State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title32 > Chap578 > Sec32-9ccSec. 32-9cc. Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development. "Brownfields" defined. (a) There is established, within the Department of Economic and Community Development, an Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development.
(b) The office shall:
(1) Develop procedures and policies for streamlining the process for brownfield remediation and development;
(2) Identify existing and potential sources of funding for brownfield remediation and develop procedures for expediting the application for and release of such funds;
(3) Establish an office to provide assistance and information concerning the state's technical assistance, funding, regulatory and permitting programs;
(4) Provide a single point of contact for financial and technical assistance from the state and quasi-public agencies;
(5) Develop a common application to be used by all state and quasi-public entities providing financial assistance for brownfield assessment, remediation and development; and
(6) Identify and prioritize state-wide brownfield development opportunities; and
(7) Develop and execute a communication and outreach program to educate municipalities, economic development agencies, property owners and potential property owners and other organizations and individuals with regard to state policies and procedures for brownfield remediation.
(c) Subject to the availability of funds, there shall be a state-funded pilot program to identify brownfield remediation economic opportunities in five Connecticut municipalities, one of which shall have a population of less than fifty thousand, one of which shall have a population of more than fifty thousand but less than one hundred thousand, two of which shall have populations of more than one hundred thousand and one of which shall be selected without regard to population. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall designate five pilot municipalities in which untreated brownfields hinder economic development and shall make grants under such pilot program to these municipalities or economic development agencies associated with each of the five municipalities that are likely to produce significant economic development benefit for the designated municipality.
(d) The Department of Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Development Authority and the Department of Public Health shall each designate one or more staff members to act as a liaison between their offices and the Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development. The Commissioners of Economic and Community Development, Environmental Protection and Public Health and the executive director of the Connecticut Development Authority shall enter into a memorandum of understanding concerning each entity's responsibilities with respect to the Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development. The Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development may develop and recruit two volunteers from the private sector, including a person from the Connecticut chapter of the National Brownfield Association, with experience in different aspects of brownfield remediation and development. Said volunteers may assist the Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development in achieving the goals of this section.
(e) The Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development may call upon any other department, board, commission or other agency of the state to supply such reports, information and assistance as said office determines is appropriate to carry out its duties and responsibilities. Each officer or employee of such office, department, board, commission or other agency of the state is authorized and directed to cooperate with the Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development and to furnish such reports, information and assistance.
(f) Brownfield sites identified for funding under the pilot program established in subsection (c) of this section shall receive priority review status from the Department of Environmental Protection. Each property funded under this program shall be investigated in accordance with prevailing standards and guidelines and remediated in accordance with the regulations established for the remediation of such sites adopted by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection or pursuant to section 22a-133k and under the supervision of the department or in accordance with the voluntary remediation program established in section 22a-133x. In either event, the department shall determine that remediation of the property has been fully implemented upon submission of a report indicating that remediation has been verified by an environmental professional licensed in accordance with section 22a-133v. Not later than ninety days after submission of the verification report, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall notify the municipality or economic development agency as to whether the remediation has been performed and completed in accordance with the remediation standards or whether any additional remediation is warranted. For purposes of acknowledging that the remediation is complete, the commissioner may indicate that all actions to remediate any pollution caused by any release have been taken in accordance with the remediation standards and that no further remediation is necessary to achieve compliance except postremediation monitoring, natural attenuation monitoring or the recording of an environmental land use restriction.
(g) All relevant terms in this subsection, subsection (h) of this section, sections 32-9dd to 32-9ff, inclusive, and section 11 of public act 06-184* shall be defined in accordance with the definitions in chapter 445. For purposes of subdivision (12) of subsection (a) of section 32-9t, this subsection, subsection (h) of this section, sections 32-9dd to 32-9gg, inclusive, and section 11 of public act 06-184*, "brownfields" means any abandoned or underutilized site where redevelopment and reuse has not occurred due to the presence of pollution in the soil or groundwater that requires remediation prior to or in conjunction with the restoration, redevelopment and reuse of the property.
(h) The Departments of Economic and Community Development and Environmental Protection shall administer the provisions of subdivision (1) of section 22a-134, section 32-1m, subdivision (12) of subsection (a) of section 32-9t, sections 32-9cc to 32-9gg, inclusive, and section 11 of public act 06-184* within available appropriations and any funds allocated pursuant to sections 4-66c, 22a-133t and 32-9t.
(P.A. 06-184, S. 1, 8, 13; P.A. 07-233, S. 1.)
*Note: Section 11 of public act 06-184 is special in nature and therefore has not been codified but remains in full force and effect according to its terms.
History: P.A. 06-184 effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 07-233 amended Subsec. (a) to establish office within Department of Economic and Community Development, amended Subsec. (b)(1) to add brownfield development, amended Subsec. (b)(2) to change "identify existing and create new" to "identify existing and potential" and delete limitation that sources of funding be available to municipalities or economic development agencies, amended Subsec. (b)(3) to require establishment of office to provide assistance and information, added new Subsec. (b)(4) and (5), redesignated existing Subsec. (b)(4) as Subsec. (b)(6), deleted former Subsec. (b)(5), redesignated existing Subsec. (b)(6) as Subsec. (b)(7) and amended same to provide for communication and outreach program, amended Subsec. (c) to make pilot program subject to the availability of funds, to change number of municipalities from 4 to 5, to change population requirement for the smallest participating municipality from more than 25,000 but less than 50,000 to less than 50,000, to add a municipality chosen without regard to population size, and to designate Commissioner of Economic and Community Development as authority to assign municipalities to the pilot program, amended Subsec. (d) to add Department of Public Health, to change designation from one staff member to one or more staff members, to require Commissioners of Economic and Community Development, Environmental Protection and Public Health and the executive director of Connecticut Development Authority to enter into a memorandum of understanding, to change "shall" to "may" re develop and recruit two volunteers, to delete reference to liaisons and office's response team, and to make requirement that volunteers assist the office discretionary, and amended Subsec. (f) to require that each property funded under program be investigated in accordance with prevailing standards and guidelines, to provide that submitted report be a verification report, and to provide that Commissioner of Environmental Protection notify municipality or economic development agency, effective July 1, 2007.
