Section 22a-450-1 - General Provisions(a)Applicability.The release reporting regulations apply to the release of a reportable material after [insert the effective date of this section].
(b)Retention of Commissioner Authority.Nothing in the release reporting regulations shall affect the commissioner's authority under any other statute or regulation, including, but not limited to, the commissioner's authority to issue an order, initiate or require any other action to prevent or abate a release or a potential source of a release, or take any other action authorized by law.
(c)Definitions.As used in the release reporting regulations:
(1) "Biofuels" means a type of energy or fuel derived from renewable plant and animal materials, including, but not limited to, ethanol, biodiesel (vegetable oils and liquid animal fats), green diesel (derived from algae and other plant sources) and biogas (methane derived from animal manure and other digested organic material);(2) "Chemical liquid" means any chemical, chemical solution or chemical mixture in liquid form;(3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection or the commissioner's designee;(4) "Department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection;(5) "Diesel fuel" means a liquid fuel used or intended for use in diesel engines;(6) "Domestic sewage" means sewage that consists of water and human excretions or other waterborne wastes incidental to the occupancy of a building, but does not include manufacturing process water, cooling water, wastewater from water softening equipment, commercial laundry wastewater, blowdown from heating or cooling equipment, water from cellar or floor drains or surface water from roofs, paved surfaces or yard drains;(7) "Environment" means waters of the state, land surface, subsurface strata or air, both indoors and outdoors;(8) "Explosion" means a violent and destructive shattering or blowing apart of something;(9) "Explosives" has the same meaning as provided for in section 29-343 of the Connecticut General Statutes;(10) "Facility" means any site or area, building, structure, installation, equipment, machine, pipe or pipeline, well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, or storage container, located in, on, or under any land or waters of the state;(11) "Flammable liquid" means any liquid having a flashpoint at or below 199.4 °F (93 °C);(12) "Food products" means potable water and material usually of plant or animal origin that contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins or minerals, and is ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth and maintain life;(13) "Halogenated solvents" means volatile organic compounds with a boiling point of less than 482 degrees °F and at least one (1) covalently-bonded halogen atom;(14) "Hazard" means a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action, including, but not limited to, the evacuation of an area;(15) "Hazardous chemicals" has the same meaning as provided for in section 22a-448 of the Connecticut General Statutes;(16) "Hazardous materials" has the same meaning as provided for in 49 USC 5102(2);(17) "Hazardous waste" means any waste material which may pose a present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly handled, treated, stored, transported or disposed of or otherwise managed including hazardous waste identified in accordance with section 3001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, 42 USC 6901 et seq.;(18) "Immediately" means as soon as possible after the discovery of a release, however, not later than one (1) hour after such discovery;(19) "Imminent release" means the existence of a condition that presents a substantial likelihood that a release may occur, including, but not limited to, an accident or malfunction such as a derailed railcar or overturned tractor trailer or cargo tanks, or containers in poor or compromised condition;(20) "Impermeable" means not allowing a reportable material to pass through in order to prevent migration or seepage;(21) "License" means the whole or part of any agency permit, certificate, approval, registration, charter or similar form of permission required by law;(22) "Liquefied petroleum gas" has the same meaning as provided for in section 43-36 of the Connecticut General Statutes;(23) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle propelled or drawn by any non-muscular power;(24) "Oil or petroleum" means oil or petroleum of any kind or in any form, including, but not limited to, crude oil or fractions thereof, refined petroleum or fractions thereof, biofuels, waste oils, mineral oils, dielectric fluids and distillation products such as heating oils, diesel fuels, fuel oil, kerosene, naphtha, gasoline, and lubricating and hydraulic oils;(25) "Operator" means a person in control of, or having responsibility for, the operation of a facility, vehicle used for transport, or stationary or non-stationary devices or equipment, including, but not limited to, transformers and hydraulic lifts;(26) "PCBs" or "PCB" means the class of organic compounds known as polychlorinated