance with 223
the standard of care provided for in subsection (c) of section 22a-133w, 224
that the action taken to contain, remove or mitigate the spill is in 225
accordance with the remediation standards for such property adopted 226
by the commissioner under section 22a-133k. The owner of the property 227
shall maintain all records relating to such remedial action for a period 228
of not less than ten years and shall make such records available to the 229
commissioner at any time upon his request. 230
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(c) Any final remedial action report submitted to the commissioner 231
for such a property by a licensed environmental professional shall be 232
deemed approved unless, within sixty days of such submittal, the 233
commissioner determines, in his sole discretion, that an audit of such 234
remedial action is necessary to assess whether remedial action beyond 235
that which is indicated in such report is necessary for the protection of 236
human health or the environment. Such an audit shall be conducted 237
within six months of such determination. After completing such audit, 238
the commissioner may disapprove the report provided he shall give his 239
reasons therefor in writing and further provided such owner may 240
appeal such disapproval to the superior court in accordance with the 241
provisions of section 4-183. Prior to approving a final remedial action 242
report, the commissioner may enter into a memorandum of 243
understanding with the owner of such property with regard to any 244
further remedial action or monitoring activities on or at such property 245
which the commissioner deems necessary for the protection of human 246
health or the environment. 247
(d) Upon the approval of such report, the owner of the property shall 248
execute and record an environmental use restriction in accordance with 249
the provisions of section 22a-133o, unless a licensed environmental 250
professional presents evidence, satisfactory to the commissioner, that 251
the remediation has achieved a standard sufficient to render such a 252
restriction unnecessary and the commissioner issues a written finding 253
that such restriction is not necessary. Approval of a final remedial action 254
report pursuant to subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, of this section shall 255
be sufficient to support the filing of a Form II, as defined in section 22a-256
134, as amended by this act. 257
(e) Nothing in this section shall relieve any person of any obligation 258
to comply with sections 22a-134 to 22a-134e, inclusive, as amended by 259
this act. 260
(f) On or after the effective date of regulations adopted pursuant to 261
section 22a-134tt, any licensed environmental professional licensed by 262
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the State Board of Examiners of Environmental Professionals pursuant 263
to section 22a-133v may, pursuant to prevailing standards and 264
guidelines, conduct a parcel-wide Phase II environmental site 265
assessment and a parcel-wide Phase III investigation, for any parcel of 266
real property which has, or which may have been, subject to a release, 267
as defined in section 22a-134pp, for the purposes of entering such parcel 268
into a voluntary parcel-wide remediation program pursuant to 269
subsections (f) to (k), inclusive, of this section, except as provided by 270
subsection (g) of this section. Any such professional employed by a 271
municipality may enter, without liability, upon any property within 272
such municipality for the purpose of performing an environmental site 273
assessment or investigation if the owner of such property is unknown 274
or such property is encumbered by a lien for taxes due to such 275
municipality, or as otherwise provided for pursuant to section 22a-133e. 276
Nothing in subsections (f) to (k), inclusive, of this section shall affect the 277
ability of any person, firm or corporation to provide any of the services 278
described in this subsection in connection with the remediation of 279
contaminated real property other than as provided for a voluntary 280
parcel-wide remediation conducted pursuant to subsections (f) to (k), 281
inclusive, of this section. 282
(g) A parcel shall be eligible for voluntary parcel-wide remediation 283
pursuant to subsections (f) to (k), inclusive, of this section if such parcel 284
is not subject to sections 22a-134a to 22a-134e, inclusive, and sections 285
22a-134h and 22a-134i, the parcel is not the subject of any order issued 286
by the commissioner regarding one or more releases, or a consent order 287
or stipulated judgment regarding one or more releases, and a parcel-288
wide Phase II environmental site assessment is initiated before the 289
discovery of a release on a parcel subject to the requirements of chapter 290
445b for which a release remediation closure report has not previously 291
been prepared, or not more than sixty days following the discovery of a 292
release on a parcel for which a release remediation closure report has 293
not previously been prepared, provided any immediate actions 294
otherwise required by the regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-295
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134tt are completed within a timeframe and in the manner required by 296
such regulations. 297
(h) Each release identified by a parcel-wide Phase II environmental 298
assessment conducted pursuant to subsection (g) of this section through 299
multiple lines of evidence or the laboratory analysis of samples taken 300
from the land and waters of the state shall be determined to be 301
discovered for the purposes of section 22a-134tt, and any regulations 302
adopted pursuant to said section. Not later than the earliest deadline to 303
report any release discovered pursuant to subsection (g) of this section, 304
as established in regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt, the 305
environmental professional shall provide notice to the commissioner, on 306
a form prescribed by the commissioner, of the intent to enter the 307
voluntary parcel-wide cleanup program. Such form shall include, but 308
not be limited to, the date of the initiation of the Phase II environmental 309
site assessment, a description of the investigation conducted and the 310
identification each release discovered. 311
(i) Each release discovered pursuant to subsection (h) of this section 312
shall be subject to the requirements of chapter 445b, and the regulations 313
adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt, provided: 314
(1) For each release discovered pursuant to subsection (g) of this 315
section, any investigation or characterization required to assign the 316
release to a cleanup tier shall be completed and submitted to the 317
commissioner not more than two years after the initiation of the parcel-318
wide Phase II environmental site assessment. The commissioner may 319
audit such submission and, if the commissioner determines that the 320
investigation or characterization is inadequate, may specify a schedule 321
for the completion of additional investigation or characterization. If 322
such additional investigation or characterization is not completed in 323
accordance with such schedule, the commissioner may subject each 324
release discovered pursuant to subsections (g) and (h) of this section to 325
the requirements of chapter 445b; 326
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(2) Upon completion of tier characterization, each release discovered 327
pursuant to subsections (g) and (h) of this section shall be grouped 328
together for the purpose of assignment to cleanup tier in accordance 329
with regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt. Such releases 330
shall be assigned to the environmental professional supervised cleanup 331
tier with the longest timeline for remediation; 332
(3) To the extent each release discovered pursuant to subsections (g) 333
and (h) of this section is subject to any fee assessed by regulations 334
adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt, releases grouped together 335
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection shall be considered a 336
single release for the purpose of calculating the fee assessed; and 337
(4) Any deadline for remediation of releases grouped together 338
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection that is established by 339
regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-134tt shall be extended by 340
one year. 341
(j) Any parcel remediated pursuant to the requirements of 342
subsections (f) to (k), inclusive, of this section shall be eligible for a 343
covenant not to sue pursuant to section 22a-133aa, provided a detailed 344
written plan for remediation of the property, in accordance with 345
standards adopted by the commissioner pursuant to section 22a-134tt, 346
has been approved by the commissioner. 347
(k) The commissioner shall expedite the process for issuing any 348
permits required under this title for parcel-wide remediation. 349
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 22a-134rr(a)
Sec. 2 from passage 22a-134(1)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2025 22a-6u(p)
Sec. 4 from passage 22a-133y
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Statement of Purpose:
To establish a transition period from the Transfer Act to regulations that
provide for release-based cleanup remediation standards.
[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.]