Businesses Eyeing DEEP Cleanup, UST Fund Measures

One issue of great interest to Connecticut businesses this session is the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s proposal to transform the state’s approach to release-reporting and cleanup. Another is a measure addressing critical problems with the state’s underground storage tank cleanup fund. 

Last year, DEEP was charged with developing recommendations for simplifying and streamlining the process of site-contamination cleanup. The agency’s cleanup transformation proposal is a response to that directive.    

DEEP plans to release a report within the next two weeks that will provide details on what it would like incorporated into the bill.  While the actual bill is still being developed, the agency anticipates that the Commerce Committee will raise a proposal later this month. However, this is likely to be more of a “concept bill” or “placeholder,” as the detailed legislative language is refined over the course of the session. 

UST Fund

The state’s underground storage tank cleanup fund has become so dysfunctional and underfunded that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned it will decertify the program if the problems are not addressed by the end of the legislative session. 

Failure to fix the program could mean, among other things, the loss of hundreds of gasoline stations around the state and the jobs associated with them. Governor Malloy’s proposed budget includes $5 million in funding as the start to a long-term solution. 

House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero (R-Norwalk) has introduced a bill (HB 5082) in the Environment Committee that would provide an as-yet undetermined amount of money for the fund.   

For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Brown at 860.244.1926 or eric.brown@cbia.com.