biphenyls or terphenyls and includes any of several compounds produced by replacing two (2) or more hydrogen atoms on the biphenyl or terphenyl molecule with chlorine;(27) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company, trust, corporation, limited liability company, municipality, agency or political or administrative subdivision of the state, the federal government or other legal entity of any kind and any officer or governing or managing body of any partnership, association, firm or corporation or any member or manager of a limited liability company;(28) "Person required to report a release" means any of the following: (B) Any person whose act or omission results, or has resulted in, a release or an imminent release;(C) Any person who owns or controls any reportable material which is released or which is creating an imminent release; or(D) Any person who transports, or is responsible for the transportation of, the reportable material released or an imminent release;(29) "Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, or intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant;(30) "Prohibited pesticide" means a pesticide: (A) identified in section 22a-66-2(a) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies,(B) suspended or cancelled pursuant to 7 USC 136d, either voluntarily or by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or(C) cancelled by the commissioner pursuant to section 22a-52 of the Connecticut General Statutes;(31) "Properly trained personnel" means a person who has successfully completed the training pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.120 and 29 CFR 1910.1200, and who has also achieved competence in the use of emergency equipment and emergency procedures, spill response equipment, and mitigation, containment, and removal techniques;(32) "Radioactive materials" means any solid, liquid or gas, that emits ionizing radiation spontaneously;(33) "Release" means the discharge, spillage, uncontrolled loss, seepage or filtration, including but not limited to, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing, of a reportable material into the environment, a secondary containment system or into a building or structure, whether intended, unintended or by accident, negligence or otherwise;(34) "Release reporting regulations" means sections 22a-450-1 to 22a-450-6, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies;(35) "Reportable material" means any of the following: a chemical liquid, a solid, liquid or gaseous product, hazardous waste, or oil or petroleum, in any form, i.e., solid, liquid, semi-solid or gaseous. "Reportable material" does not include radioactive materials, potable water or water vapor;(36) "Reportable quantity" means that quantity of a reportable material the release of which shall be reported to the commissioner pursuant to section 22a-450-2 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies and if the reportable material released is a liquid or compressed gas, the reportable quantity is stated in gallons; if the reportable material released is a solid or uncompressed gas, the reportable quantity is stated in pounds;(37) "Restricted use pesticide" means any pesticide that is either listed in 40 CFR Part 152.175, noted as a restricted use pesticide on the product label, or classified by the commissioner for restricted use pursuant to section 22a-50 the Connecticut General Statues;(38) "Secondary containment system" means a system serving one (1) or more primary storage containers or tanks that is designed, installed and operated to collect and contain a release of a reportable material in the event of loss of the integrity or failure of the primary containment;(39) "Solid, liquid or gaseous products" means any substance or material including, but not limited to, hazardous chemicals, flammable liquids, explosives, liquefied petroleum gas, hazardous materials, or hazardous substances designated in accordance with section 311 of the federal Water Pollution Control Act, designated at 40 CFR 116.4;(40) "Underground storage tank system" means one (1) or a combination of tanks (including underground pipes connected thereto) and any associated ancillary equipment and containment system, including, but not limited to, residential underground storage tank systems that is used or designed to contain an accumulation of reportable materials and the volume of which (including the volume of underground pipes connected thereto) is ten (10) percent or more (A) beneath the surface of the ground or (B) covered with earthen materials;(41) "Vehicles used for transport" means any motor vehicle, aircraft, vessel or railroad car used, or intended to be used, to transport persons or cargo, including, but not limited to, rolling stock, drones, or trailers;(42) "Vessel" means every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane on water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water;(43) "Waste oil" means oil which is no longer suitable for the services for which it was manufactured due to the presence of impurities or a loss of original