CT HB07085

Commissioners of Energy and Environmental Protection and Economic and Community Development must jointly convene a working group to advise on release-based cleanup program regulations and evaluate program implementation, with quarterly meetings required until February 1, 2030, and reports due February 1, 2028 and February 1, 2030.

Working group membership is restructured after regulations take effect to include 15 members selected by both commissioners, representing environmental attorneys, real estate brokers, licensed environmental professionals, environmental advocates, municipal representatives, business associations, and the banking industry.

Regulations must establish risk-based tiers for releases, set audit goals with at least 20% of verifications audited for one tier, specify reporting requirements and timeframes based on threat severity, and establish remediation standards with preference for permanent cleanup methods.

Certifying parties under the Transfer Act may now catalog releases on an establishment and address them under the release-based cleanup program, with release remediation closure reports counted as verifications for portions of establishments.

Residential activity may be temporarily restricted on parcels with discovered releases, allowing use of industrial/commercial cleanup criteria instead of residential standards, provided the restriction is certified within 30 days and an environmental use restriction is recorded within 30 months.