properties, including, but not limited to, crude oil, fuel oil, lubricating oil, kerosene, diesel fuels, cutting oil, emulsions, hydraulic oils, polychlorinated biphenyls and other halogenated oils that have been discarded as waste or are recovered from oil separators, oil spills, tank bottoms or other sources;(44) "Waters of the state" means all tidal waters, harbors, estuaries, rivers, brooks, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, lakes, ponds, marshes, drainage systems and all other surface or underground streams, bodies or accumulations of water, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon this state or any portion thereof;(45) "Water supply well" means an artificial excavation, constructed by any method, for the purpose of getting water for drinking or other domestic use; and(46) "Wetland" means: (A) those areas which border on or lie beneath tidal waters, such as, but not limited to banks, bogs, salt marsh, swamps, meadows, flats, or other low lands subject to tidal action, including those areas now or formerly connected to tidal waters, and whose surface is at or below an elevation of one foot above local extreme high water; and upon which may grow or be capable of growing some, but not necessarily all, of the following: Salt meadow grass (Spartina patens), spike grass (Distichlis spicata), black grass (Juncus gerardi), saltmarsh grass (Spartina alterniflora), saltworts (Salicornia Europaea, and Salicornia bigelovii), sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum), saltmarsh bulrushes (Scirpus robustus and Scirpus paludosus var. atlanticus), sand spurrey (Spergularia marina), switch grass (Panicum virgatum), tall cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), high-tide bush (Iva frutescens var. oraria), cattails (Typha angustifolia, and Typha latifolia), spike rush (Eleocharis rostellata), chairmaker's rush (Scirpus americana), bent grass (Agrostis palustris), and sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata), royal fern (Osmunda regalis), interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), marsh fern (Dryopteris thelypteris), bur-reed family (Sparganium eurycarpum, Sparganium androcladum, Sparganium americanum, Sparganium chlorocarpum, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium fluctuans, Sparganium minimum), horned pondweed (Zannichellia palustris), water-plantain (Alisma triviale), arrowhead (Sagittaria subulata, Sagittaria graminea, Sagittaria eatoni, Sagittaria engelmanniania), wild rice (Zizania aquatica), tuckahoe (Peltandra virginica), water-arum (Calla palustris), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), sweet flag (Acorus calamus), pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata), water stargrass (Heteranthera dubia), soft rush (Juncus effusus), false hellebore (Veratrum viride), slender blue flag (Iris prismatica pursh), blue flag (Iris versicolor), yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus), lizard's tail (Saururus cernuus), speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), common alder (Alnus serrulata), arrow-leaved tearthumb (Polygonum sagittatum), halberd-leaved tearthumb (Polygonum arifolium), spatter-dock (Nuphar variegatum nuphar advena), marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), swamp rose (Rosa palustris), poison ivy (Rhus radicans), poison sumac (Rhus vernix), red maple (Acer rubrum), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), marshmallow (Hibiscus palustris), loosestrife (Lythrum alatum, lythrum salicaria), red osier (Cornus stolonifera), red willow (Cornus amomum), silky dogwood (Cornus obliqua), sweet pepper-bush (Clethra alnifolia), swamp honeysuckle (Rhododendron viscosum), high-bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), sea lavender (Limonium nashii), climbing hemp-weed (Mikania scandens), joe pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum), joe pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum), thoroughwort (Eupatorium perfoliatum); or(B) land, including submerged land, not regulated pursuant to sections 22a-28 to 22a-35, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes which consists of any of the soil types designated as poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial, and floodplain by the National Cooperative Soils Survey, as may be amended from time to time, of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.(d)(1) For the purposes of sections 22a-450-1 to 22a-450-6, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, a release shall be considered to have been otherwise properly mitigated when such release has been mitigated in accordance with best management practices specified by the commissioner and posted on the department's Internet website.(2) Notwithstanding the definition of waters of the state, for the purposes of the reporting of releases pursuant to sections 22a-450-1 to 22a-450-6, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, a release to soil above the saturated zone shall not be considered a release to the waters of the state.Conn. Agencies Regs. § 22a-450-1